If you’re a fan of the cult podcast “This American Life”, then Ira Glass will need no introduction. Radio presenter, Glass is renowned for his story-telling. The tales he brings to the ears of the world are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, sometimes disturbing, sometimes fascinating. Now he takes on dance in a live show called “Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host,” which will play Arts Centre Melbourne and the Sydney Opera House in July.
As the name suggests, the show features dancers Monica Bill Barnes and Anna Bass, alongside Glass. If you’re wondering how dance and radio connect, Glass understands your confusion. “I know this whole thing sounds a little nuts but I swear it’s pretty great. Huge laughs. Big emotions,” says Glass. Dance is all visuals, no talking. Radio’s all talking, no visuals,” says Ira Glass. “But what the stories on “This American Life” have in common with dance is music. That’s a start. And Monica Bill Barnes and Anna Bass are such funny, human-scale, relatable sorts of performers; their sensibility somehow matches a lot of what we do on the radio show.”
As the title also indicates, the show is split into three parts: Act One is about the job of being a performer; Act Two is about falling (and staying) in love, and Act Three explores how nothing lasts forever. The show includes radio interviews restaged as dance pieces, alongside stories from the lives of the three performers. “Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host,” began life as a ten minute “test run” at Carnegie Hall in 2013. Now a 100 minute show, it has been performed in over 69 cities throughout the US.
For more information, including bookings, head to: www.sydneyoperahouse.com or www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
