Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Australia

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sweetest punch
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Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Australia

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http://www.broadwayworld.com/sydney/art ... y-20140728

Musical Stars Michael Falzon and Bobby Fox Perform Legendary Costello and Bacharach Album 'Painted From Memory'

In the late 1990's, music legends Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello united to create the timeless album Painted From Memory. Such was the significance of these legendary artists collaborating that a documentary (Because it's a Lonely World) was made to commemorate the occasion.

Described by Rolling Stone Magazine as having 'exquisite orchestrations and subtle wordplay,' the music from this stunning collaboration has never been staged in Australia ... until now.

For one night only, star performers Michael Falzon and Bobby Fox will showcase an assortment of songs by the famous duo, accompanied by a nine-piece orchestra and special guests to exquisitely showcase every nuance of the celebrated album.

In recent years Fox and Falzon have featured in some of the most successful international musicals. Michael was hand-picked by Queen's very own Brian May for We Will Rock You, staged in some of the UK's largest arenas and has subsequently starred in the award-winning Rock of Ages, The War of the Worlds and has fronted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

'After first hearing 'God Give Me Strength' my appreciation of Bacharach and Costello grew enormously. On discovering their collaborative album, I was moved by the arrangements - the honesty in each song compelled me to help bring it to the stage. The City Recital Hall is an obvious venue to showcase these artists' work and to share this experience with nine multi- instrumentalists and Bobby Fox, a truly exceptional talent, is very exciting.' Michael Falzon

Bobby Fox, who recently recorded You're the Boss with model Miranda Kerr, was personally selected by Frankie Valli to play the lead role in Jersey Boys - performing the role an incredible 850 times - and has also starred in Mamma Mia!, Riverdance and a variety of hit television shows.

Bobby said: 'I'm so excited to be performing this beautiful album with Michael. There is something so iconic about a Bacharach song. His melodic journeys tell the story just as much as his powerful lyrics. Add in the musical brilliance of Elvis Costello and it's rich with heartbreak, hope and beauty. Michael has one of the finest voices this country has to offer and I'm so ex- cited to share the stage with him.'

Michael Falzon has performed his way around the world through stage, cabaret, film and television.

His breakthrough role came in 2003 when he was cast by Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor to star in We Will Rock You, enjoying unanimous critical acclaim. Michael then appeared in the penultimate season of Blue Heelers before taking to the stage in The Wharf Revue for Sydney Theatre Company.

He recorded his first album, the self-titled EP, released during the Australia and New Zealand arena tour of The War of the Worlds. Michael was soon after cast in Hedwig and the Angry Inch before be- ing invited to the UK to once again star in We Will Rock You, breaking box office records in their largest venues.

Michael returned to Australia to play the role of Stacee Jaxx in the award-winning Rock of Ages. In 2012 he starred in Ordinary Days, Side by Side by Sondheim, and Chess for Production Company and has fronted both the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

Hailing from Ireland, Bobby Fox is a four-time World Irish Dance Champion and has toured with Riverdance, Dancing on Dangerous Ground and To Dance on the Moon.

Upon moving to Australia Bobby began his musical theatre career with feature roles in Mamma Mia, Leader of the Pack, Dusty - The Original Pop Diva, Spamalot, Sweet Charity and Damn Yankies.

Bobby was then hand-picked by the man himself to play the role of Frankie Valli in the smash-hit musical Jersey Boys, playing to critical acclaim and sold-out seasons in Melbourne and Sydney and performing the role an incredible 850 times.

Bobby's acting credits include guest roles in House Husbands, Tricky Business, Mr & Mrs Murder and the feature film The Cup. He recently played the lead tap brother, Spring in the 21st anniversary season of Hot Shoe Shuffle. Bobby has just released his album entitled The Fantastic Mr. Fox with Warner Music, featuring a duet with Miranda Kerr.

PAINTED FROM MEMORY: The Music of Bacharach and Costello Starring Michael Falzon and Bobby Fox

Wednesday 24 September 2014, 7.30pm - City Recital Hall Angel Place
Tickets: Adult $79. Members $60. Concessions available (additional fees may apply).

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Last edited by sweetest punch on Mon May 04, 2015 2:18 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

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http://www.cityrecitalhall.com/news-rev ... t-to-life/
http://www.cityrecitalhall.com/events/i ... om-Memory/

City Recital Hall Presents
Painted From Memory
The Music of Bacharach and Costello

Starring Michael Falzon and Bobby Fox

“Exquisite orchestrations and subtle wordplay.” Rolling Stone Magazine

In the late nineties, Burt Bacharach, teamed up with the inimitable Elvis Costello to create the remarkable song God Give Me Strength. Bacharach and Costello continued writing together to earn a Grammy Award for I Still Have That Other Girl from the 1998 album Painted From Memory.

Taking its name from the Bacharach and Costello album, Painted From Memory will be a first for City Recital Hall audiences. Australian artists Michael Falzon and Bobby Fox perform a unique reimagining of this classic album along with other classic hits.

Michael Falzon
Bobby Fox
and special guests to be announced soon!
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sweetest punch
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

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http://www.au.timeout.com/sydney/music/ ... rom-memory

Painted from Memory

The timeless music of Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello receives a gorgeous reimagination

It's hard to think of two musical artists whose works have stood the test of time better than Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, which is what makes it both a no-brainer and a huge risk to think you can put your own spin on it. But Bobby Fox and Michael Falzon are going to give it a go, anyway – during a special one-night show at City Recital Hall, they'll be performing the pair's 1998 album Painted from Memory under the musical direction of Isaac Hayward, accompanied by a nine-piece band and special guests.
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sweetest punch
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

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http://www.starobserver.com.au/features ... rst/126708

Bringing the music of Bacharach/Costello to the stage in Australian first

FOR the first time in Australia, the music of timeless album Painted From Memory will be staged in a one-off live performance by Michael Falzon and Bobby Fox.

The album, a 1990s collaboration between music legends Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, was described by the Rolling Stone magazine as having “exquisite orchestrations and subtle wordplay”, and was so significant that a documentary, Because it’s a Lonely World, was also created to commemorate the occasion.

For one night only at Sydney’s City Recital Hall, Falzon and Fox will showcase an assortment of songs by Bacharach and Costello, accompanied by a nine-piece orchestra and special guests to showcase every nuance of the album.

In recent years Fox and Falzon have featured in some of the most successful international musicals. Falzon was hand-picked by Queen’s very own Brian May for We Will Rock You, staged in some of the UK’s largest arenas and has subsequently starred in the award-winning Rock of Ages, The War of the Worlds and has fronted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

“After first hearing God Give Me Strength my appreciation of Bacharach and Costello grew enormously,” he said.

“On discovering their collaborative album, I was moved by the arrangements — the honesty in each song compelled me to help bring it to the stage.”

Fox, who recently recorded You’re the Boss with model Miranda Kerr, was personally selected by Frankie Valli to play the lead role in Jersey Boys — performing the role an incredible 850 times — and has also starred in Mamma Mia!, Riverdance and a variety of TV shows.

“I’m so excited to be performing this beautiful album with Michael. There is something so iconic about a Bacharach song. His melodic journeys tell the story just as much as his powerful lyrics,” he said.

“Add in the musical brilliance of Elvis Costello and it’s rich with heartbreak, hope and beauty. Michael has one of the finest voices this country has to offer and I’m so excited to share the stage with him.”
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sweetest punch
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

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Anyone going?
Another preview: http://www.altmedia.net.au/painted-from-memory/97755

Painted From Memory

The album Painted From Memory – a collaboration between Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach – was released in 1998 and draws on the strengths of Bacharach’s ’60′s styles and Costello’s subtle lyricism to give it a timeless sound.

This month, a new collaboration will showcase the album – stars of the Australian stage Michael Falzon and Bobby Fox, a nine-piece orchestra and special guests (including Laura Bunting) will be performing an assortment of songs by Costello and Bacharach.

Bobby Fox is known for his wide range of performance experience, such as being a champion Irish dancer and starring in Jersey Boys. He has also recently released an album. Michael Falzon has a rich career in musicals including We Will Rock You, Rock of Ages and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

“Bobby and I are excited to be working together. This hasn’t been done before in Australia; it is the first time this album has been presented,” Falzon says. “We are trying a faithful interpretation, to show those who may know just some of the songs that the album tells a bit of a story. We’re also using it as an excuse to perform the songs we love!”
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Neil.
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

Post by Neil. »

I wish I could be in Australia for this - wonder if Elvis and Burt will be?

Hope some of it ends up on YouTube.
sweetest punch
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

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Hope someone tapes it...
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sweetest punch
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

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http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/mus ... 0h8yq.html

Deep emotions of Painted From Memory a challenge to performers

When Bobby Fox was approached by his fellow stage musical star Michael Falzon about joining him in a show performing the songs of Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, there were a few blank stares.

Fox, the Irishman who made his name in Australia in the rather successful musical Jersey Boys, knew Bacharach and Hal David's work, having auditioned for several roles over the years singing the great American songwriting duo's Promises Promises and A House Is Not A Home.

"When I knew it was Bacharach material I was 'right, I'm there' because melodically I find I really connect with his style and I can tell how he's feeling through the melodic journey of his song," Fox says. "It is so theatrical, it is so very much narrative."

But Costello, who since 1977 has become a modern – if musically peripatetic – giant not that far off being a two-for-one English Bacharach and David, was at best vaguely familiar. What's more, Painted From Memory, the 1999 album Bacharach made with Costello which Falzon saw as the basis of the show, meant nothing.

What changed things for him was proof of Falzon's view that to really grasp the depth of the songs on Painted From Memory, you have to have lived some and been hurt some. Or as he puts it: "you have to have gone through shit to be able to sing this stuff."

At the time he was approached by Falzon, who in a 20-year career has played rock shows, cabaret, Gilbert and Sullivan and starred in We Will Rock You and Rock Of Ages, Fox was in the thick of major changes in his life. A long-term relationship was breaking up, an album (the recent The Fantastic Mr Fox) recorded and he was in the process of "reforming the clay of my heart or whatever you want to call it".

"And when I listened to the album I went, 'I'm there, I'm that guy right now'," the Irishman says. "There's no children, thank god, but that's where I was."

Sitting side by side in the City Recital Hall, Falzon all but nods in approval at his younger colleague.

"I've had this conversation many times that when you're a kid, in your 20s, you want to sing high notes but once you get a few years on you, you start to interpret. That's why think this album is important to a lot of people," Falzon says. "I don't want to say men, but it's Bacharach and Costello for a start, and then it's very much written from the heart and experience and it resonates so deeply with people. Because of the lyrics and because you can hear that hurt, you get all the emotions. And with Bacharach and Costello it's not just the lyrics; there are the clever arrangements that take you there anyway."

Clever arrangements and deep emotions yes, but both men are aware that some of us will have expectations when hearing of this show – which will be in two parts: one mixed hits and the second act the Painted From Memory album in full. Two musical theatre singers, with a nine-piece ensemble, approaching some pop standards and some modern variations on them, might well suggest old-style cabaret more than new-style interpretation.

"In short," says Falzon of this assumption. "We tackle that by avoiding it."

Fox expands on this. "That's something you brought up when we first started talking about it," he says. "Michael said it's not telling my story through this music. We both are showmen and while I've never done cabaret I tour my other album, I do live gigs, and that is about me. But this is about the album and the music."

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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

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sweetest punch
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

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Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
Neil.
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

Post by Neil. »

Fantastic, thanks! Thought nothing would ever emerge of this! Clearly this was filmed - why the late emerging compilation? A dvd release, perhaps?

Have listened twice - they seem good at putting over these really tricky songs. Would love to see the whole thing!
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

Post by Neil. »

sweetest punch wrote:Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL9veUcNdmk
And here's Michael Falzon singing God Give Me Strength - such a hard song to sing!

http://youtu.be/nEhl6k2LmZA
sweetest punch
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney

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Bobby fox and Michael Falzon perform "Painted From Memory" again on June 10, 2015 in Queensland Performing Arts Centre (Brisbane):
http://www.broadwayworld.com/brisbane/a ... e-20150413#

Bobby Fox & Michael Falzon to Perform at QPAC, 10 June

Fall in love again when musical theatre stars Bobby Fox and Michael Falzon join forces at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) on Wednesday 10 June 2015 to perform the legendary Costello and Bacharach album, Painted From Memory - The Music of Bacharach and Costello.

Accompanied by a nine-piece orchestra Michael Falzon (We Will Rock You, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Rock of Ages) and Bobby Fox (Jersey Boys, The Fantastic Mr. Fox) along with special guest Luke Kennedy promise outstanding vocals and emotional surprises in a showcase of internationally adored music.

In the late nineties Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello joined forces to create the remarkable and timeless album Painted From Memory featuring classic Bacharach songs such as I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself and I'll Never Fall in Love Again. These and other timeless tunes are recreated in Painted From Memory on the Concert Hall stage, with musical direction from Isaac Hayward.

After unanimous critical acclaim as 'Galileo' in We Will Rock You, Michael Falzon continued to make his mark on Australian and international stages, starring in Hedwig and the Angry Inch and as 'Stacee Jaxx' in Rock of Ages. Falzon has toured arenas in Australia, Europe and the UK in Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds and also appears frequently as a soloist with many Australian symphony orchestras.

Bobby Fox is the zany, smooth and dazzling stage and recording star who "owes a little bit to Franki Valli and the Four Seasons". Known lovingly as The Fantastic Mr. Fox, this charming groover is a four times World Irish Dance Champion, solo artist, and man of the stage with productions like Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia!, Leader of the Pack, and We Will Rock You under his star-studded belt.

Season two runner up on television's The Voice Australia and former Ten Tenors member Luke Kennedy is a versatile recording and performance artist, who has achieved a number one single on the iTunes charts and a Top Ten hit in the ARIA charts. Most recently Luke toured Australia as a special guest on Ricky Martin's national tour and opened the Ashes in 2013 for Cricket Australia singing the national anthem.

Together at QPAC for one night only, Falzon and Fox with special guest Kennedy will perform a unique reimagining of this classic album along with other memorable Bacharach and Costello hits.

Painted From Memory - the Music of Bacharach and Costello is presented by QPAC in association with Queensland Cabaret Festival, Asia Theatricals and Good Egg Creative. Book now via http://www.qpac.com.au/event/Painted_fr ... b=Overview or call 136 246.
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Sydney and Brisbane

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Now Luke Kennedy will join Michael Falzon to perform "Painted From Memory" at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival on June 12 & 13:
http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.a ... om-memory/

Adelaide Premiere

In the 1990s, Burt Bacharach, teamed up with Elvis Costello to create the remarkable song God Give Me Strength. They continued writing together to earn a Grammy Award for, I Still Have That Other Girl from the 1998 album, Painted From Memory.

These and other timeless Bacharach and Costello tunes are faithfully explored and reimagined through the effortlessly beautiful voices of recording, stage and screen stars, Michael Falzon (We Will Rock You, Hedwig and The Angry Inch) and Luke Kennedy (The Voice, The Ten Tenors) along with an incredible 9-piece band.

Musical Direction by Isaac Hayward
Directed by Jonathan Biggins

------------------------

http://theclothesline.com.au/painted-fr ... interview/

Painted From Memory: A Celebration of Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello’s Remarkable Musical Collaboration – Adelaide Cabaret Festival Interview

In the 1990s, the unlikely duo of Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello collaborated to create a truly remarkable song, God Give Me Strength. They went on to write the Grammy Award-winning I Still Have That Other Girl from the 1998 album Painted From Memory.

In a song-cycle featuring the music of Bacharach and Costello, Michael Falzon (We Will Rock You/Swing On This) teams up with his Luke Kennedy (The Voice/The Ten Tenors/Swing On This) and a nine-piece band to present Painted From Memory at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

We speak with Michael Falzon who tells us that this show is very personal to him.

“Absolutely it is! But I think if you listen to the album you’ll find that a lot of the lyrics will definitely ring true for many people. For me, it took me through a period of my life of great change. I’m always listening to so many different sorts of music so every now and then something will really stand out, and this album was one of those.

“I wasn’t sure if I would ever have the opportunity to present it as a performance,” he says. “Maybe the odd song here and there, but after we staged this show in Sydney last year, we felt that certainly there are a lot of people out there that enjoy music of this quality and presented in this way. We’re very fortunate that we are now able to bring it to Adelaide.”

These two songwriters are amazing talented men in their own right. To have Bacharach and Costello join together and create what this album has become is something special again.

“It’s an interesting collaboration,” Michael agrees. “If you look at a song like Veronica, Elvis Costello co-wrote that with Paul McCartney, which would seem more like an obvious teaming. But you wouldn’t necessarily put Burt Bacharach with Elvis Costello. They first wrote God Give Me Strength back in 1996, which was a musical triumph on every level. I think it really rocked the music industry because people couldn’t understand how such a pairing could come about with these two gentlemen. But given all their experience, to be able to write something so powerful, really rang true for so many people. They continued writing together and created the Painted From Memory album.”

Is this show a reproduction of the album?

“Yes. We’re going to perform a couple of their other classics as well, from both men, but this album is presented in its entirety within the program with a nine-pieceband… and the obligatory flugelhorn creating some great music,” he laughs.

Will you be performing Costello’s Veronica?

“Yes, that will be one of my songs. There will actually be a couple of little surprises in the show, but I think the greatest surprise will be to just hear some of this music performed live – because it hasn’t been, in Australia. Although Adelaide will be the third time we have performed this show, the concept of presenting these songs in this format is a first for Australia.”

How did you and Jonathan Biggins come to create this show?

“I’ve had the idea in the back of my mind for quite a while, like many of the projects I find myself working on,” Michael laughs. “There’s a hat on my desk that I keep throwing ideas into and then I’ll pull it out later when the right time has come to be doing it.

“Jonathan and I have been friends for a long time. I bumped into him during interview at a night out at the theatre and we started talking about things we had been up to. When I told him about wanting to present this album, his eyes glazed over and he told me how much he loved the album. He started singing lines from songs to me. We almost missed Act Two [chuckles] because we started talking about the different songs, what they meant to us and how important it is; we both loved it. I asked him that very night if he would come and direct it for us. Of course, he said yes!

“We are very lucky to have someone like Jonathan involved in the project.”

Luke Kennedy has taken the place of Jersey Boys’ Bobby Fox.

“Bobby and I originally performed this show at the Recital Hall in Sydney,” Michael says. “Different scheduling means that he’s not available for Adelaide. My pre-requisite for Bobby, Luke and even myself was that you had to be in your thirties, you had to have experienced heartbreak to be able to sing this stuff… and Luke was happy that he fitted into all of that! Luke and I are working a lot together this year; Jesus Christ Superstar, Swing On This and now Painted From Memory, so it’s great to be working onstage with such great friends.

“This show will be very different to what people saw Luke and I doing in Swing On This last year, he explains. “That show was just he four of us taking the piss out of each other on stage and having a fun time swinging. But this is really bold, raw music. The arrangements that Isaac Hayward has created from the original album for a nine–piece string section is really very special, and pretty rare to hear anywhere.

“I hope audiences will enjoy the contrast from Swing On This, singing Bacharach as opposed to Irving Berlin or Cole Porter swing. They’re decades apart, emotionally very different and there are as some beautiful searing melodies in these songs which really do reach some heights – both vocally and emotionally.”

Is there a scripted story running through the show?

“The wonderful thing with this music is that each song tells its own story; each one has something important to say,” he says. “We have a clip at the beginning of the evening with both Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach telling us what each song means and where they came from. We’ve all been through the same stuff in our lives, but as the songs come together as a whole, you’re pretty much following a journey with the two performers on stage. There is a narrative but it’s in the lyrics more than anything else.

“This album has become a modern classic; you could put it among Tapestry and the like. Twenty years on from its release and it’s becoming very well regarded. The surprise was that it was so unexpected that these two working together – Burt Bacharach’s style emotionally compounded by Elvis Costello’s edge – it just works beautifully,” Michael concludes. “Obviously, with Luke and me singing it, it will sound a little bit different, but that will just show how successful the songs really are. This show really is very beautiful and I’m so proud of it.”

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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Australia

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Michael Falzon and Bobby Fox perform Painted From Memory at the Melbourne Recital Centre on July 2, 2015:
http://www.melbournerecital.com.au/even ... om-memory/
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Australia

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http://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/ ... om-memory/

Painted From Memory

The unlikely pairing of 1960s pop composer Burt Bacharach and edgy new wave performer Elvis Costello created one of the most interesting albums of the late 1990s.

“Painted From Memory” grew out of a collaboration between the two on a single, very special, song – “God Give Me Strength” – and, thankfully, they went on create a whole album.

The song cycle exploring love and loss is an extraordinary work, full of complex jazz harmonies, unexpected rhythmic twists and intriguing lyrics, yet all brought together as accessible pop songs by two masters of their craft.

For this year’s Cabaret Festival, two young Australian tenors – Michael Falzon (known for musical theatre, including We Will Rock You) and Luke Kennedy (seen on TV’s The Voice and as part of The Ten Tenors) recreate the album on stage.

They’re joined by a gun nine-piece band, including strings and trumpet (essential to any Bacharach performance). And it all works beautifully.

The band, which included members of the Adelaide Art Orchestra, began with an “overture” of sorts – an instrumental version of Bacharach’s “The Look of Love”. The two singers then reeled off a perky version of Costello’s 1980s collaboration with Paul McCartney, “Veronica”, before launching into a track-by-track recreation of the album.

These are complex, demanding songs, which stretch performers musically and emotionally – and Kennedy and Falzon bravely tackle the melodic jumps and leaps without flinching.

Kennedy, with his powerful, reedy tenor, was made to sing the Grammy-winning “I Still Have That Other Girl”, while Falzon flies with “This House is Empty Now”.

Neither quite wrenches the emotion out of the songs that Costello does, with his distinctive and (sometimes) straining voice – on the other hand, Kennedy and Falzon both have a greater range than the composer, adding a new dimension to the songs for fans of the album.

At the halfway point, a musical intermission allows the band to showcase some wonderful string work on “Close to You”, and Kennedy works a poignant version of “Alfie”, a Bacharach/David collaboration from the 1966 film.

Then it’s back into the album tracks, finishing with two stunning performances – a fierce performance of “What’s Her Name Today?” by Kennedy, and then Falzon owns the soaring beauty of “God Give Me Strength”.

It’s perfect cabaret music – lush and emotional – and a great reminder of the masterful achievement of this album.
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sweetest punch
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Re: Painted From Memory performed by musical stars in Australia

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http://www.australianstage.com.au/20150 ... nnedy.html

Painted from Memory | Michael Falzon and Luke Kennedy

For fans of the great Burt Bacharach and the legendary Elvis Costello, what could be better than having had the opportunity to experience these two together in concert? Well having two accomplished performers re-imagine their collaboration live on stage must come pretty close.

The Bacharach/Costello partnership resulted in at least two great songs, plus a Grammy for the album Painted from Memory, hence the title.

The splendid 9-piece band, made up largely from the Adelaide Art Orchestra set the tone for the evening with a smooth jazz orchestral overture.

By the time Michael Falzon and Luke Kennedy hit the stage, the audience was very much in the mood for some sophisticated sounds. And that's exactly what they got.

Aside from a brief introduction and the use of some recorded voiceover from the composers, the audience was treated to a "song cycle" encompassing the album.

Highlights included Veronica and I Still Have That Other Girl, to a great rendition of This House is Empty Now as well as the powerful closing numbers, What's Her Name Today and God Give Me Strength - this show was sheer class all the way.

Kennedy even managed to treat the crowd with a beautiful rendition of Bacharach's Alfie somewhere in the middle (between sides one and two of the recording).

Both Falzon and Kennedy have excellent vocal control and presence, creating beautiful sounds individually or together. And both their interpretations and the splendid musical arrangements made it unnecessary to be familiar with the material.

Falzon already has an established musical theatre career (Rock of Ages, We Will Rock You), while Kennedy was placed second on an early season of The Voice, before touring with The Ten Tenors.

If there has to be a criticism of this presentation, it was all over way too soon. I and many others needed at least one more song.
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