On 23 November, Auckland’s leading orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO), and New Zealand’s foremost circus theatre company, The Dust Palace, unite for an enchanting, full-scale, collaborative concert presented in association with Auckland Live.
A magical forest complete with cheeky fairies, sublime creatures, dark things and a delightful doctor who is on a life-saving mission for the King, Midnight is a sumptuous circus show set to some of the most evocative orchestral music ever composed.
Audiences will experience high-flying acrobatics, mime, contortions, hand, chair and person balancing, plus several acts unique to The Dust Palace. The soundtrack, which includes favourites like Debussy’s sublime Clair de Lune, Mendelssohn’s spritely A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the heart-wrenching pathos of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, will be performed live by the APO.
Midnight conductor David Kay says, “The APO is renowned for its diverse repertoire, but the boundary-pushing Midnight is the one of the most innovative concerts this year. We can’t wait to see how the performers interpret and liberate the well-known classical works in the programme.”
The Dust Palace’s company includes well-known New Zealand actors and company founders, Mike Edward and Eve Gordon, as well as dancers, aerialists, contortionists and a Commonwealth gold medal-winning gymnast.
Eve Gordon says, “This is unlike anything we’ve done before and we’ve been enjoying the process of precisely setting our work to these beautiful classical works. The excitement of hanging over the orchestra while they play - figuratively speaking of course - has created a new dimension for us and we hope will also add to the nail-biting thrill for the audience.”
Midnight, presented in association with Auckland Live, will set the Aotea Centre’s ASB Theatre soaring for one night only, on Thursday 23 November.