The Car Man
New Adventures in association with Sadler’s Wells Presents
Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man Music
by Terry Davies & Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite (after Bizet’s Carmen) Directed & Choreographed by Matthew Bourne
The Lowry, Tue 6 – Sat 10 November 2007
Press night: Tue 6 November, 7.30pm
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures presents a sizzling revival of its internationally acclaimed dance/thriller The CarMan at The Lowry this November (Tue 6 – Sat 10). First seen in the West End in 2000, it went on to win the Evening Standard Award for ‘Musical Event of the Year’, The Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Award for ‘Best Choreography’ and the Manchester Evening News Award for ‘Best Dance’.
The Car Man is loosely based on Bizet’s popular opera and has one of the most thrilling and instantly recognisable scores in New Adventures’ repertory, brilliantly arranged by Terry Davies.
The familiar 19th Century Spanish cigarette factory becomes a greasy garage diner in 1960s America where the dreams and passions of a small Italian/American community are shattered by the arrival of a handsome stranger. Fuelled by heat and desire, the inhabitants are driven into an unstoppable spiral of greed, lust, betrayal and revenge. Lez Brotherston’s epic design, Chris Davey’s evocative lighting and Matthew Bourne’s vivid storytelling take in a wealth of cinematic references from classic film noir to the European neo-realists, creating a dangerous and uncompromising vision of small town America.
Luca, a hunky virile drifter, begins relationships with sexy redhead Lana and the sexually confused Angelo. Luca and Lana plot to kill Dino, a garage owner, and then frame the sensitive Angelo with his murder. Even more tragedy follows.
The leading characters created by Bourne for The Car Man are among his most challenging, both physically and emotionally. Returning to his original title role of Luca (“The Car Man”) will be Alan Vincent, who has recently scored a great personal success as The Swan in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. Company favourites, James Leece and Adam Galbraith will also perform the same role. Star performers from New Adventures’ Edward Scissorhands will include Michela Meazza, Gemma Payne and Ebony Molina as Lana; Kerry Biggin, Shelby Williams and Hannah Vassallo as Rita; and Richard Winsor and Sam Archer as Angelo.
2007 sees Matthew Bourne celebrating 20 years as Artistic Director of his own independent dance company. New Adventures goes from strength to strength, recently becoming Resident Company at the UK’s premier dance house, Sadler’s Wells. It continues to give more performances at home and abroad than any other UK company and this year has made its debut at The Kennedy Centre in Washington, as well as first time visits to Australia, Greece and several other US cities.
New Adventures’ repertory includes some of the most successful dance productions of the last two decades – Swan Lake, Nutcracker!, Play Without Words, Highland Fling and Edward Scissorhands which recently won the Manchester Evening News Award for ‘Best Dance’.
Posted on Tuesday, 23 October 2007 under Press Theatre Press