Welcome back to Cultural Attaché and to our Best Bets: October 28th – November 3rd. For this week’s Best Bets I have for you two plays (one of which is a world premiere), a concert presentation of a Gershwin musical, a celebration of Día de los Muertos and a documentary about the making of a John Adams opera.
Here are my Best Bets: October 28th – November 3rd:
JOAN – South Coast Repertory – Costa Mesa, CA – Now – November 24th
Playwright Daniel Goldstein’s play, having its world premiere at SCR, is about Joan Rivers. The play looks at both the professional and personal life of the woman who made outrageous jokes and suffered enormous tragedies.
Tessa Auberjonois, who has appeared in nearly a dozen other productions at South Coast Rep, takes on the dual roles of Joan and Mrs. Molinsky. Andrew Borba plays multiple roles including Dr. Molinsky, Edgar Rosenberg and Johnny Carson. Elinor Gunn plays Melissa (her daughter) and Young Joan. Zachary Prince plays at least five roles including Jimmy, Blake, Harold and Chet.
David Ivers directs. Opening night is November 1st. The show is recommended for audiences age 16 and older.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE – Frogtown area of Los Angeles – October 28th – October 30th/Venice, CA – November 1st – November 3rd
Tennessee Williams’ classic play has been performed more times around the world than one could possibly calculate. So there must be something unique about this production to warrant inclusion in our best bets. And there is.
Four actors, without a set or props, perform the unabridged text of A Streetcar Named Desire in unique locations. These are fully realized performances, not a reading. By all accounts of previous performances on the East Coast, this is a production not-to-be-missed.
Williams’ poetic language will be front and center in this production. Might it lead to a new understanding of Streetcar? There’s only one way to find out.
Co-creator Lucy Owen plays Blanche DuBois. Brad Koed is Stanley Kowalski. Mallory Portnoy is Stella DuBois. James Russell plays Harold Mitchell. Co-creator Nick Westrate directs.
For tickets and more information for the Frogtown dates, please go here. For the Venice dates, please go here.
STRIKE UP THE BAND – MasterVoices – Carnegie Hall – New York, NY – October 29th
George and Ira Gershwin’s 1927 musical had a rocky start. It played in Philadelphia but didn’t make it to Broadway until 1930 when the original book, by George S. Kaufman, was revised by Morrie Ryskind. Many songs appear in both versions, but there are differences.
MasterVoices Artistic Director Ted Sperling has collaborated with writer Laurence Maslon to create a new version which combines “the best of the 1927 and 1930 version for the show.”
Joining MasterVoices are Shereen Ahmed, Phillip Attmore, Victoria Clark, Lissa deGuzman, Claybourne Elder, Christopher Fitzgerald, Bryce Pinkham and David Pittu.
This is precisely the kind of one night only events in New York that makes any serious fan of musical theater and/or the Gershwins wished they lived there.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS WITH DUDAMEL – Walt Disney Concert Hall – Los Angeles, CA – November 1st – November 3rd
Latin American music is on the program for these three concerts celebrating Día de Muertos.
Brazilian composer Villa-Lobos’ Chôros No. 10, “Rasga o Coração” opens the concert. That is followed by Yanga by Gabriela Ortiz – a work that was commissioned by the LA Phil and had its world premiere performance in 2019.
The second half of the program, and my personal favorite, is La noche de los Mayas by Silvestre Revueltas.
Joining Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic are the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
For tickets and more information, please go here.
LAND OF GOLD – PBS Great Performances – November 1st (check local listings)
This is a behind-the-scenes documentary into the premiere of John Adams’ opera Girls of the Golden West which has a libretto by Peter Sellars. The premiere took place at San Francisco Opera in November 2017.
Appearing in this 90-minute documentary are Adams, Sellars and singers Paul Appleby, J’Nai Bridges and Julia Bullock.
The world premiere of any opera is a daunting task. This documentary allows viewers to get a sense of how demanding it is, particularly when you are putting a more honest spin on a part of history.
Check your local listings or go to PBS.org to watch Land of Gold.
That completes my Best Bets: October 28th – November 3rd. Enjoy your week!
Main Photo: Concept art for MasterVoices’ Strike Up the Band (Courtesy MasterVoices)