2 PIANOS 4 HANDS created, performed and directed by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt (David Mirvish/Marquis Entertainment/Talking Fingers Inc.). At the Royal Alexandra Theatre (260 King West) until July 17. $49-$129 (some same-day rush $29). mirvish.com. Rating: NNNNN
Smart phones and electronic metronomes may not have existed in 1996 when Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt debuted 2 Pianos 4 Hands at the Tarragon Theatre. But apart from those details, every note the two sound – on the piano and in their script – feels fresh, especially if you’ve ever had to perform arpeggios, identify relative minor keys and repeat complicated rhythmic routines at conservatory exams.
Although I didn’t see that original Tarragon staging, I caught the remounts several times, and, like that other Canadian classic, Billy Bishop Goes To War, the work becomes more fascinating as the writer/performers get older. Today, Dykstra and Greenblatt are closer in age to the teachers, parents and adjudicators they depict along with their younger, earlier selves. They are parents themselves. There’s nothing like lived experience, and in this case decades of friendship, to add texture and depth to a performance.
After a fun little prelude involving a Bach concerto we’ll revisit later in the show, we’re introduced to Greenblatt and Dykstra in the first of many vignettes. Richie and Teddy are approximately seven or eight years old and, sitting in front of Steinways on either side of the stage, are being instructed by their teachers to curve their fingers, stop relying on the damper pedal and told by parents (Richie’s mom, Teddy’s dad) to practice when they’d rather be outdoors playing.
Soon they’re competing in Kiwanas festivals (just the name elicits laughs and groans from the audience), graduating to more experienced teachers, taking exams and wondering what the future holds. The piece is beautifully structured. In the first act, Teddy’s father (Greenblatt), a former piano player himself, lectures the boy on the importance of practicing; in the second act, seeing how seriously Ted is taking music, he implores him to go outside and have more fun.
As the two begin to understand the limitations of their talents, they’re faced with the question of what to do next. Teach? Switch to jazz (as if it were that easy)? Become a lounge pianist? And this is where the play becomes beautifully universal and profound. Even if you’ve never studied an instrument, you’ll know the feeling of getting to a certain point – in a sport, hobby, profession – where you realize you’ll never be one of the greats. Most of us won’t. Life goes on.
Of course, 2 Pianos 4 Hands features mostly classical music: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin. But there are snatches of popular music, too. One of the show’s funniest moments (and there are many) comes when a piece by Franz Liszt morphs into a song by Elton John, which introduces one of the most crowd-pleasing sequences in the show.
Greenblatt and Dykstra, who have accomplished in the theatre world what they weren’t able to in classical music, deliver note-perfect performances. Their depictions of both their snivelling, slouch-shouldered younger versions and their cocky teenage selves, as well as the adult figures around them are done with precision, affection and love. And age has given them something they may not have had earlier on – gravitas.
The production, designed by Steve Lucas, is spare yet effective, with projections and sounds evoking everything from quiet living rooms to massive halls and even a piano lounge. If I have one caveat, it’d be satisfying to see photos of the two as children and then youths at the piano, or at recitals, projected onto the screen during their deceptively simple encore.
But that’s quibbling. Maestros Dykstra and Greenblatt more than earn their standing ovation.