Without pause McDonald stuck his prop phone out, ad-libbing “it’s ringing.”Ī final musical asterisk: for those maybe a bit faint of ear at how much Bach, Beethoven and Mozart they are willing to take on, also heard are snippets of “Chopsticks,” “Heart and Soul,” Billy Joel, Elton John, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Lennon and Dave Brubeck.
While “2 Pianos 4 Hands” profits from being tightly structured, it’s a vehicle that also allows impromptu life to interrupt the proceedings.ĭuring Sunday’s first act, young Teddy was required by his “dad” (a stern McGloin) to phone his instructor and explain why he wasn’t dedicated enough as a pianist to deserve lessons.Īs McDonald put the landline receiver to his ear, out of the dark came the ringtone from the evening’s resident dimwit in the audience, his/her cell phone burbling away. McGloin’s acting feels a bit deeper under the surface in fact, his moment of portraying the iciest of conservatory admission heads balefully rejecting a young candidate is equal to dreams of the worst boss you ever worked for. He’s especially fun in a scene as an 11-year-old manifesting physical stage-fright jitters at San Andreas fault levels. McDonald is particularly effective in his physical acting, pouts, and smirks. McDonald and McGloin are indispensable in tandem as black and white keys go together, but also distinct from each other. These two miraculously achieve the alchemy of shape-shifting character changes, verbal pacing and dollops of physical clowning along with formidable keyboard technique. While “virtuoso playing” is a phrase more common to reviews of piano recitals, it also describes the high-wire performances from a younger pair of American actors, Jefferson McDonald and Matthew McGloin. The first act is a pell-mell riot of performance energy with no bar falling slack. More recently, directing rights to “2 Pianos 4 Hands” in the United States were assigned to Tom Frey, another one-time Lang Lang-wannabe who fell under the show’s spell and who has performed in it 600 times.įrey directs the Laguna production and is indubitably a significant factor behind the pinpoint pacing and execution. The piece has been seen in more than a thousand performances on five continents.
This universal appeal is evident through its tight tale and torrents of live piano playing (early on, a near 10-minute bravura medley of familiar classical themes is amusing and also dialogue-free).
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