{"id":75627,"date":"2022-06-16T08:45:47","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T12:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=75627"},"modified":"2022-06-16T08:45:47","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T12:45:47","slug":"scrutiny-joy-funny-poignant-2-pianos-4-hands-back-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2022\/06\/16\/scrutiny-joy-funny-poignant-2-pianos-4-hands-back-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | It\u2019s A Joy To Have Funny, Poignant \u20182 Pianos 4 Hands\u2019 Back On Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ted
Ted Dykstra & Richard Greenblatt in ‘2 Pianos 4 Hands’ (Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David Mirvish, Marquis Entertainment & Talking Fingers\/2 Pianos 4 Hands, created, performed and directed by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt, Royal Alexandra Theatre, June 4 to July 17. Tickets here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

2 Pianos 4 Hands<\/em> is a Canadian theatre classic. No matter how many times you see it, this insightful look into becoming a classical musician remains fresh and funny. Even if you\u2019ve\u00a0never had a piano lesson in your life, the show is laugh out loud with a bite \u2014 the bite being, what happens when you don\u2019t make it.<\/p>\n

Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt premiered the show in 1996, and it has been going strong ever since, having played to almost two million people on five continents. Now the two men have reunited for the 25th anniversary of 2 Pianos 4 Hands<\/em>, and it is a joy to have them back.<\/p>\n

The premise is simple. We follow young Teddy and Richie from their early days of hating piano lessons and all the practice involved, up to the point where they begin to take the piano very seriously. Along the way we meet their long-suffering piano teachers, their nagging parents, the later teachers who inspire them, their competitiveness, the exams they have to pass, and finally, the breaking of their dreams.<\/p>\n

Is it funny? You bet it is, although poignancy also abounds.<\/p>\n

What makes 2 Pianos 4 Hands<\/em> so endearing are the characters we meet, such as Richie\u2019s fragile teacher Sister Loyola, or the hapless man in charge of the Kiwanis Festival, who has to endure 67 pairs of the Under 11s playing the same duet piece. In other words, the show gives Dykstra and Greenblatt the chance to show off their acting chops, as well as their piano playing skills \u2014 and they are extremely talented as both actors and pianists.<\/p>\n

\"Richard
Richard Greenblatt & Ted Dykstra in ‘2 Pianos 4 Hands’ (Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Throughout the show, we also get to hear some wonderful classical music from Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Grieg, Chopin, Alb\u00e9niz, Schumann, Liszt, and Schubert. There is also a touch of popular music by Hoagy Carmichael, Rodgers and Hart, and Billy Joel. Yes, \u201cPiano Man\u201d does make an appearance.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most shocking incident is Ted\u2019s audition for admittance to the Conservatory, and Greenblatt\u2019s ferocious, cutting, pulverizing, negative rant of refusal against a vulnerable young man. One wonders how a teenager ever recovers from such an onslaught. On the other hand, while Dykstra\u2019s telling young Richard he won\u2019t be admitted to the Faculty of Jazz is somewhat kinder, it is still, in its own way, very harsh.<\/p>\n

Designer Steve Lucas has provided two large picture frames for the set, which stand behind the two pianos. They serve to denote location. For example, a series of different windows indicate various rooms, such as the piano studios or the boys\u2019 own homes. We also get Kiwanis and Conservatory crests, for example.<\/p>\n

All in all, the charm of the show rests in Dykstra and Greenblatt, and the characters they portray. 2 Pianos 4 Hands<\/em> is a run-don\u2019t-walk, and a cheerful tonic for the disturbing temper of our times.<\/p>\n

And, a final note. I don\u2019t know how far each man really wanted to go in their pursuit of being a professional musician, classical or otherwise, but the theatre world is richer because this is where they have made their careers as actors, directors, and writers. Together, they have won 13 Dora Awards between them.<\/p>\n

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‘2 Pianos 4 Hands’ is a Canadian theatre classic \u2014 even if you\u2019ve\u00a0never had a piano lesson in your life, the show is laugh out loud with a bite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":75630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39907,4780,52,62,63],"tags":[20677,26369,40039],"yst_prominent_words":[28230,28229],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/2-Pianos-4-Hands-REVIEW.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-jFN","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75627"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75632,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75627\/revisions\/75632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75627"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=75627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}