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Video: Sting Show MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE Is Dancing to New York City Center
Apr 5, 2024
Kate Prince's Message in a Bottle and it's coming to New York City Center. Initially inspired by Sting's “Desert Rose” and including “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne,” “Fields of Gold,” and 23 more of the artist's most beloved songs, the new dance-theater show opened to rave reviews on London's West End and now makes its New York City debut. In this video, watch as the creative team meets the press!
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Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
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Up next for New York City Center is the stunning dance theater piece
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called Message in a Bottle, which is inspired by the iconic music
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from 17-time Grammy Award winner Sting. And we're in the rehearsal room to chat with the show's
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choreographer Kate Prince, musical arranger Alex Lacamoire, and Sting himself. This is such a powerful piece, serious piece
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about love, families, and... they've used my songs in a way that I find so heartening
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The meaning of the songs is absolutely intrinsic to the meta-narrative they're telling
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which is a miracle of Kate's choreography and also Alex's wonderful arrangement
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So, you know, I'm just here just to glorify in other people's work
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but I'm very happy to be here. It's a massive deal to be here at City Centre and to be in New York
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and to present work with Zunation for the first time, it's incredible. And to be here with these two gentlemen, what it means to you
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Well, they're all right. No, it's amazing. I'm very, very grateful, and these two men are at the top, top, top of their game
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and I don't really know what I'm doing here, to be honest. But I'm very happy to be here
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We're here because of you. You know that, right? Well what was wonderful was that Kate came up with a fantastic setlist and songs that really helped to further the story And she was very good at kind of expressing what she was looking for She would say oh I like a gospel choir on this song I like this song to just be about a cello
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Can we make a solo cello movement using the music of Sting? So for me, I just welcomed that
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That was a wonderful challenge for me. It was just like a puzzle for me to wrap my head around, and I just reveled in it
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I always like to try and tell stories through dance. I've always said I don't like empty steps
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I want to try and really move people with, outwards, but then I also wanted to use Sting's poetry in his lyrics and his music
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And it was trying to find a world where the two would meet and I could do justice to both
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the story, to the dance artists and to Sting's music. So Sting, when you were approached for this, what made you say yes
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This is a beautiful idea. She approached me. She approached me for 20 minutes, but I said yes immediately
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I don't know what we talked about for 20 minutes. I mean, I knew her work from before, and so the idea that my songs could be part of a, you
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A different art form altogether was a surprise to me. And then when I saw a workshop, I was crying with joy and also melancholy
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It's a very powerful story. And they've used my songs beautifully. Alex has arranged them beautifully
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So it's a win-win-win for me. Triple win. It's been an absolute dream
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I feel like I do my best work as an arranger when I really know the music
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And this is music that I known my entire life So it felt like it really allowed me to play And Sting has been so generous with allowing us to play with his music You know I don feel like he was micromanaging and saying
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no, this can't be this. He just really welcomed and gave us the space to really just be creative
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and just go somewhere and try to just take the audience on a journey. So I hope we did that
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I've never said, no, this is sacred. You can't touch this. I'm the opposite. I like when rappers use my songs
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Anybody can take what I've got and make it something different. It's exciting
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And one of my favorite moments in the show is that we use every breath you take, but the feel of it is completely different than the way people know it
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And we had Sting in the studio, and we gave him the parameters of how we wanted it to be
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And just one take, me on the piano, him on the vocals, and we just did it
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I would be surprised if we did the second one. I'm not going to afford
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The power of the story is something that I really, really, really care about and I really want that story to connect with audiences. And I find
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dance is a beautiful medium to do that. They are such beautiful, powerful storytellers, the dancers
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in this company. And they're very young, a lot of them. And they've never toured, let alone
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been in America or being on Broadway. So it's not lost on them. They are very, very grateful. We all are
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It's an incredible experience for us. And it's an honor to tell the story and to use Sting's music
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Sting having it here at City Center what it means to you having this show here Well I just live around the corner so it very handy for me To be honest I never actually been here before And I was stunned by the architecture
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I mean, it's a very inspiring space to see anything. But this piece is going to be great
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So please come. Oh, my God. I love City Center. As an institution, I've been here many, many times
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I've had the good fortune of putting up a show here at the City Center encores. So to know that this is a space that welcomes art
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in various types of mediums. Like, I've seen a rock concert here, I've seen a theater production here
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I've seen a dance piece here, and it all has a home within city center. So it feels just like an honor to be here
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What's also pretty amazing is because people know your music. They might not have seen anything live before
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You're going to introduce them to a whole new thing. Like, oh my gosh, they combine dance and theater
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and they do this live, what that means to you. I've always loved to see my work in a different medium
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in a different form. It just opens it out. There's more than one meaning
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and so I'm always happy when people adopt my stuff and make it different, make it better
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Dance is a harder thing to sell, I think. Going to a rock concert, going to a musical, that's much easier to sell
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A lot of people aren't sure they're going to like dance, but I hope that what they get in this piece is a full experience
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It's a full narrative and you get really invested in the characters and in what's happening to them
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And it's really uplifting as well. It's a story of survival and hope and resilience and how amazing human beings
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beings can be in the face of adversity
#Dance
#Musical Films
#Vocals & Show Tunes
#Broadway & Musical Theater