Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sting, Trudie Styler Make “Spirits” Fly in LA Theater Premiere

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Sting was back in Los Angeles last night, fresh from a wildly successful symphony tour of Australia, Japan and New Zealand. He’s on his way to Cleveland, Newark, and Lima, Peru, but managed to make a stop at the Mark Taper Forum to co-star in a one off night with wife Trudie Styler in “Twin Spirits,” a dramatic program performed with classical musicans based on the letters of Robert and Clara Schumann. The evening was a charity fundraiser for the Culture Project, and drew the likes of actress Maria Bello, Chad Lowe, and dozens of media types to the sold out theater to see the couple and John Lithgow–who pitched in on an off night from his neighboring one man show–and violinist Joshua Bell.

Sting and Trudie have filmed “Twin Spirits” for video (you can get the DVD on www.twinspirits.com) but the more they perform it live, the better it gets. The Schumanns’s love story has humor and pathos, and is quite romantic. Styler especially underscores their doomed relationship, as Schumann died young. (And Clara– a gifted concert pianist–went on to become the paramour of Brahms–a whole other story!) Styler got rave reviews from the audience–the former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company should be acting more!

After the show, Sting–who’s been halfway around the world since the beginning of January–did ask me to catch him up on a few things, like Ricky Gervais on the Golden Globes, and Lady GaGa. He thought Ricky was great, by the way, but went over the line with his attack on Robert Downey, Jr. “It wasn’t funny because it was an old story, it wasn’t topical,” Sting observed. How true!

Next up for  Sting: work on the Broadway musical version of “The Soul Cages.” It will not, he promised, feature any flying or aerial acrobatics! What a relief.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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