MEDIATHEK

Blue Moon Over Memphis is an original music theatre piece about Elvis Presley performed in the style of classical Japanese noh, with music composed expressly for the piece while following noh conventions of composition and performance. Performers include a main character (appearing first as a mysterious man haunting Elvis’s gravesite at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, and later as the spirit of Elvis); secondary character (a female Elvis fan); interlude character (a groundskeeper); male chorus of four; onstage ensemble of two drums and flute, and onstage attendant (as customary in noh). Masks and costumes combine the aesthetic of noh with evocations of the specific American characters. Also in keeping with the noh aesthetic is minimal use of props: a small grille represents the Music Gate at Graceland; a backdrop of a gnarled pine tree evokes the U.S. South as well as Japan, where a pine always serves as noh stage backdrop. A “bridge” leads from upstage right to the small square stage space, representing the path between the world of spirits and the living. The overall intent is to bring the emotive depths of noh to an American story of loneliness and despair. But the result is unlike anything in classical noh or contemporary music theatre. Above all, the transformation of iconic Elvis songs like “Blue Moon” and “Unchained Melody” into noh chant bares their melodic essence, creating a distinctive new soundscape that subtly but powerfully conveys the play’s themes.