It’s a holiday weekend. Given our current world, do holiday weekends still register? Who knows. Since it is a holiday weekend, I’m offering Best Bets through Monday. So this weekend’s Best Bets at Home: September 4th – September 7th is supersized.
Your options this weekend have something for everyone. Classical music fans have four different concerts to watch. Opera fans have two different productions available. Fans of plays have a couple options. Three different Broadway stars have concerts this weekend. You can attend a high-end karaoke with music and stage stars in your pajamas. Jazz fans have an all-star concert. Finally, Broadway says goodbye to one of the most public victims of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Here are your Best Bets at Home: September 4th – September 7th:
Pacific Symphony’s Summer Replay – Pacific Symphony – Various Dates through October 24th
Orange County’s Pacific Symphony has a series of filmed concerts available on their website for free viewing. You have to sign up to watch them, but classical music fans have three concerts available now with a forth becoming available on Thursday, September 10th. They are:
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 performed on September 16, 2017 conducted by Carl. St. Clair (available through September 12th)
Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 performed on May 20, 2017 by pianist Orli Shaham. Conducted by Carl St. Clair (available through September 26th)
Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique performed on February 7, 2020 conducted by Carl. St. Clair (available through October 10th)
On September 10th the Virtual Tchaikovsky Spectacular will become available through October 24th. The program features works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture complete with live cannons and fireworks.
The Last Angry Brown Hat – Latino Theater Company – September 4th – September 13th
Los Angeles-based Latino Theater Company will offer a reading of the play The Last Angry Brown Hat by Alfredo Ramos. The play depicts the reunion of four friends who, in the 1960s, were members of a Chicago civil rights organization named the Brown Berets. When they come together for a friend’s funeral, they try to reconcile the angry young men they once were with the more mature men they have become.
The cast features Robert Beltran, Mike Gomez, Sal Lopez and Geoffrey Rivas. The Last Angry Brown Man is directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela.
While you are at the LATC website, you might notice that two other plays are available for streaming: an online reading of Alberto Barboza’s August 29th (through September 6th) and an archival film of Jose Luis Valenzuela’s La Olla (through September 10th).
Eleanor – Barrington Stage Company – September 4th – September 5th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT
Tony Award-winning actress Harriet Harris, who won the award for her performance in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, will take on legendary first lady Eleanor Roosevelt in this new play by Mark St. Germain (Freud’s Last Session).
In this one-person show, Roosevelt offers her perspective on her unlikely journey from her relatively mundane upbringing to becoming the wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Her life has been subject to endless speculation on multiple levels.
How St. Germain distills this fascinating woman into his play should be quite interesting.
This production was originally meant to be performed live at Barrington Stage Company this weekend. Director Henry Stram filmed the play without an audience. Barrington Stage Company is making the play available for streaming for the price of $15.
Kate Baldwin in Concert – Broadway Relief Project – September 5th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
New York’s Broadway Relief Project offers three great things in our current pandemic. The first is a live performance with a socially-distanced audience and artist; the second is a fundraiser for worthy causes and the last is the ability to livestream the performance. The concerts take place at Open Jar Studios.
On Saturday, Kate Baldwin will perform as a fundraiser for Active Minds, a non-profit addressing the issue of mental health.
Baldwin is a two-time Tony Award nominee for her delightful performances in the 2009 revival of Finian’s Rainbow and the 2017 revival of Hello, Dolly! with Bette Midler.
Not all livestream concerts in this series are free, but Kate Baldwin’s does appear to be without a fee to watch. Of course, donations are encouraged.
Rossini’s Sonatas – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – September 5th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
The fifth and final concert in Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Summerfest series features the works of composer Gioachino Rossini. The works being performed are his String Sonata No. 3 in C Major and the String Sonata No. 6 in D Major.
Spearheading this concert is Principal Bass player David Grossman. He is joined for the Rossini by Carrie Kennedy and Joel Pargman on violin and Andrew Shulman on cello.
The concert will conclude with Grossman performing improvisations on the Fats Waller song Honeysuckle Rose.
If you are unable to watch the stream of this performance at it scheduled time, the performance will be available for later viewing on LACO’s website.
Jazz Musicians UNITE Against Racism Concert – Just Jazz Television Network – September 5th – 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT
Eleven very different jazz artists have come together for the second Jazz Musicians UNITE Against Racism livestream concert on Saturday night. Singer Dwight Trible and producer/journalist LeRoy Downs will host the three-hour event.
The artists participating are pianist/composer Billy Childs, singer Carmen Lundy, percussionist Munyungo Jackson, singer Tierney Sutton, saxophonist Bob Sheppard, percussionist/drummer Jonathan Pinson, drummer/composer Christian Euman, pianist Jamael Dean, bass player Dave Robaire, pianist Tamir Hendelman and bassist/composer Jonathan Richards.
Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda – Great Performances at the Met on PBS – September 6th (check local listings)
Conducted by Maurizio Benini; starring Elza van den Heever, Joyce DiDonato and Matthew Polenzani. This David McVicar production is from the 2012-2013 season.
If you follow our weekly updates of the Metropolitan Opera streaming schedule, this is the same production the Met streamed on April 28th
Mary, Queen of Scots, is the central figure in this opera written by Gaetano Donizetti that had its world premiere in 1835 at La Scala in Milan. The libretto by Guiseppe Bardari, was based on Friedrich von Schiller’s play, Mary Stuart, from 1800. The opera is part of the composer’s Tudor Trilogy along with Anna Bolena and Roberto Devereux.
The opera depicts the bitter rivalry that existed between Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I.
Of DiDonato’s performance in the title role, Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times said, “Ms. DiDonato’s performance will be pointed to as a model of singing in which all components of the art form — technique, sound, color, nuance, diction — come together in service to expression and eloquence.”
Nick Cordero Memorial – BroadwayonDemand.com – September 6th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT
We all followed the horrible story of Broadway performer Nick Cordero and his battle with Covid. Through Instagram updates from his wife, Amanda Kloots, we were all rooting for him to pull through. Sadly he passed away on July 5th.
Friends, family and fellow performers are coming together on Sunday to celebrate Cordero’s life with a memorial that will be streamed for free. The tribute will include performances by some of the many people with whom he shared the stage in such musicals as A Bronx Tale, Bullets Over Broadway, Waitress, and Rock of Ages. Expect photos, videos and memories as part of the memorial.
Thee is no charge to watch Nick Cordero’s memorial. You do need to create an account on Broadway on Demand. The event also serves as a fundraiser for the Save the Music Foundation. Donations can be made by texting CORDERO to 41444.
Brandon Victor Dixon in Concert – Broadway Relief Project – September 6th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
As part of the same series as Kate Baldwin’s concert, Brandon Victor Dixon, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Judas in 2018’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live on Concert, will take to the Open Jar Studios stage in support of WeAre.Org. They are an organization that utilizes artists and the arts to further awareness of our shared humanity and responsibilities.
As anyone who saw Jesus Christ Superstar knows, Dixon is a powerful performer. His Broadway credits include The Color Purple, Motown: The Musical; Hamilton and Shuffle Along, Or the Making of a Musical Sensation and All that Followed. He also appeared off-Broadway in the enormously moving Kander and Ebb musical, The Scottsboro Boys.
There is a $5 fee for watching this livestream.
Karen Olivo with Seth Rudetsky – September 6th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
Karen Olivo made her Broadway debut in the musical Rent. She then originated the roles of Faith in the musical Brooklyn and Vanessa in the musical In the Heights. She won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Anita in the 2009 revival of West Side Story. She was on Broadway in the role of Satine in the musical Moulin Rouge! when Broadway closed due to the pandemic.
She is Seth Rudetsky’s guest this week for his conversation/concert series. Sunday’s show will be live. If you cannot watch it then there will be an encore showing of the concert on September 7th at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT. Tickets to either showing are $25.
Massenet’s Manon – Metropolitan Opera – September 7th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT
Since we’re including Monday due to the holiday, here is the first reveal of one of the operas to be found in this week’s celebration of French operas. (For the full line-up, check back on Monday.)
Conducted by Fabio Luisi, starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, and Paulo Szot. This is the Laurent Pelly production from the 2011-2012 season. This is an encore presentation of the production that previously streamed on May 24th.
A young woman from a small town has an intense desire to lavish herself with all the riches and pleasures life has to offer her. Sounds like a story that could be written today.
Massenet’s opera was composed in 1883 and had its world premiere in January of 1884 in Paris. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille. They based the opera on the 1731 Abbé Prévost novel, L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut.
There is always one main reason why this opera gets produced and the same reason that audiences love it. The soprano title role. In this production, Anna Netrebko sings Manon.
Anthony Tommasini, writing in the New York Times, made all of this abundantly clear in his review of this production and singled Netrebko out for praise.
“The best parts of Massenet’s score are its inspired arias, especially for Manon. In places Ms. Netrebko’s low-range singing had an earthy, almost breathy quality that seemed Russian in character. But when she needed to, she sang melting phrases with silken legato and shimmering beauty, especially her poignant performance of ‘Adieu, notre petite table’ in Act II. Though she does not have perfect coloratura technique, she ably dispatches the roulades and runs, folding them deftly into extended melodic phrases. And she can send top notes soaring.”
Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – September 7th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
We’ve written several times about Jim Caruso’s Cast Party. The show is an institution in New York and takes place at Birdland. Like many a show, Cast Party is now online and the dress code is truly comfortable: pajamas.
If you aren’t familiar, Cast Party finds performers from Broadway, jazz, popular song and more showing up to talk and perform.
This Monday’s guests include Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning composer Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) who will be joined by his Michael to offer the world premiere of a new song; Derek Klena (Jagged Little Pill); Australian musical theatre star Stephen Mahy (Jekyll and Hyde) and Broadway veteran Terry Burell (The Threepenny Opera).
There is no charge to watch Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party.
That’s it for your Best Bets at Home: September 4th – September 7th. But as always, we have some reminders for you:
Los Angeles area audiences can catch In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl on September 4th on PBS SoCal at 8:00 PM PDT. This week’s concert celebrates jazz performances.
Speaking of jazz, here are reminders from this week’s Jazz Stream:
Detroit Jazz Festival streams all weekend from September 4th – September 7th
Kenny Werner Trio Live at Smalls on September 4th
Dee Dee Bridgewater’s SFJazz Concert from 2017 is featured on September 4 as part of their Fridays at Five series
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s 2020 concert from New York’s Blue Note is streaming on September 4th
Melissa Aldana Quartet performs Live at Smalls on September 5th.
Reminders from this week’s Metropolitan Opera productions:
The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess streams on Friday and Saturday, September 4th and 5th.
Thomas Adés’s The Tempest streams on Sunday, September 6th.
That is our complete list of Best Bets at Home: September 4th – September 7th.
I hope you have a safe, happy and wonderful holiday weekend.
Photo: Nick Cordero (Courtesy of Broadway on Demand)