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Matthew Bourne

Sue Lawley's castaway is choreographer Matthew Bourne.

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the internationally acclaimed choreographer Matthew Bourne. He was born in the East End of London in 1960. As a child, his great passion was musicals and stage shows - rather than ballet. Despite his later success, he showed no interest in dance until the age of 20 when he enrolled at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London.

He's built his reputation on his unconventional interpretations of classical ballets such as Nutcracker which he reworked from being a cosy Christmas setting to a grim Victorian Orphanage. Swan Lake was similarly changed with the traditional tutu-clad ballerinas being replaced by dozens of bare-chested male dancers with wings, and he transformed Carmen into Car Man about a bisexual male drifter set in a small American town. He was awarded an OBE in 2001.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Night and Day by Ella Fitzgerald
Book: Diaries by Kenneth Williams
Luxury: Spotted Dick with Lyon's syrup

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 19 Nov 2004 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Swan Lake - Act 4 (finale)

    Orchestra: New London Orchestra Conductor: David Lloyd Jones

    • Swan Lake.
    • Teldec.

  • Julie Andrews & Irwin Kostal

    Prelude and The Sound of Music

    • The Sound of Music.
    • RCA.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Ella Fitzgerald

      Night and Day

      • Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book.
      • Verve.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Grand Waltz (from Cinderella)

    Orchestra: The Russian National Orchestra Conductor: Mikhail Pletnev

    • Cinderella.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • Percy Grainger

    Lord Peter's Stable Boy

    Orchestra: Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Richard Hickox

    • Grainger: Works for Chorus and Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Rufus Wainwright

    Dinner at Eight

    • Want One.
    • Dreamworks.

  • NoΓ«l Coward

    London Pride

    • London Pride.
    • Conifer.

  • George Gershwin

    Rhapsody in Blue

    Orchestra: Paul Whiteman Jazz Orchestra

    • Orchestral Works: Gershwin.
    • Past Perfect.

  • Book Choice

    • Diaries - Kenneth Williams

  • Luxury Choice

    • Spotted Dick with Lyon’s syrup

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Matthew Bourne

Broadcast

  • Fri 19 Nov 2004 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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