L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano T hroughout December, the For the Record Group brought to the stage a show based on one of the world's best loved holiday movies, Love Ac- tually. Using a multimedia set, a 15-piece orchestra and songs from the film, the show turned Beverly Hills' Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts into a feel- good Winter set, backdrop to some of the cult British romantic comedy's best love scenes. Inspired by the movie written and directed by Richard Curtis, the production transformed the theater into an interactive space where the audience space was lit- erally "invaded" by the actors, in a one-of-a kind 360° live theatrical experience, lead by the For the Record Group and its 15 musi- cians, who performed live. The musical was made lively by Christmas and pop hits by Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, the Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, and many more. It included hits like Christmas Is All Around, The Trouble With Love Is, and Both Sides Now, performed by an eclectic mix of artists from the world of music, stage, and silver screen. Beside the band For The Record, Love Actually Live brought Rumer Willis to the stage, as well as the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Steve Kazee, Kel- ley Jakle (from Pitch Perfect), Carrie Manolakos ( B r o a d w a y ' s  M a m m a Mia! and Wicked), Justin Sargent (NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert) and more.  For The Record are known for their soundtrack performances of some of the best known master- pieces of cinema, created by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, John Hughes, Baz Luhrmann, The Coen Brothers, Paul Thomas An- derson, Martin Scorsese, Robert Zemeckis, and Garry and Penny Marshall. Their shows are a mix between a rock and roll concert and a mu- sical, and they have been touring all over the country with shows in Los Angeles, Las Vegas (a three- year run with Cirque du Soleil and The Venetian), New York, Chicago, Indianapolis, The Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, SXSW in Austin, TX, The Montreal Inter- national Jazz Festival. They are currently making waves on Nor- wegian Cruise Line's mega-ship, The Escape. For The Record's drummer is SILVIA GIUDICI Love Actually turns into a musical with Italian drummer Gianluca Palmieri In Italy, I had already done musicals in 2011 with Vittorio Matteucci, who's one of the most famous voices on the Italian mu- sical scene. As an Italian and, in particular, as a Neapolitan, I think I brought to this experience the eclecticism I gained from my musical educa- tion, which has been varied be- cause, when it comes to music, Naples is influenced by a plethora of genres, from jazz to neo- melodico, with hints of pop, African and Balkan rhythms. There is really a bit of every- thing. This kind of approach to mu- sic, that is based on diversity and improvisation, I can fully express in situations like the musicals where I have more freedom and I can lead the band to a different sound. What have I learned? Certainly more discipline and to give all of myself for the success of the show. Love Actually Live is an impressive show, very expensive, and to do it you have to act im- peccably like the gear of a ma- chine, while giving also some of your personal touch. How is the music scene in Los Angeles? LA's musical scene is not Broadway, but it's growing. There are more shows and more offer, also thanks to the Pantages theater, that brings the most fa- mous Broadway shows to the city. The music scene, on the other hand, is top notch, the best scene in the world. All big productions start from here. Love Actually Live is adapted and directed by Anderson Davis, with musical supervision and arrangements by Jesse Vargas, vocal design by Tony Award nominee AnnMarie Milazzo, mu- sical staging by Sumie Maeda, scenic design by Emmy Award winner Matthew Steinbrenner, lighting design by Michael Berger, sound design by Ben Sol- date, costume design by Steve Mazurek, and video design by Aaron Rhyne. It is coproduced by Shane Scheel, Siobhan O'Neill, and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The lineup also includes Kel- ley Jakle (Pitch Perfect), Rex Smith, B. Slade, Carrie Manolakos (Wicked), Justin Sar- gent (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert), Zak Resnick (Mamma Mia!), Doug Kreeger (Les Misérables), Olivia Kuper Harris, Tomasina Abate, Sean Yves Lessard, Cairo McGee, Glory Curda, Tom Zmuda, Alex Csillag, Megan Shung, Carson Higgins, and Emily Lopez. the Italian musician Gianluca Palmieri, who moved to Los An- geles in 2006 to study at the Hol- lywood's Musician Institute. Gianluca, how did you join For The Record? It was 2013 and I had just re- turned to America after receiving an offer to teach at the Musician Institute, where I graduated in 2007. Strange as it may seem, in February 2014 I replied to a craigslist post to start a musical collaboration in a bar in West Hollywood, the DBA. After the audition, I started off as a substi- tute and, since 2016, we have been staging a Martin Scorsese show, a great success, at the Wal- lis Theater in Beverly Hills. In the same location, we have per- formed Love Actually Live in re- cent months, and Tarantino's show in July 2018, starring Evan Rachel Woods and other actors who had an amazing career, like Rumer Willis, daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. Did you reach fame thanks to the Tarantino's movies' live show? It's definitely one of the most popular musicals, and it was the first for me, so I'm very attached to it, it is the most rock and roll, the most visceral. The same can be said about Baz Luhrmann's show, which has been performed for over a year at the Rockwell in Los Feliz and became a residency in Las Vegas. Tarantino is the next show we have in our sched- ule, maybe even with a tour. Quentin has come very often to see the show, he loves it very much. Martin Scorsese and Baz Luhrmann have also come to see their shows many times. What's special about your shows? Our shows were conceived to be performed in small locations, so they are fully interactive, the actors are everywhere in the room, everything has been made so that action takes place within the audience, with our cast inter- acting with the public by sitting on them, eating from their plate and things like that. This is a very different format and it was imme- diately loved by the public. The film scenes are presented "live," with a common thread between one scene and the other. In addition to the actors and performers' great talent, there's a continuous interaction between the band and the actors them- selves. In one scene from the Tarantino's show, for instance, I get involved myself: I get shot at and die! What contribution you feel you have been giving to the shows as an Italian, and what have you been learning from this experience? LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY Gianluca Palmieri with Quentin Tarantino

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