![]() ![]() I mean, yes, when they launch into "Once In A Lifetime" - we can hear a little bit of it here. WELDON: Now, Chris, some listeners are going to be thinking, OK, what you're talking about here is a greatest hits, a victory lap. And my second instantaneous reaction was like, I miss resenting the jerks in the front row. And my first reaction was like - ugh, those jerks in the front row. And I got to say, early on, you see those people in the front row who are really feeling it, and they want everyone around them to know how deeply they're feeling it. I mean - and let's face it, this is as close as many of us are going to get to live theater for a while. And so I feel like there's sort of a palpable sense of, like, the fun that he's having as a director. MCDONALD: I'm not surprised at all by Spike's skill level, especially because I think a lot of the time his documentary films tend to be better than some of his narrative ones. But if David Byrne decided to start a cult, I would probably join it. I think of myself as a very sort of reasonable person. Certainly, that was the thing, after I saw it, where I kept listening to the Broadway cast recording on repeat (laughter) afterward. And part of what Spike, I think, gets at really well is just the joy that is so absolutely present in this show and makes it so addictive. And, of course, you know, from the moment this was announced, I was really interested, particularly because Jonathan Demme's film of "Stop Making Sense" is so indelible. You know, he gives us a different perspective of what that looks like. ![]() There's this really cool backdrop that's almost a sort of silvery beaded curtain that surrounds the outer corners of the stage. MCDONALD: So he's got, like, these wonderful sort of, like, overhead shots. ![]() I like to be nosey, and I feel like Spike indulged my nosiness because he is getting the angles that you can't necessarily see if you're just sitting in the audience, even from the rather nice press seats in the orchestra. MCDONALD: Yeah, I thought he did a great job. Soraya, you saw this production on Broadway, so let's start with how well Spike Lee captured it. Now, spoiler alert - we all love this thing. They're all barefoot, and they're all on wireless mics so they can move around the stage freely, which turns out to be important because as they play, they execute this very precise kind of color guard-y (ph) choreography by Annie-B Parson. They're all wearing the same silver gray suits. He's gradually joined by other performers, dancers, singers, guitarists, percussionists. It's a filmed version of a performance by Byrne and 11 international musicians, and it's as much a theatrical spectacle as a musical one. So "David Byrne's American Utopia" is now streaming on HBO Max. Hey, Chris.ĬHRIS KLIMEK, BYLINE: This ain't no party, ain't no disco, ain't no fooling around, Glen. WELDON: And also here from his home in Washington, D.C., is our old pal writer Chris Klimek. SORAYA NADIA MCDONALD: Thank you for having me. Joining us from her home in Brooklyn is Soraya Nadia McDonald, cultural critic for The Undefeated. I'm Glen Weldon, and today we're talking about "David Byrne's American Utopia" on POP CULTURE HAPPY HOUR from NPR, so don't go away. Director Spike Lee shoots the stage of Broadway's Hudson Theatre from a host of angles to capture the exuberant, rollicking, yet rigorously choreographed energy of Byrne and his fellow performers. The theatrical concert film "David Byrne's American Utopia" is a career-spanning celebration of Byrnes' music, both with Talking Heads and his solo stuff. But when you put them together, it works. David Byrne, Spike Lee - two artists with very defined, very distinct and yet very different sensibilities. ![]()
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