Three Pianos

At a Valentine’s Day party several years ago, three friends — Rick Burkhardt, Alec Duff, and Dave Malloy — discovered a shared love for Austrian composer Franz Schubert’s song cycle “Winterreise.”
As they played the music, drank and debated, an idea was born: to create a theater piece that incorporates Schubert’s music.
The result is “Three Pianos,” and it takes place both in Schubert’s time and today, at an all-night party where pianos are not only played but used as props– they’re sat on, spun in circles, used as a bar and a bed. Even the audience gets to drink wine and take part.
The Village Voice describes the show as “like being cozily tucked away with a clutch of nerdy music-loving friends.”
“Three Pianos” won an Obie in New York and is currently playing at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge Massachusetts. Here & Now‘s Robin Young met with all three performers there. They told her that the show is a recreation of something called a “Schubertiad,” a type of party that Schubert held with poets and composers where they would make art.

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Not knowing all that much about Schubert I came away informed and curious, which may be what his emphatic cheerleaders want us to be. And, hey, if they want to turn Schubert into a household name, perhaps they should convince Lady Gaga to do a few dance remixes. 

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Three Pianos at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge is a loving tribute to Franz Schubert (1797-1828) and his romantic song cycle Winterreise 

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Three guys. Not singers, but they sing. Not pianists, but they play the piano. Three pianos. Actors whose love of music doesn’t seem like acting. They’re in Three Pianos, a theater piece — hard to call it a play — that’s just begun a run at the A.R.T. (through January 8). In New York, it won an Obie. Here, it won my heart.

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In the beguiling production that is now at American Repertory Theater under the direction of Rachel Chavkin, a spirit of whimsy prevails for much of the evening, with plenty of wisecracks and slapstick elements.
But when the mood turns stormy or elegiac, and when “Three Pianos’’ touches deep chords of longing or solitude, it is with the understanding that nothing can pull you through a dark night of the soul like music.

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This evening makes no claims to be anything other than what it is: a great party by and with three actor/musicians united in their love—or should I say passion—for the music of Franz Schubert.

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The Boston Globe: ‘Three Pianos’ adds up to a twist on Schubert‘Three Pianos’ is a love song to ‘Winterreise’By Jeffrey Gantz

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“The American Repertory Theater has announced its full 2011-2012 season, which will launch with the previously announced production of Porgy and Bess, starring Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis. Also planned are world premieres of Futurity: A Musical by The Lisps and a play based on Jung Chang’s Wild Swans.” – Playbill.com

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“American Repertory Theatre has announced its 2011-2012 season for the Loeb Drama Center, which, as previously announced, will open with The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, running August 17 – October 2. Diane Paulus will direct the production that will star Norm Lewis and Audra McDonald in the title roles.” – TheaterMania 

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“The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), under the artistic direction of Diane Paulus, is pleased to announce the productions that will be part of the A.R.T.’s 2011/12 Season.” – BroadwayWorld.com 

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“…the ART’s 2011-12 season, Paulus’s third as artistic director, shows another way in which she’s setting the company apart: The lineup features a bounty of female playwrights and directors.” – Boston.com 

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“Mr. Burkhardt, Mr. Duffy and Mr. Malloy, all fine pianists, are determined to put the fun back into melancholy. They do to “Winterreise” roughly what the fractured-Shakespeare troupes do to “Hamlet” and “Macbeth,” enlivening through deconstruction.” – New York Times 

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“When the rambunctious Three Pianos barreled its way onto the Incubator stage this past February, nothing could have been more effective in fighting off winter’s chill. Warmhearted and expansive…” – Time Out New York 

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“It’s as improbable as it is delightful, a loose-jointed, totally off-the-cuff, booze-and-music party—the audience gets to share the booze—in which every casual moment seems both astutely chosen and precisely executed.” – Village Voice 

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“Full-blooded and full-bodied, Three Pianos lifts its glass to music, to Schubert and to the type of friendship that can make you laugh off heartbreak. It’s also a superb evening. Cheers.” – Time Out New York

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“THE origins of “Three Pianos,” a rowdy mash note to Schubert…go back either 2 or 185 years, depending on how you’re counting.” -The New York Times 

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“At minimum, the recipe for a good party includes a hearty stock of friends and acquaintances, stirred with liquor and topped with tunes. But what if your hosts’ idea of a party playlist is two-dozen somber, chilly songs by Franz Schubert? That’s the unlikely starting point for Three Pianos…” – Time Out New York 

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