“Each time he performs in the UK, Stewart pulls together an awesome band of Scottish artists and this year is no exception.”
WHO: Sandy Bruns, Producer
WHAT: “Multi-award winning performer and artistic director Stewart D’Arrietta (My Leonard Cohen, Fringe 2016-17) returns with a new show for 2018. Belly of a Drunken Piano offers gritty, imaginative arrangements of the most-loved music from the most enigmatic and influential songwriters of the age, punctuated by D’Arrietta’s laconic humour and compositions of his own. The lyrical tragedies and jocular narratives of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen, Ian Dury, and others, inhabit the underworld of D’Arrietta’s drunken piano. All five-star reviews at Adelaide Fringe 2018 – ‘Not to be missed’ (BroadwayWorld.com). ‘10/10!’ (TheAdelaideShow.com.au).”
WHERE: Assembly Rooms – Ballroom 18:15 (Venue 20)
WHEN: 18:15 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
Stewart is a regular at the Edinburgh Festivals, this year being his fifth year at EdFringe. In 2016-17, ‘My Leonard Cohen’ was a big success with audiences, but he’s returning with a new show for 2018, titled ‘Belly of a Drunken Piano’, in which he’s taking on the material of Tom Waits, Ian Dury, Randy Newman and other musical legends.
Each time he performs in the UK, Stewart pulls together an awesome band of Scottish artists and this year is no exception.
What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?
The biggest thing for us since 2017 was the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Feb/March, at which Stewart premiered ‘Belly of a Drunken Piano’, to great acclaim. The show earned four reviews, all of them 5 star, including 5 stars from the Adelaide Advertiser (which is the Adelaide equivalent of getting a 5 star review from The Scotsman).
Tell us about your show.
We premiered the show at Adelaide Fringe Festival earlier this year. It represents a welcome return to some of Stewart’s favourite material, the music of Tom Waits, which he has worked with extensively in the past. Having performed his Tom Waits show (also titled ‘Belly of a Drunken Piano’) in New York for five years, Stewart was surprised to find himself faced with a ‘cease and desist’ order from the man himself!
This reincarnation of ‘Belly of a Drunken Piano’ offers gritty, imaginative arrangements of music from the most enigmatic and influential songwriters of the age, including Tom Waits, Randy Newman and Ian Dury, among others, punctuated by D’Arrietta’s laconic humour and compositions of his own.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
The Girl Who Jumped Off The Hollywood Sign – I saw it last year, very good. And we’re really looking forward to seeing stand up comedian Camilla Cleese, daughter of John Cleese, who is producing his daughter’s show. We bet it’ll be brilliant!
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