"I've written another ballet"

Pretty self-explanatory
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cwr
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"I've written another ballet"

Post by cwr »

“In the period I’ve been writing this, I’ve failed to complete an opera I was commissioned to write, I’ve written another ballet, worked on five musicals in various stages of development, written a lot of songs, performed with two different bands and solo, revived the Spectacular Spinning Songbook and Detour. And made Wise Up Ghost with the Roots, and taken part in the New Basement Tapes project [setting unused Dylan lyrics to music]. I’m an impresario. I’m the new Bernard Delfont.”
So, of the last decade, we've heard or witnessed the results of some of these things, but the news that somewhere in this time period he wrote a follow-up to Il Sogno is interesting.

I've been curious as to why Costello hasn't been compelled to write another orchestral work, wondering if maybe that one work was enough to scratch that particular musical itch. I wonder if this was another commission?
cwr
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Re: "I've written another ballet"

Post by cwr »

Ohhhhh... I had forgotten this even happened!
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Man out of Time
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Re: "five musicals in various stages of development"

Post by Man out of Time »

If we've identified "another ballet", is anyone keen to essay an explanation as to EC's claim that he
cwr wrote:worked on five musicals in various stages of development
If one is "Painted From Memory", with Burt Bacharach, and the "Austin Powers Musical" also with BB is a second, that still leaves three unaccounted for.

I don't think "Welcome To The Voice" can count as a musical, so what are the other three?

MOOT
Neil.
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Re: "I've written another ballet"

Post by Neil. »

Maybe he means Absolute Beginners, Tom Thumb (?) and the one about Hans Christian Andersen - though I guess that was sort of an opera.
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And No Coffee Table
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Re: "I've written another ballet"

Post by And No Coffee Table »

"I was going to collaborate with T Bone Burnett and Sarah Ruhl about WHER, the all-female radio station in Memphis run by Becky Phillips, Sam Phillips’s wife. It was the world’s first easy-listening station. It’s a great story. We were trying to tell the tale. Fantastic story and subject matter. I started to sketch a few songs. Then we heard there was a Million Dollar Quartet musical and then the musical Memphis. Now, how many musicals about Memphis in the ’50s can there be on Broadway at one time? The answer is two, not three. So that’s just the breaks."

http://www.gq.com/story/elvis-costello-memoir-interview

I believe "Forbidden Nights" was originally from that project.
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Man out of Time
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Re: "We've made four records" during lockdown

Post by Man out of Time »

Probably a good time to resurrect this thread, in the light of Elvis' remark last night, when talking to Anderson Cooper on CNN that "we've made four records" during lockdown.

Fun to speculate what those might be - possibilities include:

- Another ballet - follow up to Il Sogno
- The Austin Powers Musical (with Burt Bacharach)
- an album of children's tales set to music (see Uncut October 2020);
- Dopamine - The "Black Thought" project - Elvis Costello is in a super group
- A Face In The Crowd
- something more with Michael Leonhart, with whom he collaborated on Hey Clockface and "Shut Him Down".
- the expanded version of Painted From Memory - songs that were written for the stage musical version, but not included on Look Now.

Or hey, how about that Imposters album that they were due to record at Abbey Road in March 2020? Any others?

MOOT
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