POSTCARDS FROM PIERROT Comes to Madison Lyric Stage This Month

Madison Lyric Stage, a professional theater company serving the Connecticut shoreline, will present internationally renowned tenor Marc Deaton in Postcards from Pierrot, his original theatrical journey through great masterpieces of the twentieth century by Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg.  During this evening of experimental performance, Deaton will explore the evolution of speak-singing and its effects on opera, jazz and theater, through the famous commedia dell’arte persona, Pierrot.  Performances are June 24 and 25.

The centerpiece of the production is Schoenberg’s surrealist masterpiece Pierrot Lunaire, based on poems by Albert Giraud.  Pierrot Lunaire consists of three groups of seven poems. In the first group, Pierrot sings of love, sex and religion; in the second, of violence, crime, and blasphemy; and in the third of his return home, with his past haunting him.

Deaton will also perform Berg’s elegant Altenberg Lieder based on picture postcard texts by Peter Altenberg, as well as another of Schoenberg’s greatest vocal works The Book of the Hanging Gardens, with decadent texts by Stefan George;

Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg have figured prominently in the career of tenor Marc Deaton, including leading roles in Berg's operas Wozzeck and Lulu, and Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron, Gurrelieder and Erwartung.  Deaton has performed Pierrot Lunaire throughout the world, including the prestigious Arnold Schoenberg Center in Vienna and many other distinguished venues. 

Pierrot Lunaire will be performed with its full five-person orchestra conducted by Nathaniel Baker. Deaton is joined by dancer, Sarah Kennedy, as Pierrot’s beloved Columbine.  Kelly Horsted will collaborate with Deaton on the piano for the evening.

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased by visiting madisonlyricstage.org, or by calling 203-215-6329.  Show times are Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 4:00 p.m.  

Performances will be held inside MLS’s brand-new enclosed tent on the grounds of the Deacon John Grave House located at 581 Boston Post Road in Madison.