Despite ‘Capeman’ Failure, Morris Is Still Having a ‘Grand’ Time

Choreographer Mark Morris, 41, has long outgrown the “bad boy” image slapped on him at the beginning of his provocative and creative career. His company’s three-year tenure at the Theatre de La Monnaie, Belgium’s national opera house; his partnership with ballet superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov in creating the modern dance-based White Oak Project; and his first venture into opera--staging Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice” in 1996--added up to major cachet and a string of successes.

That is, until his rookie outing as director of Paul Simon’s ill-fated $11-million musical “The Capeman.” Based on a 1959 Puerto Rican gang killing in New York, “Capeman” closed in March after just 68 regular performances. Veteran Broadway director Jerry Zaks had been brought in at the end to replace Morris.

In two recent phone interviews--from his home in Boston and in San Francisco where he was creating a piece for San Francisco Ballet’s ‘98-99 season, Morris talked about “Capeman’s” fate, his company’s appearances in new-to-L.A. repertory this week at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, and the American premiere in June in Berkeley of his opera-dance production of Rameau’s “Platee.”

Question: How did you feel when Zaks was brought in to direct “The Capeman”?

Answer: It was disempowering. But that’s OK. There were a couple of people who came in at the end, who were brought in to make it shorter, more exciting. They ended up cutting quite a bit from the show, which was really good. I’m not real great at working with other directors, with other choreographers. I’d rather do it all myself.

Q: So what did you learn from “Capeman”?

A: I’m not into learn. I’m more interested in putting on a wonderful show. I’m more a teaching person. I thought it was a wonderful, fabulous show and it was shot down by the critics, and that’s the end of it. That’s too bad, but it’s not unusual.

Q: Any possibility of your reviving your part of it in some other form?

A: There’s nothing arranged along those lines. It’s gone.

Q: Your company will be dancing “I Don’t Want to Love,” “A Spell,” “Going Away Party” and “Grand Duo” in Irvine, works all new to Southern California. How did you pick them?

A: I change the repertory depending on where we’re going and what pieces are up. We have a lot of pieces in active repertory.

Q: Would you talk about them?

A: I love to talk about my work, but I won’t describe anything at all. “I Don’t Want to Love” uses Monteverdi madrigals for two and three voices, mostly male voices. They’re very passionate and a real mix of the tides of love, the emotions [of] young people when they go mad with love--very tragic, very beautiful and light and fun and sad. Everything.

Q: And you’re dancing in “A Spell,” aren’t you?

A: I play Eros. The music is by John Wilson, lute songs. We do it with piano, a 19th century treatment. A lute won’t carry very well in a theater. There are two lovers and love unites them, and that’s me.

Q: What about the other two works?

A: “Going Away Party” is the only dance [we’ll do here] to tape. The music is by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, recorded in the ‘70s--western swing. Wills invented the form, a genius songwriter. I love that music. It’s longish, 25 minutes or something. [But] if people know that, they [might] think, “Good, there’s only a couple of minutes left.”

“Grand Duo” is a piece we do a lot because it’s a big, giant, beautiful soul dance, for piano and violin and pretty much everybody in the company, except me. It’s a big, ancient-looking dance. It’s beautiful and it’s very active.

Q: What is “Platee” about?

A: It’s one of those stories based on mythology where Juno is very jealous of Jupiter’s philandering. Jupiter and Mercury set up a plot to pretend that Jupiter will marry this incredibly ugly amphibian, Platee. Jupiter proposes to her. He and Mercury set up what’s going to be a mock wedding. Juno appears, confronts Jupiter, who laughs about the idea of marrying such a scary, horrible being. They go off and are in love again, and the cycle starts over again.

It’s sort of a tragic ending for Platee. She’s actually a kind, wonderful creature. The moral is: Don’t marry above your station. The bad part of that is, be content with your own caste. But the good part is, whatever you want is right there in your terrarium. It’s the Wizard of Oz ending.

[To stage it,] I took my cues from the music, the story, my [research] on period practice and the traditions of opera buffo and court ballets.

Q: Any chance we’ll see it in Southern California?

A: [So far,] we’ve only done it in Scotland and in London. We’ll do it in New York. It would be great to do it in Orange County. It’s small for an opera [but] it’s pretty expensive. It’s cumbersome, [but] it’s wonderful. I hope this gig will reveal it to people.

Q: What about the new San Francisco Ballet piece?

A: [It will use] Leroy Anderson music, maybe other pieces. I’m not sure yet. It will be a big dance, probably for 25 people. [There’s] no name yet.

Q: And besides that, what’s ahead?

A: I don’t know. We’ll be at BAM in the fall, but we’re not going to the Edinburgh [International] Festival for the first time in years. We ran out of dances to do! So I’ll be making up new pieces, and we’ll have a long rehearsal period.

BE THERE

The Mark Morris Dance Group, tonight through Saturday, 8 p.m., Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive. $30-$38. (949) 854-4646.