On Stage (Extra): All the world’s a stage

Local productions, shows have distinctly international flair this weekend

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times

If you look at the entertainment calendar for the next week, you’ll detect a very definite international vibe — musical acts from Italy and Australia, a ballet based on a Spanish novel, a musical built around the songs of a Swedish pop group and a basketball team that has played in more than 120 countries.

On March 5, Tal Wilkenfeld, an internationally-acclaimed bass player from Australia, will bring her new band to the Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389, www.ardmoremusic.com).

Still in her 20s, Wilkenfeld has already toured and recorded with some of the best musicians in the world, including Jeff Beck, the Allman Brothers, Chick Corea, Jackson Browne and Herbie Hancock.

She is currently on the road on her first ever headlining tour and is also the opening act for The Who on the rock legends’  “The Who Turns 50!” North American tour. She will return to this area when that tour visits the Wells Fargo Center on March 14.

“When I was a teenager in Australia, I just picked up a guitar and I knew it was my calling,” said Wilkenfeld, during a phone interview Thursday afternoon from New York. “I figured America was the best place to go to pursue a music career. My desire to play guitar had nothing to do with any other musicians.

“I really wasn’t familiar with other musicians. I just picked it up out of nowhere. Most of what I did was on my own. I looked at moving to America as a new adventure. I’m pretty fearless about life because you only live once.”

Wilkenfeld left Sydney and relocated in Los Angeles. In 2004, she headed east to New York — at the ripe old age of 18.

“I moved to New York and started playing clubs there,” said Wilkenfeld. “I switched to playing bass guitar when I was still in L.A. A bunch of people heard me play guitar and said I was playing it like a bass player.

“They encouraged me to switch to bass. I didn’t differentiate between the instruments. It’s the same 12 notes — just the roles are different. It only took me a couple days to get comfortable playing bass.”

Once in New York, Wilkenfeld quickly built a reputation as a talented and inventive bass player.

“In New York, I was sitting in at jazz clubs several nights a week,” said Wilkenfeld, who uses three different bass guitars — a Fender P-bass, a Harmony Bass and a Sadowsky Five-String. “I met the guys from the Allman Brothers Band and they asked me to sit in with them. It all took off from there.”

It took off in a big way.

By the end of 2007, Wilkenfeld had released her acclaimed instrumental debut “Transformation,” hit the road with Chick Corea, appeared on A&E with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, and joined Jeff Beck’s world tour for what culminated in her global breakout moment — her performance at Eric Clapton’s 2007 Crossroads Festival in Chicago, which has generated more than 10 million YouTube hits.

Before long, she was recording with such artists as Prince, Macy Gray, Trevor Rabin, Jackson Browne, Joe Walsh, Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, Toto, Todd Rundgren and Ryan Adams — in between high profile tours with Jeff Beck.

“Playing with Jeff Beck really gave me a lot of exposure,” said Wilkenfeld. “I met him through drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. Jeff flew me to London for an audition. I guess I passed it.”

Now, Wilkenfeld is working on a new album.

“We’re releasing a track from the album tomorrow,” said Wilkenfeld. “It’s called ‘Corner Painter.’ I’m hoping to have the album finished later this year. In my club shows, I’m playing all new material from the album I’m working on — and a couple covers.

“My band for the tour is Tamir Barzilay (drums/vocals), Owen Barry (guitar/bass/vocals) and Chris Price (keyboards/guitar/vocals). Jeff Beck recommended Owen and Tamir I met in Brooklyn. Chris I just met three weeks ago.

“My music is moving in a new direction. The new stuff isn’t instrumental music. Now, I’m singing in addition to playing bass. The new tracks are songwriter songs.”

Video link for Tal Wilkenfeld (with Jeff Beck) — https://youtu.be/nQDjSGnmYBI.

The show at the Ardmore Music Hall will start at 7:30 p.m. with opening act Hurricane Hoss. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of show.

Go!zilla, which will play on March 7 at Kung Fu Necktie (1248 North Front Street, Philadelphia, 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com), is an Italian fuzz/psychedelic/punk band based in Firenze, Italy. It features Luca Landi (guitar/vocals), Fabio Ricciolo (drum/vocals) and Mattia Biagiotti (guitar/vocal).

“One of our big influences was the ‘Nuggets’ album collection,” said Landi, during a phone interview Thursday afternoon from a tour stop in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “We also have been influenced by grunge — especially Nirvana.”

“Nuggets” was a series of compilation albums released by Elektra Records in the 1970s. The albums focused primarily on relatively obscure garage and psychedelic rock songs from the 1960s.

“When Go!zilla first began, it was me and a drummer from the Philippines,” said Landi. “He left so I started to play with Fabio in 2013. In early 2014, Mattia joined the band — also on guitar. He plays bass lines on his guitar and, on some songs, plays second guitar.

“The first time I had Go!zilla in the studio was early 2012 when we recorded the ‘Go!zilla’ EP. Our first album was ‘Grabbing a Crododile’ in 2013. With the release of the new album, we have three EPs and two LPs altogether.

“We recorded the new album ‘Sinking in Your Sea’ about a year ago in the north of Italy — in Treviso — at Outside Inside Studio with Matt Bordin. It’s a great studio with a lot of analog equipment.

“We started playing outside Italy in 2014. Playing festivals came later after we got booking agents in France and Germany. Now, our biggest number of followers is in France. In Italy, it’s harder for us to find places to play because we don’t play bars anymore and we’re not big enough to play large theaters. We are known in Italy — but not famous.

“My previous band was an Italian beat band and we had songs in Italian. With Go!zilla, English is the better language. I started studying English in college but really learned it when I began travelling. I speak English with more of an American accent than a British accent.

“With Go!zila, I generally write all the songs. I do the lyrics and a lot of the guitar riffs. Then, I bring the songs to the studio and we all work on them. I like to describe our music as similar to what we are in our lives — anxious, confused, over excited. It’s psychedelic and punk music put together.”

Video link for Go!zilla — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRTSO2JDEco

The show at KFN on March 7, which starts at 8 p.m., also features Skeleton Hands, The Roaring 420s, and Nose Goblins. Tickets are $7.

The music of one of Sweden’s all-time best-selling pop bands will be filling the air this weekend at the Playhouse on Rodney Square (10^th and Market streets, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-888-0200, www. duponttheatre.com). From March 4-6, the theater in downtown Wilmington is hosting the national tour of “Mamma Mia!”

The jukebox musical was written by British playwright Catherine Johnson. The lively show is based on the songs of ABBA — songs composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. The title of the musical is taken from the group’s 1975 mega-hit “Mamma Mia!”

Ulvaeus and Andersson, who composed the original music for ABBA, were involved in the development of the show from the beginning. ABBA’s Anni-Frid Lyngstad has been involved financially in the production and she has also been present at many of the premieres around the world.

The musical includes such hits as “Super Trouper,” “Lay All Your Love on Me,” “Dancing Queen,” “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” “Take a Chance on Me,” “Thank You for the Music,” “Money, Money, Money,” “The Winner Takes It All,” “Voulez-Vous,” “SOS” and, of course, “Mamma Mia!”

Video link for “Mamma Mia!” — https://youtu.be/zlYifqVOqz8

The show at the Playhouse will be performed at 8 p.m. on Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets range from $45-$120.

Now through March 13, Pennsylvania Ballet’s Artistic Director Angel Corella is sharing his Spanish culture with audiences through his adaptation of Marius Petipa’s “Don Quixote.”

Performances will be presented at the Academy of Music (Broad and Locust streets, Philadelphia, 215-731-3333, http://www.paballet.org).

Dedicated to making his “Don Quixote” as authentic as possible, Corella purchased authentic costumes, fans, and castanets during his last trip to Spain.

“Don Quixote” is a classic comedy featuring intricate choreography, authentic Spanish flavored dance, and comic interludes as it brings to life Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s classic novel, “Don Quixote.” Cervantes’ story takes place on the plains of La Mancha, specifically the comarca of Campo de Montiel.

The ballet portrays the story of the idealistic, eccentric Don Quixote who goes on a quest in search of his ideal woman, Dulcinea. He believes he has found her when he spots the lovely Kitri.

However, Kitri is expected to accept the marriage offer of the rich Gamach. While Don Quixote and Gamache battle for Kitri’s hand in marriage, lovers Kitri and dashing Basilio battle against her father and all odds in order to unite in true love.

Video link for “Don Quixote” — https://youtu.be/wP9XVM6SMZc.

The Pennsylvania Ballet’s performances are scheduled for March 4 at 7:30 p.m., March 5 at 2 and 8 p.m., March 6 at 2 p.m., March 9 at 7:30 p.m., March 10 at 7:30 p.m., March 11 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., March 12 at 2 and 8 p.m. and March 13 at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $29-$135.

Over the next week, there will be several games at area venues featuring the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters, an exhibition basketball team that combines sports, clowning around, theater, athletic skill and comedy to produce its entertaining and unique show.

Over the years, the Globies have played close to 30,000 exhibition games in more than 120 countries and territories around the world. The Globetrotters, who frequently feature international stars on their roster, truly live up to their name.

Video link for the Harlem Globe trotters — https://youtu.be/rBg3AteaW5Y.

On March 4, the Globetrotters will play at the Liacouras Center (North Broad Street, Philadelphia) with game time set for 7 p.m. Ticket prices range from $17 in the upper and lower levels to $100 courtside.

On March 6, the high-flying hoopsters will bring their show to the Wells Fargo Center (Broad Street below Pattison Avenue, Philadelphia) for a matinees game at noon and an evening game at 5 p.m. They will return to the Wells Fargo Center for a 12:30 p.m. game on March 12. Ticket prices range from $21-$165.

On March 8, Horse Jumper of Love will play its first show in the area. The Boston-based band is fronted by singer Dimitri Giannopoulos, who obviously is of Greek descent.

“I haven’t written any songs with a Greek influence for the band but I’ve thought about it,” said Giannopoulos, during a phone interview Wednesday from his home in New York. “I really like old Greek music — the Greek blues known as rebetiko.”

Horse Jumper of Love is a somewhat silly name — just as silly as the names of some of the venues on the band’s current tour. The trio’s tour schedule includes shows at Asbestos Farm, Loner’s Club, Crayola, The Sewing Room and Spider House. Their local concert will be at Goldilocks Gallery (723 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-432-8564).

The band is currently touring in support of its self-titled full length debut, which is scheduled to be released on March 11 via Gawk Records and Disposable America. The trio’s music is about 180 degrees away from the fast-paced hyper sound of punk rock and thrash.

“I like stuff that’s slow,” said Giannopoulos. “I like everything slow — including my music.”

The band’s press release describes the trio’s sound as “syrupy.” Actually, it’s more like sludge than syrup. It’s slow, loud and lo-fi. The latest single form the album is titled “Bagel Breath.”

“We started making the album last February at a studio in Norwood, Massachusetts,” said Giannopoulos. “We wrote one interlude type song in the studio but the rest had already been written. Some of the songs we had been playing live for two years. I just wanted to get these songs done and out of the way.

“We still play two-thirds of the album along with a few new songs. We have a bunch of new songs and we want to start recording them. We already have some studio time booked for when we get back home from this tour.”

Frequently, a band will make an album and follow with a tour. After awhile, the songs from the album naturally speed up when they’re performed live. It is just the opposite with Horse Jumper of Love.

“The songs had slowed down even more once we started playing them live,” said Giannopoulos. “Actually, they got too slow. We’ve had to work on speeding them back up. It’s made the songs feel a lot better.”

Video link for Horse Jumper of Love — https://youtu.be/TVFFimc0XA0.

Sweden, Italy, Australia, Spain, Greece — can’t forget about the good old USA.

On March 9, The Word Alive, a veteran rock band from Phoenix, Arizona, will visit the area for a show at the Theatre of the Living Arts (334 South Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1011, http://www.lnphilly.com).

The quintet — Telle Smith – Vocals; Tony Pizzuti – Guitar/Vocals; Zack Hansen – Guitar/Vocals; Daniel Shapiro – Bass/Vocals; Luke Holland – Drums — has a new album titled “Dark Matter,” that is set for release later this month on Fearless Records.

The band, which formed in 2008, has released four albums — each two years apart and all on Fearless Records. The LPs are “Deceiver” (2010), “Life Cycles” (2012), “Real” (2014) and “Dark Matter” (2016).

“The album comes out on March 18 so this tour is pretty much a listening party,” said Pizzuti, during a phone interview Wednesday from a tour stop in Cleveland. “We’re doing seven songs from the new record — five they haven’t heard before. We’ll have the CD at our merch table in about a week.

“Originally, we wanted to have the CD out before the tour but with routing and other things, this was the best option. So, we have cool visuals and a listening party. It’s like a sneak peek. We’ll have a real headlining tour in the fall.

“We have really cool lighting production on this tour including vertical foggers and a circle truss with rotating lights. It goes with the theme of the album. We like to showcase the new music. This is the first time we decided to stick with a theme. The whole set intertwines with ‘Dark Matter’ and spacey themes.”

The band took a new approach with the soon-to-be-released album.

“On this record, we really worked together on the songwriting,” said Pizzuti. “In the past, we worked a lot separately. This time, we really took our time. We wrote at least 30 songs for ‘Dark Matter’ and chose 12. It’s our best album ever.

“We just wanted to write undeniably great songs — regardless of what music style you like. We’re sick of trying to please everyone. We just wrote the record for ourselves.

“It definitely has more of a darker tone. We were confused as a band as to what to do. We were kind of on a dark path. Our last record was so all over the place. So, this time we just wrote songs that felt right.”

Video link for The Word Alive — https://youtu.be/YlQg7sU9RRM.

The show at TLA, which starts at 7 p.m., has Out Came The Wolves, Fit for a King, and The Artisan as opening acts. Tickets are $18.