BEST BETS: JUNE 23rd – JUNE 29th

Summer is officially here which means some traditional summer activities are fast-approaching. That includes a couple of this week’s BEST BETS: June 23rd – June 29th.

HELLO, DOLLY! IN CONCERT – Carnegie Hall – New York, NY – June 23^rd

New York just wants Dolly back where she belongs…on stage. Transport Group is presenting this one-night-only concert of Jerry Herman’s beloved musical about a matchmaker who secretly wants a match of her own.

The concert will feature a 30-piece orchestra and will recreate Gower Champion’s original choreography.

And what a cast they have lined up: Kate Baldwin, Nikki Renée Daniels, Hannah Elless, Andrew Barth Feldman, Katie Finneran, Jessica Fontana, Santino Fontana, J. Harrison Ghee, Ann Harada, Erika Henningsen, Grey Henson, Ashley D. Kelley, Gracie Lawrence, Beth Leavel, Kecia Lewis, Marilyn Maye, Jak Malone, Zachary Noah Piser, Lee Roy Reams, Thom Sesma, Helen J. Shen, A.J. Shively, Christopher Sieber, Roger Preston Smith, Cheryl Stern, Ephraim Sykes, Barbara Walsh, Natasha Yvette Williams, Samantha Williams, Alysha Umphress, and Anna Zavelson.

Jack Cummmings III directs. Joey Chancey is the Music Director.

Even though this is a Monday performance, put on your Sunday clothes and strut down the street to Harmonia Gradens at Carnegie Hall.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

PASTORAL – Bard SummerScape – Annandale-on-Hudson, NY – June 27^th – June 29^th

Choreograph Pam Tanowitz, composer Caroline Shaw and visual artists Sarah Crowner have collaborated on this world premiere inspired by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6.

In a video about Pastoral, Tanowitz discusses how this work examines “abstraction and narrative.” Sometimes you’ll hear Beethoven’s symphony. Other times you’ll hear nothing. Other times you’ll hear music composed by Shaw.

Given how legendary this symphony is, how talented Tanowitz is and how innovative Shaw is, I expect this to be one of the highlights of the summer on the East Coast.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

2025 PRIDE CONCERT – SF Opera – San Francisco, CA – June 27^th

Once again, San Francisco Opera pulls out all the stops to celebrate Gay Pride in this concert. RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 4’s Sapphira Cristál will emcee this 80-minute concert. She replaces the previously announced Monét X Change.

Soloist include Jamie Barton, Brian Mulligan and Nikola Printz. 

The diverse program is slated to include works by Harold Arlen (Hmm…Over the Rainbow perhaps?), the Indigo Girls, Jake Heggie and Tchaikovsky. Tal Rosner will provide video accompaniment to the concert.

Eun Sun Kim conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Robert Mollicone will conduct the soloists.

The 80-minute concert will be followed by a 90-minute post-show dance party.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

SHOSTAKOVICH SYMPHONY NO. 10 – Grant Park Orchestra/Giancarlo Guerrero – Grant Park – Chicago, IL – June 27^th – June 28^th

You know it’s summer in Chicago when the temperatures rise (and boy have they already) and the Grant Park Music Festival begins.  The festival began last week and this week Chicagoans are going to want to take refuge from the heat by going to these outdoor concerts.

This week’s highlight is the Grant Park Orchestra, under the direction of Giancarlo Guerrero, performing Shostakovich’s Symphony. No 10.  I love what the LA Philharmonic says about this work. That it is “48 minutes of tragedy, despair, terror and violence and two minutes of triumph.”

Before getting to the main attraction, the concert opens with Augusta Read Thomas’s Brio and the stunningly beautiful Prelude & Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

THE TIN ANGEL – Teatro Grattacielo at La MaMama – New York, NY – June 28^th – June 29^th

Novelist Paul Pines’s 1983 novel, The Tin Angel, told the story of two owners of a jazz club in the East Village: Pablo and Ponce. When Ponce is murdered, Pablo’s life begins to crumble and he becomes haunted by Ponce’s ghost. And that’s just the beginning.

Pines has teamed up with composer Daniel Asia for this world premiere opera inspired by the novel. The webpage for this production indicates that the opera “incorporates elements of jazz into serious art music.”

Spencer Hamlin sings the role of Pablo. Alejandro De Los Santos sings the role of Ponce.  Of note is that Daniel Klein sings the role of Christ. Who knows where this will go, but that’s intriguing, isn’t it? I told you the synopsis was just the beginning.

Chloe Treat directs and Enrico Fagone conducts.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

That’s all for Best Bets: June 23rd – June 29th.

Enjoy your week! Go see a show!

Main Photo: Maile Okamura, Anson Zwingelberg, Marc Crousillat and Christine Flores in Pastoral (Photo by Maria Baranova/Courtesy Bard)