Cultural Best Bets at Home: July 3rd – July 5th

Happy Fourth of July Weekend. Given that more and more of us are finding tightening restrictions on public activities this weekend, it is a good thing that there are some truly terrific Best Bets at Home: July 3rd – July 5th available to us.

We have ten options for you and each and every one is a winner. They include Lorraine Hansberry’s last play, a highly-acclaimed new ballet based on the writings of Virginia Woolf, two one-act operas by Ravel and one of a jazz legend’s final concerts. Oh…and a little show called Hamilton.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: July 3rd – July 5th:

Hamilton – Disney Plus – Begins July 3rd

You pretty much have to be living under a rock not to know that the smash musical Hamilton becomes available for viewing on Disney Plus this weekend.

Before the original Broadway cast left the show, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail filmed the show. They shot a couple performances and then shot on-stage and close-ups with the cast without an audience.

This film was originally going to be released theatrically, but Disney has added it to their Disney Plus service realizing that no one was going to see Hamilton on stage for quite some time. Let’s also be honest, the pandemic has slowed down new content for the service. Both factored into the decision to release Hamilton this weekend.

Hamilton won 11 Tony Awards including Best Musical and also the Pulitzer Prize.

The cast includes Tony Award winner Daveed Diggs as “Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson”; Tony Award winner Renée Elise Goldsberry as “Angelica Schuyler”; Tony Award nominee Jonathan Groff as “King George”; Tony Award nominee Christopher Jackson as “George Washington”; Jasmine Cephas Jones as “Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds”; Lin-Manuel Miranda as “Alexander Hamilton”; Tony Award-winner Leslie Odom, Jr. as “Aaron Burr”; Okieriete Onaodowan as “Hercules Mulligan/James Madison”; Anthony Ramos as “John Laurens/Philip Hamilton”; and Tony Award nominee Phillipa Soo as “Eliza Hamilton.”

If you want to have the room where it happened come alive in your room, you will need to subscribe to Disney Plus. One month is $6.99 or you can get an annual subscription for $69.99. They are not currently offering one week free-trial memberships.

Les Blancs – National Theatre Live – Now – July 9th

The National Theatre staged Lorraine Hansberry’s last play, Les Blancs, in 2016. This is the film of that production.

Hansberry is best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun.

After 30 previews Les Blancs opened at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway in November of 1970. It closed in mid-December of that year after 40 regular performances. This production came five years after Hansberry’s death. The text was adapted by her husband Robert Nemiroff and it is that text that is used for the National Theatre production directed by Yaël Farber.

Les Blancs, which Hansberry considered to be amongst her most important works, addresses colonialism bridging the time from the late 19th century into the 20th century. Tshembe (Danny Sapani) has returned home to his African country as its struggles with an impeding civil war over the issue of independence from colonial rule. There for his father’s funeral, he finds himself in the middle of the two warring factions.

Michael Billington, writing for The Guardian, said of Les Blancs, “…an epic production by Yaël Farber of a text that explores both the divided individual soul and the bitterness of the colonial legacy…An imperfect play…has been given a near-perfect production.”

Woolf Works – The Royal Ballet – Now – July 9th

If I offer you the combination of Virginia Woolf, choreographer Wayne McGregor and composer Max Richter, would you really need to know more? That alone is a compelling trio.

In this 2015 work created specifically for The Royal Ballet, McGregor used Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and The Waves as inspiration.

He then combined them with excerpts from her diaries, letters and essays. The end result won the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Classical Choreography and the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production.

The company performing Woolf Works is Alessandra Ferri, Federico Bonelli, Edward Watson, Francesca Hayward, Sarah Lamb and Akane Takada. They are joined by soprano Anush Hovhannisyan. Koen Kessels leads the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

Antony and Cleopatra – Stratford Festival – Now – July 23rd

This 2014 Stratford Festival production of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra was directed by Gary Griffin. Starring as the titular couple are Geraint Wyn Davies and Yanna McIntosh.

One of Shakespeare’s historical dramas, Antony and Cleopatra tells of the love affair between Mark Antony (one of three men ruling the Roman republic) and the passionate and seductive queen of Egypt, Cleopatra.

Their affair leaves them vulnerable to political intrigue that will change their lives and their relationship dramatically.

This begins the final trilogy of Shakespeare productions from Canada’s Stratford Festival. Called Relationships, this trilogy will continue in the next couple weeks with Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew.

Still available for streaming are Shakespeare’s King John and The Adventures of Pericles.

Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges – -Glyndebourne – Now – July 5th

Two one-act operas by Maurice Ravel are paired together in this 2012 production by Laurent Pelly at Glyndebourne.

L’heure espagnole had its world premiere in Paris in 1911. Franc-Nohain wrote the libretto based on his own play of the same name from 1904.

The opera tells the story of an unfaithful Spanish woman who tries to make love to multiple different men while her husband is away. When he shows up, the men try hiding in the many clocks her husband owns and sometimes find themselves getting stuck inside them.

The cast of L’heure espagnole features Elliot Madore, François Piolino, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Alek Shrader and Paul Gay.

The second opera, L’enfant et les sortilèges, had its world premiere in Monte Carlo in 1925. The libretto is by Colette who apparently wrote the libretto in eight days. (Did you see Wash Westmoreland’s 2018 film about her? You should. And classical music fans will enjoy Thomas Adés’ score for this wonderful film.)

In the opera a petulant young child, prone to throwing tantrums and destroying the toys and animals around him, is surprised when they come to life to give him a lesson about kindness.

The cast of L’enfant et les sortilèges features Khatouna Gadelia, Elodie Méchain, Madore, Gay, Julie Pasturaud, Piolino, Kathleen Kim, Natalia Brzezińska, Hila Fahim, d’Oustrac and Kirsty Stokes.

Kazushi Ono conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Declassified Memory Fragment – Joyce Theater – July 2nd – July 31

Burkina Faso is a small, landlocked country in Africa. From it comes musician and choreographer Olivier Tarpaga who created Declassified Memory Fragment. This 70-minute piece had its world premiere in 2015. It is a work that features dancers and live musicians sharing the stage.

New York’s Joyce Theater will stream Declassified Memory Fragment for the first time during the month of July.

Tarpaga was inspired by the various political issues his own country faces as well as other countries like Kenya, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe. Information from The Joyce Theater states that “Declassified refers to living in a society where aspects of everyday life are subjected to restrictions and cultural expectations of secrecy and privacy, even within the family. The act of declassifying is a process of revealing, exposing what is hidden from view and obscured, not spoken.”

Marina Hars, writing in the New York Times said Tarpaga’s piece, “is an extraordinary, distilled piece of music and dance. As the title suggests, it conjures fragmented memories, images and stories, often from childhood, gathered and transformed through movement and music by Mr. Tarpaga, three fellow dancers, and four musicians.”

Allen Toussaint with Preservation Hall Jazz Band – SF Jazz – July 3rd – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

This 2014 performance was one of the last concerts performed by jazz singer and pianist Allen Toussaint. He died one year after this performance at SF Jazz. He appears with Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Toussaint’s concert is part of SF Jazz’s Fridays at Five. That means the concert will stream only once at 5:00 PM PDT/8:00 PM EDT.

If you like jazz you won’t want to miss this one. New footage from the concert has been added for this presentation. To watch Fridays at Five requires either signing up for one month of concerts for $5 or signing up for a year at $60. With upcoming concerts by John Scofield, Cécile McLorin Salvant and their ongoing Wayne Shorter Celebrations plus this rare performance by Toussaint, it seems like an easy decision.

New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall – Medici.tv – July 3rd- July 5th

This 2015 Carnegie Hall concert finds Alan Gilbert leading the New York Philharmonic. The highlight of this performance was the world premiere of Vivo by Magnus Lindberg. Carnegie Hall co-commissioned the work from Lindberg.

Pianist Evgeny Kissin joins for a performance of Tchaikovsky’s crowd-pleasing Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23.

As an encore, Kissin performs Méditation from Tchaikovsky’s 18 Pieces.

Kissin made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1990. That performance also marked his US recital debut.

The concert concludes with Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2.

Susannah -San Francisco Opera – July 4th – July 5th

American composer Carlisle Floyd wrote this opera during his tenure as a member of the faculty at Florida State University. Floyd wrote both music and the libretto. Susannah had its world premiere in 1955 at the University.

His inspiration was a story in the Book of Daniel in certain bibles. Floyd updates the story of Susannah and the Elders to a more contemporary story of a teenage girl whom many in her isolated religious community accuse of being a sinner. Her journey into womanhood is challenged by the residents in a small mountain town in Tennessee.

This San Francisco Opera production was staged in 2014. Michael Cavanagh directed the production and the performance is conducted by Karen Kamensek.

Patricia Racette sings the role of “Susannah.” Brandon Jovanovich sings the role of “Sam Polk”; Raymond Aceto sings the role of “Reverend Olin Blitch”; the role of “Elder Ott” is sung by Timothy Mix; Catherine Cook sings the role of “Mrs. McLean” and the role of Little Bat McLean is sung by James Kryshak.

This was the first time one of Floyd’s operas had been performed by San Francisco Opera. Critics hailed the production and Racette’s performance in the title role.

Melissa Errico with Seth Rudetsky – July 5th – 8:00 PM/5:00 PM (rerun July 6th 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT)

Melissa Errico hasn’t had the Broadway career her many fans and admirers feel she deserves. A 1993 revival of My Fair Lady was followed by roles in High Society, Amour, Dracula the Musical and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. Those subsequent shows had short runs.

Off-Broadway has been far kinder offering Errico a chance to shine in productions of Finian’s Rainbow, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and Stephen Sondheim’s Passion.

You can experience how talented she is when she appears as Seth Rudetsky’s Concert guest in his online Concert Series. The live performance takes place on July 5th. There is a second streaming of the concert on July 6th. Tickets for each performance are $25.

Those are your Best Bets at Home: July 3rd – July 5th. But before we go, a couple reminders:

Metropolitan Opera offerings Friday – Sunday are Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Rossini’s La Donna del Lago.

All Live with Carnegie Hall events-to-date are archived and available for viewing at any time. They include pianist Daniil Trifonov, opera singer Isabel Leonard, Yannick Nézet-Séguin discussing opera, Michael Feinstein celebrating composer Irving Berlin, opera singer Renée Fleming, violinist Joshua Bell and many more.

Stay safe. Stay sane. Be healthy. And enjoy your Bets Bets at Home: July 3rd – July 5th and your holiday weekend.

Photo: Lin-Manuel Miranda in a scene from the film of Hamilton (Photo courtesy of Disney Plus)