2 Piano 4 Hands- a visual and musical treat that has been held over at the Panasonic Theatre in Toronto.

 

I’ve always looked on Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt’s marvellous love affair with the piano as a valentine to everyone who ever studied those 88 keys, to everyone who ever endured the same fusty commands to  "curve your fingers," "lower your wrists, " and especially to everyone who had to live through a piano recital with a churning stomach and an audience full of beady eyes just waiting for you to slip on a flat when it should have been sharp.
Back again and better than ever, 2 Pianos 4 Hands with Dykstra and Greenblatt is right on key, a visual and musical treat that’s so popular it’s been held over at the Panasonic Theatre until  Dec. 4. That shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. It’s played all over the world since its premiere in 1996 at the Tarragon Theatre, the brainchild of two childhood would-be prodigies who started comparing notes about their experiences studying piano while appearing at Chamber Concerts Canada’s So You Think You’re Mozart.

There’s been lots of things going on for both since then, Dykstra being a first rate actor who has recently starred in Soulpepper Theatre’s production of The Kreutzer Sonata, and writer/director/actor Greenblatt who has directed and performed in productions across Canada, most recently for Yichud in Toronto which he starred in and co-directed.  But it’s always been 4 Pianos Two Hands that has lingered in the heart of Canadians.
Yes, the former would-be prodigies are considerably older than they were when blonde and curly headed Dykstra (his piano teachers must have loved him) and Greenblatt first conceived the show 18 years ago. But together again at those two pianos facing each other, each one playing himself as a child, as an adult and as a professional, as well as taking turns with a host of piano teachers, moms, dads, their maturity has given the show more depth.
You have to love their interpretations of piano teachers through the years: the nun, Sister Loyola, ever so patient except she had to have her tea and a lie-down after a session with Teddy; Mr. Martin who seemed to bear a resemblance to the scattered Victor Borge; Mr. Scarlatti who had to stretch out on the floor because of his bad back and usually wound up falling asleep; and the never ending battle with teachers of how you should play an arpeggio, with one hand or two. "When you make love to a woman, do you use only one hand,? asked Mr. Scarlatti to an awe struck Ted.
As Ted and Richard grow up, long past their obligatory one-hour practice sessions a day, sneaking out to play hockey, sneaking in some jazz among the Mozart and Chopin, the Kiwanis competitions with a stony faced master of ceremonies who looked as if he were in pain while he dutifully informed the audience of 67 parents that all of the entrants would play the same piece which "should take about 4 hours," through all of the lessons and the teachers and competitions, the two each in their own way try to grapple with the fact that they are not going to be the concert pianists of their dreams, that to make a career out of playing the piano, one could be an impatient teacher or even play in a nightclub with inebriated customers blowing musical selections in your face while you played Piano Man, but neither one was going to be Horowitz playing The Mephisto Waltz at Carnegie Hall.
They would not be the best in the country nor in the city, but probably the best in their neighborhood. Then along came a brilliant idea, to make a musical production out of their experiences as kids growing up with a piano and ambition and the odd loopy teacher, a comedy of course, because how else could you entertain an audience with just a story of two young boys who wanted to play the piano.
Greenblatt and Dykstra are deft comedians both of whom can earn a hearty laugh from the audience with just a single physical movement or a slight expression. Sandwiched in between the sharp humor of a very clever script, the two really know how to play the piano and their musical selections which start with Bach and end with Bach’s melancholy Concerto in D Minor (dedicated to the late Tarragon Theatre Artistic Director Urjo Kareda), there is a pretty amazing compilation of classical pieces with the odd popular tunes taking turns.  Given a choice, I don’t think either Dykstra or Greenblatt ever regretted not being Horowitz at Carnegie Hall. When you have audiences all over the world cheering you on, that’s music to the ears. 2 Pianos 4 Hands plays  January 10 to 28 at the NAC, call 613-947-7000 for tickets.

It is currently playing at the Panasonic Theatre in Toronto, until January 2. 2012.
Photo: by Rick O’ Brien. L to R: Richard Greenblatt, Ted Dykstra in 2 Pianos 4 Hands

Review by Jeniva Berger first appeared on  www.scenechanges.com