Best Bets: August 11th – August 17th

My Best Bets: August 11th – August 17th offer up dance, classical music, jazz, a Tony Award-winning musical and ?.

Here are Best Bets: August 11th – August 17th:

JESUS HOPPED THE ‘A’ TRAIN – City Lit – Chicago, IL – Now – September 7th

On a recent morning show appearance, Anthony Ramos (Hamilton) was asked if he wanted to return to Broadway. He mentioned wanting to appearing in a production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Jesus Hopped The ‘A’ Train. It’s a play I’ve known about since its original production in 2000 directed by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman

This weekend I finally saw the play in a production at City Lit in Chicago. There’s a reason Ramos wants to do it, it’s a truly great play.

Esteban Andres Cruz directs this production which tells the story of Angel Cruz (Lenin Izquierdo) who finds himself at Riker’s Island Correctional Facility after his attempt to help a friend goes awry. His efforts to get the right attorney and navigate the criminal justice system, combined with circumstances well beyond his control, lead him to even more problems. He finds himself in a 23-hour-a-day hold with only one other prisoner, Lucius Jenkins (Bradford Stevens), whom he sees during his one hour out of the cell.

Izquierdo and Stevens are quite good. Michael Dailey is also memorable as a guard whose time at Riker’s comes to a rather abrupt end early in the play. Maria Stephens plays Angel’s attorney and Manny Tamayo plays Valdez, the guard who has no empathy for either Angel or Lucius.

This is a great opportunity to see a terrific play by one of our finest playwrights.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

BALLET FESTIVAL: JEROME ROBBINS – Joyce Theater – New York, NY – August 12^th – August 17^th

Ballet star Tiler Peck has curated this summer’s Ballet Festival at The Joyce. The festival celebrates the work of Jerome Robbins (West Side Story).

There are three programs being performed:

Program A: Four Bagatelles, A Suite of Dances and Dances at a Gathering

Dates: August 12, 14^th and 16th

Program B; Rondo, Concertino, Other Dances and In the Night

Dates: August 13^th, August 15^th and August 16th

Program C: Four Bagatelles, A Suite of Dances and In the Night

Date: August 17^th

What I love about this programming is that Peck has chosen works that aren’t the ones you always see. This is a refreshing line-up of works by Robbins.

The dancers schedule to perform throughout the festival are Dominika Afasenkov, Aran Bell, William Bracewell, Chun Wai Chan, David Gabriel, Brooks Landegger, Paul Marque, Roman Mejia, Chloe Misseldine, Mira Nadon, Sae Eun Park, Unity Phelan, Tiler Peck, Marcelino Sambé, Taylor Stanley, Devon Teuscher, Cassandra Trenary, Emma Vonenck and Indiana Woodward.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

MJ – THE MUSICAL TOUR – Multiple Venues – August 12^th – May 24^th

Nobody will ever claim that this musical about Michael Jackson is a great musical. But it sure is a hell of a lot of fun. Seeing many of Michael Jackson’s best-loved songs come to life as he prepares for his tour is nothing short of exciting.

I saw the original Broadway production and went in with absolutely zero expectations. It would be easy to pull the show apart. But why? It’s just wonderful entertainment.

In the tour, Jordan Markus plays MJ. He’s one of three Michael Jacksons in the show. Brandon Lee Harris plays Michael and Quentin Blanton  Jr. and Bryce A. Holmes alternate in the role of Little Michael.

Lynn Nottage wrote the book and Christopher Wheeldon is the director/choreographer.

MJ – The Musical opens at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in Chicago on August 12^th where it will run through August 24^th. The next stop is the Peace Center in Greenville, SC from September 2^nd – September 7^th followed by The Kentucky Center in Louisville, KY from September 9^th – September 14^th. The tour is scheduled to run through May 24, 2026. You can find the full tour details HERE.

For tickets and more information, click on the name of the three cities listed above or check out the full tour details.

ERIC ALEXANDER & VINCENT HERRING QUINTET “SPLIT DECISION” RECORD RELEASE – Smoke Jazz Club – New York, NY – August 13^th – August 17^th Streaming Option

Tenor saxophonist Alexander teams up with alto saxophonist Herring to celebrate the upcoming release of their live album from Smoke Jazz Club. Split Decision gets released on August 22^nd.

I’ve heard the album and it’s quite good.  They will be joined by Mike LeDonne on piano, Lewis Nash on drums and John Webber on bass who also performed with them at the shows that yielded Split Decision.

The 7:00 PM ET show on August 15^th, will be available for livestreaming. You can get tickets and more information HERE.

For the run of shows in person at Smoke Jazz Club, please go HERE.

CHAMBER MUSIC – Aspen Music Festival – Aspen, CO – August 16^th

The world premiere of First Work by composer Samuel Adams is the opening piece being performed at the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble concert. It is also the reason this concert is on my Best Bets this week.

Samuel Adams is the son of composer John Adams. But lineage aside, he has been more than making a name for himself as a composer for 15 years.

Also on the program are Brahms’ Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, op. 99 and Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478.

The musicians performing in this concert are Darrett Adkins on cello, Victoria Chiang on viola, Alexander Kerr on violin, Michael Mermagen on cello, Anton Nel on piano and Robert Spano on piano. Timothy Weiss conducts.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

That’s all for this week’s Best Bets: August 11th – August 17th.

Enjoy your week! Go see a show!

Main Photo: Tiler Peck (Photo by Matt Karas/Courtesy The Joyce Theater)