John Malkovich bringing ‘The Music Critic’ to the US (2023 tour dates)
John Malkovich will star in The Music Critic on a limited tour of the United States this fall, having previously performed the play abroad. The play was created and conceived by Aleksey Igudesman and features compositions by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Schumann, Debussy, Prokofiev, Ysaÿe, Kancheli, Piazzolla and Igudesman. Here's the synopsis:
Schumann fancies himself a "composer," while Brahms is a "giftless bastard" and Claude Debussy is simply ugly. Aleksey Igudesman has created a sardonic mix of the most evil music critiques of the last centuries written about some of the greatest works of music. Equipped with a frivolous potpourri of musical insults, John Malkovich slips into the role of the evil critic who believes the music of Beethoven, Chopin, Prokofiev and the likes to be weary and dreary.
Aleksey Igudesman, Hyung-ki Joo and other great musicians beg to differ and fight back. The grand finale is "The Malkovich Torment", a horrific review about Malkovich himself, which Igudesman has set to music in a uniquely sardonically humorous way.
“I have always loved the opportunity to collaborate on The Music Critic with Aleksey Igudesman, Hyung-ki Joo, and many other gifted and thoughtful young classical musicians," says Malkovich in a statement. "We are all happy to be back on the road, and for the first time also in the USA, participating in an evening which consists of some of the greatest compositions in the history of classical music, paired with the perhaps rather unexpected initial reactions those compositions elicited from some of the world’s renowned music critics, along with some other surprises.”
Dates include Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Detroit, Chicago, NYC (Beacon Theatre on 10/28), and Portland, OR. Tickets for all dates of the tour go on sale Friday, May 12 at 10 AM local time. All dates are listed below.
A 2020 performance of The Music Critic in Vienna was filmed for video release and is available to rent on most streaming services. Watch the trailer below.
THE MUSIC CRITIC - 2023 TOUR DATES
Benaroya Hall, Seattle WA – October 17, 2023
Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles CA – October 20, 2023
Majestic Theater, Dallas, Texas – October 21, 2023
Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, San Antonio, Texas – October 22, 2023
Long Center for the Performing Arts, Austin, Texas – October, 23, 2023
Filmore Theatre, Detroit, MI – October, 25, 2023
Chicago Theatre, Chicago IL – October 26, 2023
The Beacon Theatre, New York, NY – October 28, 2023
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, OR – June 12, 2024