THEATER - LIVE SOUND AND SCORE
Cormac's background extends from Rock and Roll bands to Accapella to Stringed Classical arrangements. Working closely with colleague Anya Saffir since 2003, Cormac has written music for live performance in the theater. The aesthetic doesn't draw attention to the live instruments and singers but merely covers the seams of the play.
“The music is especially lively and transformative with the Pipeline Theatre Company. Composer Cormac Bluestone (whose credits include TV’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) goes above and beyond.”
The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht
Presented by Pipeline Theater Company at Theater for a New City from March 5-19, 2011. Directed by Anya Saffir.
I wanted to do something different from the norm of existing productions of Caucasian Chalk Circle. I didn't want the music to sound "Brechtian" or "Theatrical". I wanted it to be completely accessible to anyone who heard it and I wanted it to be challenging and satisfying for the musicians to play every night.
Winner of the
2011 Innovative Theater Award
for Original Score
click for full album
“Composer Cormac Bluestone’s music is beautifully arranged with texture and layering that enhances dramatic moments and appropriately underscores the comedic spectacle of Chalk Circle, of which there is plenty.”
More Reviews Here for "The Caucasian Chalk Circle"
American Sojourns: Three Plays by Thornton Wilder
Presented by the A.R.T. Graduate Program at the Moscow Art Theater, Spring 2013. Directed by Anya Saffir
Performed by the 2013 Graduate Class at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University.
For this show, I didn't have a lot of instrumentalists and the show was going to be performed abroad in Moscow. In the spirit of Thornton Wilder's style, I aimed to keep the music simple and exclusively acapella so the show could be installed easily anywhere.
click for full album
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Presented by the Atlantic Theater Company's NYU program. Directed by Anya Saffir.
Fall 2008 at Atlantic Stage 2.
This production boasted a wealth of talented musicians who were able to play a multitude of instruments. Twelfth Night is full of references to music so my aim was to stuff the show with songs and score.
click for full album
Behind the Scenes Featurette - Caucasian Chalk Circle
An interview with Cormac Bluestone (Composer, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) on the music of Pipeline Theatre Company's production of Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle.
