Exploring ‘New Worlds’
Murray, friends create show blending classical tunes and literature
There are moments when Bill Murray seems to be America’s greatest cultural icon. (See: “Lost in Translation,” “Rushmore” and, well, “Groundhog Day.”) But stepping back to gain a little objectivity, certainly Mark Twain, Leonard Bernstein and James Thurber loom a little larger.
However, if you combine Murray with these older icons, add in world-renowned cellist Jan Vogler and a few legendary European classical composers, you have — well, what do you have?
“There is no template for what we are doing,” Murray said from an RV rolling through rural Pennsylvania. “This show, this tour we are doing just developed naturally. It’s a layering of music and readings that is really not like anything else.”
Currently Murray, Vogler, pianist Vanessa Perez and violinist Mira Wang are on the road promoting their album “New Worlds,” an LP that pairs works from Johann Sebastian Bach, Maurice Ravel and others with Murray reading selections from the canon of American literature.
When the group brings the show to the Orpheum Theatre Thursday and Worcester’s Hanover Theatre April 22, audiences can expect everything from Murray singing tunes from “West Side Story” or Stephen Foster’s “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” to reading Walt Whitman or Ernest Hemingway.
Since the CD’s release in October, between Murray’s film work and the others’ engagements with the world’s greatest orchestras, the group has performed live from Carnegie Hall to Berlin (and will travel to Australia this summer). Murray feels they are starting to get the hang of it.
“Last night in Philadelphia, we had our best show yet,” Murray said.
“Absolutely,” added Vogler from a seat next to Murray on the RV. Then he chuckled. “We really are getting better.”
For Murray, the shows have been a chance to return to live performing, something he’s been meaning to get back to since getting his start with the Chicago improv troupe Second City and working on “Saturday Night Live.”
“I always thought I’d find my way back through Broadway or something like that,” he said. “But this is better. It’s not like we’re doing one play night after night. This is a living, breathing thing. The material is so great, we keep adding songs, we are out here on the road like it was the 1920s and we’re bringing Shakespeare to the masses. It’s incredibly fulfilling.”
It’s also a challenge. The other three players are some of the best in the world. Murray is no slouch — and has had professional vocal training — but he found it a struggle to keep up.
“It’s almost like my voice was up on blocks somewhere,” he said. “I wasn’t worried until we had already done a show. Someone suggested we tape it, and when I saw the recording, I realized I was way, way behind. I was instantly aware how derelict I was.”
Volger doesn’t agree with that assessment. But he does agree Murray and the whole ensemble are miles from where they started. The endeavor has been so rewarding, both want to find a way to keep it going as long as possible.
“When your last show is your best show, it’s worth keeping it up a while,” Murray said.
Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends: New Worlds, at the Orpheum Theatre, Thursday, and at the Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester, April 22. Tickets: $43-$124; ticketmaster.com