Best Bets: October 6th – October 11th

This week’s Best Bets: October 6th – October 11th features two jazz legends on tour together, a notoriously challenging opera for any soprano, some rarely heard chamber music from the 20th century and a couple other surprises.

Here is Best Bets: October 6th – October 11th:

SMALL – The Old Globe – San Diego, CA – Now – October 19^th

This is the West Coast premiere of Robert Montano’s one man show about a short kid who dreams of being a jockey. However deep his passion for horse racing becomes, his body can’t contain the full scope of his ambitions. In short, he gets to be too tall to be a jockey.

What’s a poor boy to do? I’ve got the horse right here. The name is Paul Revere is one clue.

Montano takes on numerous roles include his mother, various jockeys and trainers and even a horse or two. It’s an entertaining and moving show

Jessi D. Hill directs.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

CHRISTIAN McBRIDE & BRAD MEHLDAU TOUR – Multiple Venues – October 8th – October 21st

Bassist McBride and pianist Mehldau are going on the road for 12 concerts across America. Separately they are both worth seeing in concert. Together, they make remarkable music.

The tour begins with two sets at the  Dakota in Minneapolis on October 8^th. That is followed by the Muriel Kauffman Theatre in Kansas City, MO on Oct 9^th; Chicago Symphony Hall on October 10^th; Town Hall Seattle in Seattle on October 12th; Shedd Jaqua Concert Hall in Eugene , OR on October 13th; The Wallis in Beverly Hills on October 15^th; Presidio Theatre in San Francisco on October 16^th & 17^th; The Baker Baum Concert Hall in La Jolla, CA on October 18^th; Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, AZ on October 19^th; Brendle Recital Hall in Winston-Salem, NC to close out the tour on October 21^st.

For tickets and more information, please click on the venue names above.

HELMUT LACHENMANN STRING QUARTETS – Jack Quartet – Miller Theatre at Columbia University – New York, NY -= October 9^th

Composer Lachenmann turns 90 in November. This week JACK Quartet will perform all three of his string quartets.

String Quartet No. 1 Gran Torso was first written in 1971 with additional composing in 1978 and 1988. String Quartet No. 2 Reigen Seliger Geister dates form 1989. His third string quartet, Grido, dates from 2001.

It’s been over a decade since these works were performed in New York. JACK Quartet (with members Jay Campbell on cello; Christopher Otto on violin; John Pickford Richards on viola and Austin Wulliman on violin) are just the ensemble to do this music justice.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

THE WICKED STAGE: SONGS ABOUT SHOW BUSINESS – 54 Below – New York, NY – October 8^thLivestream Option

Christine Pedi, who serves as one of the hosts on Sirius XM’s On Broadway channel, serves as the hostess for this evening of songs from musicals where show business is part of the story.

Think Sunset Boulevard, Gypsy, Victor Victoria and more.

Performing in the concert will be Stephanie D’Abruzzo (Avenue Q), Javier Muñoz (Hamilton), Mark Nadler (Russian on the Side) and Jasmine Amy Rogers (recent Tony nominee for starring as Betty Boop in Boop! The Musical).

Michael Lavine is the music director.

For in-person tickets, please go HERE.  For livestream tickets, please go HERE.

MEDEA – Lyric Opera of Chicago – Chicago, IL – October 11^th – October 26^th

If you like your opera dark, powerful and tragic, look no further than Cherubini’s 1797 opera Medea. It was inspired by both Euripides’ tragedy and the play Médée by Pierre Corneille.

Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky sings the title role with tenor Matthew Polenzani singing the role of Giasone.

Médée is a monstrously (pun intended) difficult role to sing. This David McVicar production is the same one in which Radvanovsky sang this role at the Met Opera in 2022. That production was a Critic’s Pick in the New York Times.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. This opera is arguably the gold standard for a ferociously angry woman. 

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

That’s this week’s Best Bets:October 6th – October 11th.

Enjoy your week and go see a show!

Main Photo: Robert Montano in Small (Photo by Rich Soublet II/Courtesy The Old Globe)