Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, the writer of scores for treasures of musical theater, like “Cats,” “Phantom of the Opera,” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” also penned the music for a lesser-known gem that will be on stage at Lawrenceville’s Aurora Theatre. “Song and Dance,“ with its classic song “Tell Me on a Sunday,” is the selection for Aurora Theatre’s first return to live performances. Co-founder and Artistic Director of Aurora Theatre Ann-Carol Pence joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom along with Angela Harris, Artistic Director of Dance Canvas and choreographer of Aurora’s “Song and Dance” to talk about the production and the unique opportunities it presents.
The Broadway hit first premiered in the 1980s and follows an unusual structure — which could be the reason it’s been so rarely produced since its debut. “It is usually done in two parts; one called ‘Song,’ and one called ‘Dance,’” Pence said. “Song is a one-act that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote with [lyricist] Don Black, but nobody ever lets the rights to the ‘Dance’ portion of the show out … He only lets that first act. And I was bound and determined from November of last year that we were going to be able to return to the theater, not just with this one act, but with this fully formed.”
The first act, “Song,” has enjoyed numerous productions and interpretations throughout its life, but a greater challenge awaits aspiring producers of the “Dance” act, due to its closely-guarded rights and rare recordings. “It is miraculous to see that [Harris] took this piece of music.” Pence said. “There’s barely any recording of it. But the story that she is telling of this woman, again through the eyes of dance, through the lens of dance, is just amazing.”
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