From the moment I spotted the striking Marcy Harriell make her way into the orchestra pit at the Granada, I could tell that Mark Morris Dance Group’s The Look of Love: An Evening of Dance to the Music of Burt Bacharach was not going to be an ordinary dance show. As the lead singer in a performance that Morris himself described afterward as “a music show with dance, rather than a dance show with music,” the vocal stylings of Broadway star Harriell were the first of many happy surprises of the evening.
With Ethan Iverson’s thoughtfully arranged score to an array of hit songs by the late composer Burt Bacharach and his lyricist Hal David bounced up against fabulous color blocked costumes by Isaac Mizrahi (think men and women in bright pink, orange, teal, chartreuse, lavender, and golden ensembles that Mary Tyler Moore would have loved), this was a joyful show from the always interesting and creative mind of Morris, who last collaborated with Iverson on Pepperland, featuring the music of the Beatles.
“I’m a bad dance promoter because sometimes I don’t like a dance show — I like a music show,” quipped the famed and hilariously dramatic choreographer when asked about his inspiration during an after-show talk back onstage. “I’m sorry. And of course, music is this big” — with an arms wide gesture — “and dance is this big” — arms smaller gesture — “so I chose something that I’m passionate about and love and adore, which is music. And because of that, I make up dances.”