As the pandemic continues, it seems that there are becoming more and more options for either live streaming events or previously recorded special events streaming to keep us all entertained while we are staying safer at home. Here are the Culture Best Bets at Home: April 17th – 19th.
Niv Ashkenazi: Violins of Hope – The Soraya Facebook Page – April 17th – 7 PM EDT/4PM PDT
Violins of Hope is a program celebrating the recovery and restoration of over 60 stringed instruments from the Holocaust. They were restored by Amnon Weinstein, and his son, Avshalom, in Tel Aviv.
The Soraya had scheduled several events around the Violins of Hope, but those have been postponed due to the pandemic. While they have been rescheduled for early 2021, Niv Ashkenazi will give a concert on one of those violins on Friday.
Ashkenazi is the only musician in North America who has been loaned one of these precious instruments. He recently released an album entitled, appropriately enough, Niv Ashkenazi: The Violins of Hope.
For this live streaming event, Ashkenazi will perform the “Theme from Schindler’s List” by John Williams, “The Chassid” by Julius Chajes, an improvisation on Ernest Bloch’s “Baal Shem, II. Nigun” and George Perlman’s “Dance of the Rebbitzen.”
Prior to the performance, The Soraya’s Executive Director Thor Steingraber will conduct a conversation with Ashkenazi about Violins of Hope and his recording.
Celebrating 25 Magical Years of Disney on Broadway – BroadwayWorld – April 17th – 7 PM EDT/4 PM PDT
Last November, Disney celebrated a quarter century of musicals on Broadway with a concert at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York. The event was a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
That concert, which featured veteran cast members from Disney’s many shows, is being streamed as an additional fundraiser for BC/EFA, but this time for their Covid-19 Emergency Assistance Fund. There is no charge to watch the show, but they are asking for donations.
As you probably know, Disney has had many a blockbuster musical on Broadway. Their shows include Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, AIDA and Frozen.
Amongst the performers at this concert are Sierra Boggess, Norm Lewis and Sherie Renee Scott from The Little Mermaid, Christian Borle and Ashley Brown from Mary Poppins, Kerry Butler and Susan Egan from Beauty and the Beast, Merle Dandrige, Mandy Gonzalez and Adam Pascal from AIDA, James Monroe Iglehart, Adam Jacobs and Michael James Scott from Aladdin plus a reunion of cast members from Newsies.
Additional participants include Gavin Creel (Hello, Dolly!), Whoopi Goldberg (the original film version of The Lion King), Ashley Park (Mean Girls) and more.
Soft Power Listening Party – Public Theater NY YouTube Channel – April 17th – 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT
When Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang’s musical-within-a-play Soft Power played the Ahmanson Theatre in 2018 it proved to be a wholly unique way of telling a story through both a play and a musical. I loved it.
The show was reworked and opened at The Public Theater in New York and that cast recored the show. Soft Power was just made available on Ghostlight Records in the digital and streaming formats.
To celebrate the release, some of the cast and the creators of the show are holding a listening party on The Public Theater’s YouTube channel. They are also raising funds for both The Public Theater and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
The Phantom of the Opera – The Show Must Go On YouTube Page – April 17th – beginning at 2 PM EDT/11 AM PDT for 48 hours
Andrew Lloyd Webber continues to make performances of his musicals available for 48 hours with this version of his blockbuster musical The Phantom of the Opera.
This production stars Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom, Sierra Boggess as Cristine Daaé and Hadley Fraser Raoul. Nick Morris and Laurence Connor directed this 25th Anniversary performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
Attaca Quartet performs Caroline Shaw’s Orange – The Greene Space YouTube Page
If you aren’t familiar with composer Caroline Shaw, this is a great opportunity to get introduced to her work. Orange, performed here by the Attaca Quartet, is one of Shaw’s highly-acclaimed works. Their recording of Orange won the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Musical/Small Ensemble Performance.
Shaw is the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Partita for 8 Voices.
This performance comes from a 2019 performance at WNYC/WQXR’s The Greene Space.
TCM Classic Film Festival: Special Home Edition – Turner Classic Movies – Now – April 20th
The annual TCM Classic Film Festival had to be canceled due to the ongoing crisis. However, they have moved the festival from Hollywood to your living room. For fans of theatre and jazz there are a few options worth checking out (whether you have never seen them or want a chance to revisit them!) Note that some are not showing at convenient times (unless you are an insomniac) so set your DVR.
Grey Gardens – April 18th 1:30 AM EDT/April 17th 10:30 PM PDT
This is the documentary that inspired the Tony Award-winning musical. The Maysles Brothers (Albert and David) made an utterly compelling film about Jackie Kennedy’s aunt, Edith Bouvier Beale (79) and cousin, Edith ‘Little Edie’ Bouvier Beale (56). They live in a completely rundown mansion on Long Island with no running water that is filled with multiple animals including numbers cats and raccoons in the attic.
The Man with the Golden Arm – April 18th 6:00 AM EDT/3:00 AM PDT
This 1955 film by Otto Preminger makes our list because Elmer Bernstein’s score is so driven by jazz. Not the first film to use jazz as the style of a film score, but certainly one of the best.
Frank Sinatra stars as an ex-junkie who returns home after half-a-year in prison. While in prison he not only got clean, but learned to play drums. Upon his return he has to face the real world and whether or not he has fully recovered from his heroin addiction.
Both Sinatra and Bernstein were Oscar-nominated for their work on this film. Another reason to check out the film is Saul Bass’s amazing title sequence.
Mame – April 19th 3:30 PM EDT/12:30 PM PDT
This is the classic Rosalind Russell film from 1958 that is truly essential viewing. Mame tells the same story as Jerry Herman’s musical (and the subsequent disaster of a film of that musical with Lucille Ball), but Russell’s performance here is superb. Fans of the musical will want to check out this film. In our troubled times perhaps we can all take some sage advice from our dear Auntie Mame.
Singin’ in the Rain – April 19th 6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT
One of Hollywood’s best musicals ever and recently on the list of best films to watch during the pandemic. Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds star. Watch this film and you’ll be singing “Good Morning” on Monday.
Victor, Victoria – April 20th 3:30 AM EDT/12:30 AM PDT
Blake Edwards’s 1982 film musical was, of course, the basis for the Broadway musical. Julie Andrews stars as a woman, pretending to be a man, pretending to be a woman, who becomes a singing sensation in Paris. But she has to maintain the disguise just as she falls in love with a gangster played by James Garner.
The film also stars a phenomenal Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren and Alex Karras.
The songs were written by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse.
The Verdi Chorus: The Force of Destiny – The Verdi Chorus Website and Facebook Page – April 18th – 10:30 PM EDT/ 7:30 PM PDT
Forced to cancel their planned April 18th concert, The Verdi Chorus is going to stream their first online concert: The Force of Destiny. This was their 2018 concert that featured selections from Verdi’s La forza del destino, Nabucco and La Traviata. It also included music from Strauss’s Die Fledermaus.
Joining the Verdi Chorus are Shana Blake Hill, soprano, Karin Mushegain, mezzo-soprano, Alex Boyer, tenor and baritone Ben Lowe.
Treasure Island – National Theatre Live’s YouTube Page – Now – April 23rd
Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel has been given a couple twists for this 2014 stage version. First of all, Jim, is played by actress Patsy Ferran. There is music and songs by Dan Jones with additional songs by John Tams.
But the reviews were extraordinary. Arthur Darvill (of Dr. Who) plays Long John Silver. Polly Findlay directed the play. Tim van Someren directed the film. Treasure Island runs 1 hour 50 minutes.
Buyer and Cellar – Broadway.Com – April 19th – 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT
Actor Michael Urie has performed Jonathan Tolin’s Buyer and Cellar countless times. It’s a perfect role for him as the man who attends to Barbra Streisand’s personal shopping mall in her Malibu home. Of course, this isn’t a true story, but what if it was?
On Sunday Urie will perform the show from his own home as a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Covid-19 Emergency Assitance Fund. The performance will stream on Broadway.Com.
This is a thoroughly entertaining show and well worth your time.
***Don’t forget there is also Madama Butterfly on April 17th, Adriana Lecouvreur on April 18th and Der Rosenkavalier on April 19th – each available for 23 hours beginning at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT at the Metropolitan Opera’s website.
Another reminder that WNET is making five different Great Performances available. For details you can go here.
Photo: The company of Treasure Island (Photo by Johan Persson/Courtesy of National Theatre Live)