“The music for Pepperland, arranged on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is important to me because of the enormous impact the album caused in popular culture at large. When I was approached to participate in the commemorative project in Liverpool, I re-examined the recording and found so much of interest in it that I eagerly took on the big project of turning these very familiar songs into an evening-length music and dance show. Pepperland is the exciting result”. -– Mark Morris

Created at the request of the City of Liverpool to start its Sgt. Pepper at 50 Festival in May 2017, the evening-length work features an original score by composer Ethan Iverson interspersing arrangements of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “A Day in the Life,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Within You Without You,” and “Penny Lane” along with six original Pepper-inspired pieces intended especially for Mark Morris’ profound understanding of classical forms: Allegro, Scherzo, Adagio, and the blues. This colorful new piece resounds with the ingenuity, musicality, wit, and humanity for which the company is known.

Music: The Beatles and Ethan Iverson
Choreography: Mark Morris
Costume Designer: Elizabeth Kurtzman