Best Bets: May 4th – May 10th

Though Best Bets: May 4^th – May 10^th should perhaps include something from Star Wars, this May the 4^th is not part of the force. We have other shows that are well-worthing attending so the answer to see or not to see falls squarely on your shoulders. So try one of these:

HAMLET – BAM – Brooklyn, NY – Now – May 17^th  

OPENING NIGHT:  May 4^th

Shakespeare’s play leans a bit more towards comedy than you might be accustomed to in this National Theatre production from director Robert Hastie (Operation Mincemeat). Critics were, for the most part, appreciative of this modern-dress presentation of the Dane with a lot on his mind.

It isn’t just the costumes that are different. Apparently, the actors, at times, address the audience directly. Hamlet even sits at the edge of the stage to speak more intimately to theatergoers. It certainly sounds interesting and different.

Starring as Hamlet is Hiran Abeysekera (Life of Pi) with Matthew Cottle as Polonius, Ayesha Dharker as Gertrude, Tom Glenister as Laertes, Francesca Mills as Ophelia and Alistair Petrie as Claudius.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

50^th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONCERT OF THE CENTURY – Carnegie Hall – New York, NY – May 5^th

Violinist Isaac Stern organized the first concert of the century at Carnegie Hall. This week mark’s the 50^th anniversary of that concert and instead of looking backwards, Carnegie Hall is looking forward to the next 50 years.

They have assembled an amazing line-up of talent to do so:  pianist Emanuel Ax, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, historian/musician/singer Michael Feinstein, soprano Renée Fleming, pianist Evgeny Kissin, pianist Lang Lang, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, Broadway’s Audra McDonald, conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, pianist Daniil Trifonov plus the NYO-USA All-Stars, Oratorio Society of New York and more. Kent Tritle directs.

This is presently a sold-out gala, but one hopes the event will be filmed for later broadcast.

For tickets (should additional seats become available) and more information, please go HERE.

SMITH, CABEZAS & CHILDS – LA Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series – Walt Disney Concert Hall – Los Angeles, CA – May 5^th

Michael Gordon’s 2bd, LA Phil Etudes Book 4, Part1 and Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Vignette for Bassoon, LA Phil Etudes Book 4, Part 2 get their world premieres in this concert curated by composer Gabriella Smith.

Duos by Gabriela Smith and Gabriel Cabezas (cellist, electronics) follows Gordon’s premiere and closes out the first half of the concert.

After Salonen’s pieces opens the second half, John Cage’s Branches will be performed. Which is why so many of the musicians on this program also have “plant material” as part of their instrument listings.

That’s followed by an Improvisation by pianist Billy Childs, bass player Dan “Chimy” Chmielinski and drummer Christian Euman. My Roots Spread Far and Wide by Childs follows with the concert closing with Gabriela Smith’s 2⁵.

LA Phil’s Green Umbrella Series has always been one of my favorites and this concert should be a good one. Molly Turner conducts.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

THE RECEPTIONIST – The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center – New York, NY – Now – May 24^th

OPENING NIGHT: MAY 7^th

Adam Bock’s 2007 dark comedy about an office staff received an unplanned visitor was a New York Times Critic’s Pick when it first was produced in New York. Critic Charles Isherwood said, “the play provides a nifty hour and change of light comedy that bleeds into dark finger-wagging.”

When two-time Tony Award winner Katie Finneran is part of a play with that description, count me in. Joining her are Mallori Johnson, Nael Nacer and Will Pullen.

Sarah Benson directs.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

THE PHYSICISTS – The Actors’ Gang – Culver City, CA – May 7^th – June 20^th

This satirical drama by Friedrich Dürrenmatt was first performed in 1962. It is set inside an insane asylum.

One of its residents is physicist Johann Wilhelm Möbius. He has two friends there, but each either has illusions of being a famous scientist or is pretending to do so.

Herbert George Beutler presents himself as Sir Isaac Newton. Ernst Heinrich Ernesti believes himself (or does he) that he is Albert Einstein.

There’s more than meets the eye with this play which, upon its first production, found its playwright to be wrestling with the idea of science working so closely with the machinations of war.

As of press time I did not have cast information. This play so closely aligns with the goals and aspirations of The Actors’ Gang, I anticipate this will be a remarkable production.

Brent Hinkley directs.

All Thursday performances are Pay-What-You Can.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

HAPPY END – Multiple Venues – May 9^th – July 31^st

Fans of the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill who live in New York and Western Massachusetts will have the opportunity to see The Glimmerglass Festival’s production of their musical Happy End.

This three-act musical, with a book by Elisabeth Hauptmann, follows a gangster, Bill Cracker and a Lieutenant in the Salvation Army, Lillian Holiday who fall in love.

Of course, they have very different values which leads to her being expelled and Bill gets set up by his boss (The Fly). What’s a couple to do? Bring their two sides together and fight the real enemy of the people: capitalism. (It is a Brecht/Weill work after all.)

The Bilbao Song and Surabaya Johnny are two well-known songs that came from this musical.

Christine Taylor Price plays Lillian Holiday. Gregory Feldmann plays Bill Cracker and Ana Karneža plays The Fly.

Kelley Rourke has written a new book.  Mary Birnbaum directs.

The first performance of this tour is on May 9^th at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA. On May 10^th the production goes to Munson in Utica, NY. On May 16^th they will be at the Seagle Festival in Schroon Lake, NY and on May 17^th at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, NY. Opera Saratoga in Saratoga Springs hosts performances on May 28^th and 30^th.

Meanwhile the production sneaks away to Hudson Hall in Hudson NY for a show on May 29^th.

In July Happy End will be performed at Finger Lakes Opera in Rochester, NY on July 23^rd. The show returns to The Glimmerglass Festival on July 28^th and 31^st in Cooperstown, NY.

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

That’s all for Best Bets: May 4^th – May 10^th.

Enjoy your week and go see a show!

Main Photo: Hiran Abeysekera in Hamlet (Photo by Julieta Cervantes/Courtesy The Production)