BEST BETS: March 23rd – March 29th
It’s a jam packed first week of spring, so let’s get right to Best Bets: March 23rd – March 29th:
GIANT – Music Box Theatre – New York, NY – Now – June 28th OPENING NIGHT: March 23rd
Mark Rosenblatt’s play about Roald Dahl, Giant, received three Olivier Awards last year. They were for Best New Play, Best Supporting Actor for Elliot Levey and Best Actor for John Lithgow.
Both Lithgow and Levey return for the US premiere of the play. Also returning are Aya Cash and Rachael Stirling.
The play centers on the impact of Dahl’s 1983 Literary Review of Tony Clifton and Catherine Leroy’s book God Cried. His review was antisemitic and he doubled down on those comments in a later interview. This all happens around the time of the publishing of his new novel, The Witches. Rosenblatt examines how deeply held positions are complicated, how truth is elusive and how an artist’s opinions can change how his works are received and/or reconsidered.
Nicholas Hytner directs. Giant is definitely a must-see play of the 2025-2026 Broadway season.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
IGOR LEVIT: PROKOFIEV’S FIVE PIANO CONCERTOS – Konzertdirektion Adler Berlin – Berlin, Germany – March 23rd – March 26th
Pianist Igor Levit is joined by Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra for three concerts in which Levit will perform all five of Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto.
On March 23rd he will perform the Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major and the Piano Concerto No. 5 in G Major. On March 24th he performs my favorite of the composer’s piano concertos, the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major. The series closes out on March 25th with performances of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor and the Piano Concerto No. 4 in B-flat Major “For the Left Hand.”
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING – The Theatre at St. Luke’s – New York, NY – March 25th – April 3rd
Though this show has been kicking around for a bit with various readings, this is the first I’ve heard of this musical by composer Neil Berg with a book and lyrics by DJ Salisbury.
The 19756 John Huston is one of my favorite films of all time, so I’m naturally interest in how Rudyard Kipling’s story will come to life as a musical.
Peachy Carnehan and Danny Dravot were sergeants in the British Army. They have grandiose ideas about their own importance and to go Hindu Kush where they pass themselves off as kings in order to rule the land. But their hubris portends a far more tragic outcome for them.
Salisbury directs the cast of Terence Archie, Shanel Bailey, Josh Canfield, Coleman Cummings, Rita Harvey, Vicki Lewis, Trevor Martin, Wesley Slade and Katie Thompson.
Hopefully the music is half as memorable as Maurice Jarre’s brilliant score for the film and the show itself as unforgettable as Huston’s film. (If you haven’t seen it, you should!)
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
BIG EARS FESTIVAL – Multiple Venues – Knoxville, TN – March 26th – March 29th
This annual festival is easily one of the most important to take place each year. Unlike many others, Big Ears Festival eschews labels and wants to create a conversation amongst artists from ambient music, contemporary classical music, experimental, folk, jazz and rock.
Amongst the artists performing this year are Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Mary Halvorson, Jack Quartet, Nate Mercereau, Miles Electric Band: Celebrating Miles Davis at 100, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion, Don Was & the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, Wild Up, Brandon Woody, John Zorn and dozens more.
Zorn will be celebrated with 12 performances over 2 days. This is the kind of weekend where it’s impossible to see all the great shows that are being presented.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY: WE ARE OUR TIME – PBS – Part One: March 27th / Part Two: April 3rd (Check Local Listings or Visit PBS.org)
While the Martha Graham Dance company celebrates is 100th anniversary next month at New York City Center (and has been doing so on tour across America since last fall), this two -part documentary employs the experiences of the company’s current members to examine Graham’s legacy as one of the most important choreographers.
Martha Graham’s one thoughts and words are spoken by Meryl Streep throughout the two-parts.
We Are Our Time, the title of this documentary, comes from Graham’s own comment that “No artist is ahead of his time. He is his time.”
Peter Schnall and Cyndee Readdean directed and produced the film.
Check local listings for airdates near you.
BACH REIMAGINED – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – Cicada Restaurant & Lounge – Los Angeles, CA – March 28th
This LACO event doesn’t include the full orchestra. Rather, pianist Lara Downes has curated an event centered on Bach’s Sinfonias and Inventions. How do these works come together and how can they lead to new improvisations today?
Joining Downes and the LACO’s string trio are spoken-word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph and jazz pianist Christian Sands as they both honor and reimagine Bach’s music. The 60-minute concert will be followed by a spoken word event with all the artists and five featured poets.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
TITUS ANDRONICUS – Red Bull Theater at The Pershing Square Signature Center’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre – New York, NY – Now – April 19th OPENING NIGHT: March 29th
Perhaps William Shakespeare’s most violent and disturbing play is brought to life with Patrick Page as Titus. Let’s just say that revenge is best served any and all ways – the more gruesome the better in this play.
Jesse Berger directs this production. The cast includes Jesse Aaronson, Matthew Amendt, Blair Baker, McKinley Belcher III, Francesca Faridany, Enid Graham, Amy Jo Jackson, Adam Langdon, Anthony Michael Lopez, Anthony Michael Martinez, Howard Overshown, Olivia Reis and Zack Lopez Roa.
I can’t imagine anyone better than Page in this highly demanding role. He talked about Titus Andronicus in my recent interview with him. You can watch that HERE.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
NO SINGING IN THE NAVY – Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Playwrights Horizons – New York, NY – NOW – April 26th OPENING NIGHT: March 29th
Musicals like On the Town (1944 Broadway/1949 film) and Anchors Aweigh (1945 film) projected the times of war as a time for love and adventure. Rarely did they ever examine the realities of life during wartime.
Enter No Singing in the Navy by Milo Cramer. This world premiere musical strips away the naivete of those musicals and explores what a 24-hour leave can mean to sailors who are just as likely to return home as victims of that war as they are to survive it.
Aysan Celik directs a four-person cast of Bailey Lee, Ellen Nikbakht, Elliot Sagay with Kyle Adam Blair on piano. The original music is by Cramer.
Cramer’s previous shows include School Pictures (an Obie-winning solo show), Business Ideas and Cute Activist. Neither he nor Playwrights Horizon could have ever imagined we’d be at war at the same time this musical is being performed. That will likely increase the impact of No Singing in the Navy.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
Enjoy your week! Go see a show!
Main Photo: John Lithgow in Giant (Photo by Joan Marcus)