Press Room

ANNAPOLIS SYMPHONY IS TOLD TO "STOP THE MUSIC!"

1/16/2009

For Immediate Release                                                      

January 16, 2009

Contact: William H. Martin

Phone:  410-269-1132    

bmartin@annapolissymphony.org

www.annapolissymphony.org

 

 

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- Dan Kamin, who created Johnny Depp's physical comedy routines in "Benny and Joon" and trained Robert Downey, Jr. for his Oscar-nominated performance in “Chaplin,” brings his unique blend of comedy and classical music back to Annapolis, when he performs "Stop the Music!" with the Annapolis Symphony on Saturday, February 7 at 2:00 and 3:30 PM.  Children and their families are invited to “Meet the Musicians” at 1:15 before the 2:00 show and 4:30 after the 3:30 show.

Kamin plays a policeman who threatens to arrest the orchestra because they're making too much noise.  Can conductor José-Luis Novo convince him that they have the right not to remain silent?  He can, because every time they play the cop is involuntarily drawn into the music, and acts out its themes with precisely choreographed comic action.  There's crime and punishment and even a Keystone Kops chase, as the orchestra proves decisively that music is not noise. This new show, having its debut performances with the ASO, is just the ticket to learn how musical instruments turn everyday sounds into exciting music.

Kamin's Comedy Concertos, which blend comedy with classical music, have become popular with symphonies around the world.  In addition to “Stop the Music!” they include “ “The Classical Clown,” "Charlie Chaplin at the Symphony,” “ The Haunted Orchestra” and “The Lost Elephant.”  This will be Kamin’s third appearance with the ASO.
 
“Dan’s work is sophisticated, but at the same time it’s accessible to everyone” said Marshall Mentz, General Manager of the ASO.  “His unique brand of comedy will delight the entire family, and his shows with the symphony will be a hoot.”  Asked about his movie work, Kamin says, “Classic movies inspired me, and I came full circle by adding classic visual comedy to modern films.  I taught Johnny Depp how to roll the coin around his fingers the way he does at the end of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’  But does he call?  Never.”  In addition to working with Depp and Downey, Kamin played the wooden Indian that came to life in the cult classic "Creepshow 2" and created Martian movement for Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks!"
Despite his impressive stage and screen credits, Kamin's artistic beginnings were humble.  At age twelve he began his performing career as a boy magician, “bravely struggling,” as he puts it, “to entertain audiences of hyper-kinetic, sugar-crazed children at birthday parties.”  Attending Carnegie Mellon University to study industrial design, Kamin's hopes for a normal life and career evaporated when he saw the eye-popping movement illusions practiced by master mime Jewel Walker.  He promptly became the sorcerer’s apprentice.
 

The great silent comedy films of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin added more fuel to his fire, and soon Kamin was touring the country with his first original show, “Silent Comedy...Live!”  Undeterred by the fact that vaudeville was long dead, he cobbled a new vaudeville circuit out of colleges, theatres, and corporations, for whom Kamin often appears as a keynote speaker who falls apart.  “I applied my industrial design skills to building a collapsing lectern.”  He also becomes "Mr. Slomo," an eerie character who strolls into arts festival crowds in slow motion “terrifying the very children who tormented me as a youth.”

Kamin returned to his comedy roots to write “Charlie Chaplin's One-Man Show,” revealing the secrets of Chaplin's comic art.  Hailed as a breakthrough work, the book boasted a preface by another Chaplin fan, Marcel Marceau.  Dan’s new book “The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion,” updates his earlier book and features an account of how he trained Downey for his Oscar-nominated performance.  During recent seasons Dan has toured his solo show, “Comedy in Motion,” throughout America and performed “Comedy Concertos” with many symphonies, including Atlanta, Delaware, Dallas, Milwaukee, Shanghai, Singapore and Malaysia. 
 
The ASO will perform four additional concerts of Stop the Music!  for the second grade students of Anne Arundel County on February 4th and February 5th, 2009.  The ASO gratefully acknowledges Provident Bank and Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour for their generous sponsorship.
 
Tickets to the 2009 ASO Family Concerts are $12 in all sections for ages 4 and up.  Tickets to this concert and packages for other concerts are available by calling the ASO Box Office at 410-263-0907 or online at www.annapolissymphony.org.

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Photos available upon request.

The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by grants from the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, and the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive.  An agency of the Department of Business & Economic Development, the MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to non profit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities.  Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes that a great nation deserves a great art.  This project is also supported by a grant from Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, a program developed and funded by the Heinz Endowments; the William Penn Foundation; the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency; and The Pew Charitable Trusts; and administered by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.