Helen Mirren, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Taylor Hackford, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Tsar Nicholas II: who could have ever imagined that these “personalities” would all be appearing live to connect with Florentines at the central Teatro Niccolini.
Helen Mirren
Jonathan Silvestri
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Taylor Hackford
I still remember the first time I saw Mikhail Baryshnikov dance. I was ten years old, studying piano, and I watched a PBS broadcast of Prokofiev’s and Balanchine’s The Prodigal Son. Choreographed by Balanchine as the last ballet for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in Paris, Prokofiev hated the choreography and refused to pay Balanchine his royalties. Nevertheless, the ballet became a classic and it introduced Mikhail Baryshnikov’s art to Americans. In my child’s mind, I thought ballet was too “precious”, having played “oom-chuck-chuck” for a few ballet classes as a kid. What I saw that day on TV changed me. The intensity and direct rawness of the music, the staggering proficiency and modern accessibility of Baryshnikov, who had only recently defected to the West from Soviet Russia, was life-altering. In my music studies, I was striving to grasp the meaning and execution of a perfect musical phrase: how it rises, top notes then floating miraculously in mid-air, all at once erasing, but also extending time, and then descending to land in exactly the right place, creating an ideal shape. Watching Baryshnikov’s musical phrasing as he danced, I understood I was experiencing the world’s most perfect musician. I would spend a lifetime endeavoring to apply what I saw as perfect to music.
Years later, now a practicing musician, I found myself seated next to Taylor Hackford, the pre-eminent Oscar-winning film director, at a Beverly Hills party honoring Gil Cates, the theatre producer and television director who had directed some 14 Oscar broadcasts. Taylor knew that I had played the role of George Gershwin on stage in productions throughout the world and he knew I was a pianist and an actor. He loved music, having produced many a documentary about some of our rock and roll greats, such as Chuck Berry. By that point, he had directed An Officer and a Gentleman, The Devil’s Advocate, Ray, Dolores Claiborne, Against All Odds and, a particular favorite of mine, White Nights. Having continued to study Baryshnikov’s musical perfection, I had seen White Nights, the story of a famous ballet dancer who defects from Russia only to find himself back there because of a plane crash. To me, the opening sequence of Baryshnikov dancing Roland Petit’s Jeune Homme et La Mort was the most perfect capture of dance, music and theatre on film. Baryshnikov’s performance is breathtaking. I had never seen anything like that. Finding myself next to the man who directed that film was equally as breathtaking, more so because, a year later, together we would be producing Louis and Keeley Live at the Sahara about Sicilian musician Louis Prima, the greatest jazz entertainer of all time. It’s a musical play I would really love to present in Florence.
A few weeks after that initial meeting, Taylor invited me to celebrate American Thanksgiving with his family because I was performing in Los Angeles and my wife was at home in Europe while I was working. I gratefully accepted and found myself sitting next to Taylor’s wife, Helen Mirren. If I was ever a fan of Baryshnikov’s dancing, I was equally mesmerized by Helen’s presence and her capacity to embody characters, make them fully believable and, so effortlessly, have us empathize. Helen’s work over the years demonstrated this uncanny ability time and again. To sit next to her and discuss character and the art of performance was float-inducing. Some weeks before, Helen had seen me perform one of my plays. At the after party, in front of the whole crowd, she offered me a theatrical curtsy, the likes of which I have never experienced. As that evening dinner progressed, I ran into Helen’s sister, Kate, in the kitchen who remarked, “Guests wash up, you know”. I took Kate at her word. Ninety minutes later, Taylor and Helen came looking for me, thinking I had disappeared. I told them that Kate had told me that “guests wash up,” so that’s what I did. The kitchen was a few minutes from being completely tidy, after dinner for some 25 family members. Helen and Taylor were astonished, and started to laugh. They dragged me into the living room and roasted me for having paid attention to Kate’s joke, while the others were astonished that I had done all the dishes (no doubt secretly grateful!) and all of them said, “You’re now a part of this family.” We have been family ever since.
So when the opportunity arose to assemble a season for Florence and FirenzeOnStage.com—Teatro Niccolini and Teatro della Signoria, two of Florence’s most prestigious theatres—I called on friends and family to begin the process of introducing live performances and incontri with great living artists in our beautiful city. To that end, Mikhail, Helen and Taylor will all be appearing live to present their seminal 1985 film White Nights at our beloved Teatro Niccolini on December 18. There will be a meet and greet and an interactive audience discussion with the artists following a screening of the film. Hearing the backstory and how so much relates to Baryshnikov’s real-life escape from Soviet Russia, having Helen and Taylor together discussing the film when they first met and became a couple, and celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of the film makes this a once-in-a-lifetime Florentine night to remember.
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar: a musical play
Just before that, on December 6 and 7, I will bring one of my own characters to life at il Niccolini in English with Italian supertitles. Bringing my newest creation Rachmaninoff and the Tsar to the stage in Florence for its European premiere is meaningful since I have already given premieres in Los Angeles, San Diego and Houston and, in the new year, I will continue with San Francisco, Orange County, Santa Barbara, on Broadway in NY, and Chicago. Here in Florence, I will be essaying the role of Sergei Rachmaninoff, the beloved composer who escaped Russia during the 1917 revolution, eventually ending up in Beverly Hills, California, with his most famous Prelude in C#- ending up in a Disney cartoon being played by Mickey Mouse. Playing opposite me is Roman-British Jonathan Silvestri, a tremendous stage actor who appears in films, on Italian and international television, and who played the role of Eugene Delacroix in my film about Chopin and Liszt called Noble Genius. Jonathan will bring Tsar Nicholas II, the last Russian tsar, to life, opposite me as I play Rachmaninoff’s most beloved works live on stage in a story about the encounter of these two men and a significant mystery that they were surprisingly both a part of.
I’m so proud to be a part of the Florence community, bringing friends old and new alike to the stage to interact with audiences here, both locals and international visitors. There’s a whole lot more coming up this season and, the more we are able to be together in live performance venues, the more Florence will feel like home for us all!
