Best Bets: October 20th – October 26th

There were quite a few great options for Best Bets: October 20th – October 26th. So this week I’ve expanded the listings to six. You have choices that range from jazz to an off-Broadway revival of a cult musical, a Wagner opera, two world premieres and more.

Here are my Best Bets: October 20th – October 26th:

FRED HERSCH  – Village Vanguard – New York, NY – October 21^st – October 26^th

On opening night of this week of performances at the Village Vanguard, pianist/composer Fred Hersch turns 70. This week of concerts is timed to celebrate this milestone.

With a career as fascinating and impressive as Hersch’s, it’s going to be, I would surmise, a week of surprises, deep cuts, classic songs and possibly new works.

Joining him for these concerts are Marcus Gilmore on drums and Drew Gress on bass.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

THE BAKER’S WIFE – Classic Stage Company – New York, NY – October 23^rd – December 21^st

This Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin) and Joseph Stein (Fiddler on the Roof) musical is based on Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono’s film La Femme du Boulanger.

Both tell the story of a baker and his wife in France. She has left the relationship for a fling. The community, which relies on the couple for their daily bread and more, conspire to find a way to bring her back and return normalcy to their small village and therefore their lives.

The musical, which never made it to Broadway, is best known for the song Meadowlark which is a staple of Patti LuPone’s concerts (she played the part of the baker’s wife in the mid-70s during tryouts on the road).

Starring in The Baker’s Wife are Scott Bakula (Romance/Romance) as the baker, Aimable Castagnet, and Ariana DeBose (West Side Story remake) as the baker’s wife, Geneviève Castagnet. Also in the cast are Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll & Hyde), Nathan Lee Graham (Mid-Century Modern) and the incredible Judy Kuhn (Fun Home).

Rounding out the cast are Savannah Lee Birdsong, Arnie Burton, Alma Cuervo, Kevin Del Aguila, Samantha Gershman, Sally Murphy, Manu Narayan, Mason Olshavsky, Kevin William Paul, Will Roland and Hailey Thomas.

Gordon Greenberg directs.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

THE SEAT OF OUR PANTS – The Public Theater – New York, NY – October 24^th – November 30^th

This is one of the shows I’m most interested in this fall. This is a world premiere musical based on Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth.

This musical has book, lyrics and music by Ethan Lipton. He won an Obie Award for his show No Place to Go. His musical We Are Your Robots received multiple awards. He’s also the founder and lead singer of Ethan Lipton & his Orchestra. You should listen to his music. I think it’s terrific.

Wilder’s play shows one family having to deal with and survive a trio of catastrophes: an impeding ice age, a massive hurricane and a world war. But what are a few challenges for a family that’s been alive for 5,000 years?

The Seat of Our Pants cast is: Ben Beckley, Ally Bonino, Bill Buell, Damon Daunno, Micaela Diamond, Amina Faye, Andy Grotelueschen, Shuler Hensley, Allison Ann Kelly, Michael Lepore, Nat Lopez, Ruthie Ann Miles, Geena Quintos, David Ryan Smith and Ruth E. Sternberg.

Leigh Silverman directs and Sunny Min-Sook Hitt is the choreographer.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

REFLECTIONS AND HOPE – Nashville Symphony – Nashville, TN – October 24^th – October 25^th

This concert, conducted by Christian Reif, has a great line-up of 20th century works.

The performance opens with Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question. That is followed by Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater and concludes with Kurt Weill’s Symphony No. 2.

Prior to the Weill symphony, the orchestra will offer the world premiere of Brian Field’s Everything Hurts. For this piece Field has set Amanda Gorman’s Hymn for the Hurting to music. Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges is the soloist for Field’s composition.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

DUCK SOUP – The Conspirators at Stars & Garters – Chicago, IL – October 24^th – December 7th EXTENDED!

Released in 1933, Duck Soup was political satire disguised as one of their classic farces. It wasn’t a success at the box office but has since been reconsidered as one of their finest films.

The plot? It’s a Marx Brothers film, so it isn’t just about the plot. But here goes: A new president is now leading the country of Fredonia. Sylvania, its neighboring country, has sent a couple of spies to check out the new leader. Things go wildly out of control and the two countries find themselves at war with each other.

Sounds series, but it isn’t. As the website for this show saw, “an influential billionaire installs a crackpot president who hires incompetents into his cabinet and starts a war out of complete vanity.” Hmmm… I wonder what inspired The Conspirators to put on this show now.

Sid Feldman adapted the screenplay by Harry Ruby and Burt Kalmar. Wm. Bullion directs.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

PARSIFAL – San Francisco Opera – San Francisco, CA – October 25^th – November 13^th

This is a brand-new production of Wagner’s last opera. It’s another long one from the composer running nearly 5 hours with two intermissions.

Richard Wagner was inspired by Wolfram von Eschenbach’s poem about the knight Percival who was in search of the Holy Grail and served at King Arthur’s Round Table. It had its world premiere in Bayreuth in 1882. Wagner wrote both the music and the libretto.

Young Parsifal (Brandon Jovanovich) is woefully unaware of right or wrong. He has no concept of sin nor redemption. Raised by his mother, he’s unfamiliar with the ways of the world. He meets one of the Knights of the Grail and is given the opportunity to see the Holy Grail. While at the Castle, he hears King Amfortas (Brian Mulligan), crying in pain. Though Amfortas was given a life of immortality by the Grail, his pain comes from a wound inflicted by Klingsor (Falk Struckmann) who took the Holy Spear from the King. Parsifal makes it his mission to return the Spear and destroy Klingsor and his kingdom in order so that the King’s suffering can end.

This production is by Matthew Ozawa with choreography by Rena Butler. Eun Sun Kim conducts.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE. The November 2^nd performance will be available for livestreaming at 1:00 PM PT on November 2^nd. It will be available on demand from November 3^rd through November 5^th. For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

That’s all for Best Bets: October 20th – October 26th

Main Photo: Stephen Schwartz and Ariana DeBose (Photo by Valerie Terranova / Courtesy Classic Stage Company)