THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MISS SCOTT – PBS American Masters – Check local listings and streaming on PBS
Hazel Scott was a trailblazer. She played by jazz and classical music. Her jazz career was predominantly in the 1930s and 1940s. She also appeared in multiple films in the 40s including Rhapsody in Blue, the biography of George Gershwin. So popular was she that she got her own television show, The Hazel Scott Show, in 1950.
Her appearance before the Hose Un-American Activities Committee in September of 1950 resulted in a swift fall from grace for a woman who had become the first Black woman to have her own television show.
This documentary looks at the rise and fall of Scott and her deeply held beliefs that both made her a civil rights pioneer and a woman with a target on her back.
Check your local listings and The Disappearance of Miss Scott is also available to stream at PBS.Org.
VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON & YUJA WANG – Multiple Venues – February 25th – March 2nd
Two extraordinarily talented pianists with two very different styles conclude their US tour of their Four-handed Piano Concert with this week’s performances.
The program opens with Berio’s Wasserklavier and is followed by Schubert’s Fantasia in F minor for Four Hands; John Cage’s Experiences No. 1; Nancarrow’s Study No. 6 as arranged by Thomas Adés; John Adam’sHallelujah Junction; Arvo Pärt’s Hymn to a Great City and closes with Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. That’s before the encores, of course.
They have performances February 25th and 26th at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles; February 28th at The Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara and March 2nd at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.
For tickets and more information, please click on the date above.
ON THE EVOLUTIONARY FUNCTION OF SHAME – The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Theatre – New York , NY – February 26th – March 9th
Wednesday is opening night for this new play by D.A. Mindell as part of The Next Stage Festival. The play is a contemporary twist on Adam and Eve with them being twins. Adam is an expectant transgender man and Eve is a scientist.
Her offer of help with the pregnancy will open up both of them to ideas about the definition of family and personal identity that will surprise them.
Jess McLeod directs the cast of Jordan Barbour, Kayli Carter, Elizabeth Ramos, Imani Russell, Cody Sloan and Ryan Jamaal Swain.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
AN EVENING WITH JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL featuring AMBER MARTIN – Multiple Venues – February 26th – February 28th
The creator and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch takes to Catalina Jazz Club for two nights of raucous and rock energy. This venue probably has never rocked as hard as it will for these two shows on February 26th and 27th. Special guests are listed as part of the programs. (How great would it be if Lena Hall were in LA for these two shows?)
They will follow-up those concerts with one night at the Palm Springs Cultural Center on February 28th.
I’ve seen this dynamic duo perform together several times and you are guaranteed to have a great time.
For tickets and more information for Catalina Jazz Club, please go HERE. For tickets and more information for Palm Springs, please go HERE.
LOUDER THAN WORDS: THE SONGS AND LEGACY OF JONATHAN LARSON – 92nd Street Y – New York, NY – March 1st – March 3rd
The works of composer and lyricist of Rent, Tick, Tick Boom and enough songs to warrant a new show, The Jonathan Larson Project now playing at the Orpheum Theatre in the East Village of New York are explored over three performances. Each one will have special guests who will talk about how Larson impacted them.
On March 1st it will be Anna K. Jacobs, Michael R. Jackson and Grace McLean.
On March 2nd it will be Julian Hornik and Zoe Sarnak.
On March 3rd it will be Daniel and Patrick Lazour and Shaina Taub.
The artists performing at each show are Adam Kantor, L Morgan Lee, DeMone Seraphin, Rotana Tarabzouni and Keaton Whittaker.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
Main Photo: Yuja Wang (photo by Julia Wesely (Courtesy Opus 3 Artists)