Grammys 2012: Backstage with 'Book of Mormon' winner Trey Parker

The first question for “The Book of Mormon” co-creator Trey Parker wasn’t how he felt to take home a Grammy for best musical theater album on Sunday. Instead, the “South Park” mastermind was quizzed on how Mormons have reacted to the show’s lightning success.

Parker and fellow “South Park” co-creator Matt Stone have seen their debut Broadway musical – a saucy look at missionaries in AIDS-plagued Africa – take the Great White Way by storm.

“We actually are very happy to find that Mormons like the show,” Parker said, laughing backstage during Sunday’s ceremonies. “For some, it's like their ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ We know when they are there because they laugh at some of the stuff others don’t.”

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Parker was joined at the Grammys by Robert Lopez, who wrote the songs and the book for the musical with Parker and Stone; Stephen Oremus, the show's musical director and vocal arranger and Anne Garefino, one of the show's producers. Stone did not attend.

Grammy Awards 2012: Carrington and Corea among jazz winners

Though the Grammys have a long history of leaning toward familiar names and sympathetic favorites, this year's awards in the jazz category found the Recording Academy mixing a few surprises Sunday with its choices that, as usual, left ample room for debate.

In a category that featured a number of delicious story lines in jazz titan Sonny Rollins' bracing live recording "Road Shows Vol. 2"; Joe Lovano's tribute to Charlie Parker, "Bird Songs"; and pianist Fred Hersch's live recording that marked his continued return to health, "Alone at the Vanguard," Grammy voters veered toward another stand-by in Chick Corea for the live double-album "Forever."

Teamed with Return to Forever bandmates Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, Corea also took home another Grammy for improvised solo with a take on "500 Miles High," which was first recorded in 1972.

Full Coverage: 54^th annual Grammy Awards

In the large ensemble category, bassist Christian McBride collected his first Grammy as a bandleader for what was also his debut big band recording, "Good Feeling." McBride bested sympathetic favorite Gerald Wilson, who at 93 was vying for his first Grammy after eight nominations with the album "Legacy." Saxophonist Miguel Zenón, whose album "Alma Adentra: The Puerto Rican Songbook" was a critical favorite last year, also lost out to McBride, who was the L.A Philharmonic's creative chair for jazz from 2006 to 2010.

Grammy Awards 2012: Gustavo Dudamel, L.A. Philharmonic win

 

Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic won a Grammy Award on Sunday for their recording of Brahms' Fourth Symphony. It marked the first Grammy win in Dudamel's career.

No single album dominated the classical categories this year, but the list of winners featured a few major names, including composer John Adams, singer Joyce DiDonato and the group Eighth Blackbird.

The classical awards were handed out Sunday afternoon as part of a pre-show ceremony at Staples Center that was broadcast online.

Full Coverage: 54^th annual Grammy Awards

The L.A. Philharmonic's album of Brahms' Fourth Symphony was released last year by Deutsche Grammophon. The recording was part of the orchestra's Brahms Unbound series last season at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic are currently on a concert tour in Venezuela and were not present to accept their award.

Grammy Awards 2012: 'Book of Mormon' wins for musical theater

 

"The Book of Mormon," the hit Broadway musical from the creators of "South Park," added to its stash of awards Sunday when it won a Grammy for musical theater album. The cast recording features the original Broadway ensemble, including Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells.

"South Park's" Trey Parker was on hand to accept the award during a pre-show ceremony at Staples Center. "Wow, Mormons are having a great year," he said in reference to Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. "They have a Grammy now too."

Parker was joined on stage by Robert Lopez, a 2004 nominee in this category for "Avenue Q." They, with "South Park's" Matt Stone wrote the songs and the book for the musical.

Full Coverage: 54^th annual Grammy Awards

"Mormon" beat out the albums for "Anything Goes" and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."

In September, "Mormon" will make its L.A. debut at the Pantages Theatre as part of its national tour. The local engagement is set to run for 12 weeks from Sept. 5-Nov. 25. The musical won nine Tony Awards last year, including the prize for new musical.

Last year's Grammy winner in the musical-theater category was Green Day's "American Idiot," which is coming to the Ahmanson Theatre March 13-April 22.

[A previous version of this post incorrectly identified Trey Parker.]

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Photo: A scene from "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway. Credit: Joan Marcus

Grammy-nominated Pilobolus gets ready for the big night [Video]

As the leadership team of Pilobolus Dance Theater readies itself to fly to Los Angeles for Sunday’s Grammy Awards -– the group is nominated for best short form music video for “All Is Not Lost” –- the dance troupe’s co-executive director Lily Binns is feeling “really, really nervous” (“we’re up against Adele!”) and quite celebratory about the way the troupe is expanding its artistic reach.

This is not the company’s first foray into music videos. Rather incongruously, Pilobolus dancers appeared as background elements in Marilyn Manson’s 1999 “The Beautiful People” video.

But this Grammy nod, shared with OK Go’s frontman Damian Kulash Jr. and his videographer/choreographer sister Trish Sie, was based on “truly a full collaboration for us,” Binns says. “We share a similiar sensibility with OK Go and Trish Sie,” she explains. “We all like making the impossible look possible.”

For “All Is Not Lost,” Pilobolus and OK Go set up shop for five days in a small town hall near the dance troupe’s Connecticut base (“the Woodbury Town Hall didn’t know what hit it,” she says) and shot the dancers and musicians from beneath a large glass platform atop which they undertake vintage Pilobolus contortions and organize their bare standing feet to spell out Roman letters and Japanese Katakana syllabary.

Frank Gehry designs official poster for Grammy Awards

Architect Frank Gehry has designed the new official poster for the 54th Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy, which organizes the awards, said on its website that that the poster "integrates traditional Grammy iconography with [Gehry's] unique architectural style in a piece that mirrors The Recording Academy's commitment to celebrating excellence and diversity in art and culture year-round."

In a statement published on the site, Gehry said: "I have been fortunate to have worked with and become friends with some of the top musicians in classical music. ... They are my inspiration and my heroes. I am pleased to work with the Grammys to help celebrate all of these talented people."

Gehry, 82, sits on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and designed its Walt Disney Concert Hall. Other high-profile Gehry buildings include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris and the IAC Building in New York.

As it happens, the L.A. Philharmonic has received a Grammy nomination in the category of orchestral performance for its recording of Brahms' Fourth Symphony, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.

Born in Canada, Gehry has resided in Los Angeles for most of his life. He will be designing sets for the L.A. Philharmonic's May production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" at Disney Hall.

The Grammys are scheduled to be held Feb. 12 at Staples Center and will be broadcast live on CBS.

(You can see a larger image of the Gehry-designed poster, courtesy of Archinect.)

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Photo: Frank Gehry's poster for the 54th annual Grammy Awards. Credit: Grammy.com

 

'Book of Mormon': First a Tony, now Grammy nod, next a movie?

“The Book of Mormon” Broadway cast recording scored a Grammy nomination Wednesday night, joining “Anything Goes” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” in the musical theater category. “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and “Avenue Q” co-creator Robert Lopez have already won multiple Tony Awards for the show. Now they have a Grammy nod. Is an Oscar bid next? 

After all, fans are praying for a movie version of the musical about two mismatched Mormon missionaries assigned to spread the word in Uganda.

“If we get the Grammy, we’re going to proceed the next day with the movie,” Parker and Lopez joked together, moments after hearing news of their nomination.

While some blogs have reported rumors of a “Book of Mormon” movie, Parker insisted they “haven’t sat down and made an official plan.”

“When we were first writing this, we were going back and forth about whether to make it a movie or a Broadway thing,” Parker said, adding that Lopez persuaded them to go with a musical. Plus, Parker added, “we’d already done a movie.”