Yahoo Movies Bill Murray makes surprise musical performance at NYC park
Passersby in Manhattan's Washington Square Park were greeted on Wednesday by an eclectic Bill Murray pop-up performance.
The 71-year-old Groundhog Day actor spun his own twist on musical theater standards like Porgy and Bess' "It Ain't Necessarily So" and West Side Story's "America" and "I Feel Pretty." In front of a forming crowd, Murray also staged a dramatic reading of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's beat poem, "Dog." He was accompanied by cellist Jan Vogler, violinist Mira Wang, and pianist Vanessa Perez.
Andy Kiss/Getty Images Bill Murray performs with Jan Vogler, Mira Wang, and Vanessa Perez in Washington Square Park.
Murray has been promoting his new film, New Worlds: The Cradle of Civilization, in which he sings in concert alongside the renowned Vogler. The documentary was filmed at their 2018 Acropolis of Athens performance and originally premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Hitting theaters Feb. 2, the concert features Murray's renditions of such songs and poems as those he presented in Washington Square Park Wednesday.
Bill Murray’s surprise concert in Washington Square Park. pic.twitter.com/mE68oz7UiV
— Nicolas Heller (@NewYorkNico) January 20, 2022
This wasn't Murray's first spontaneous stunt. In 2016, he sang Rolling Stones music while bartending in Brooklyn and later led a White House press briefing about the Chicago Cubs' World Series prospects. He's also been known to crash bachelor parties and engagement photoshoots here and there.
The French Dispatch actor ended his surprise concert with a bang. "I'm Bill Murray and the cops say we have to turn off the microphones," he said. "Let's rip this place apart!"
What's next for Murray? He recently returned to the Ghostbusters franchise in Afterlife and has hinted at a turn in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
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