The return of Shakespeare in the Park, a celebration of Broadway musicals from 1975, early British music, a world premiere in London and a Václav Havel play populate Best Bets: August 18th – August 24th.
BROADWAY AT 50! THE MUSICALS OF 1975 FROM A CHORUS LINE TO THE WIZ – 54 Below – August 19th Streaming Option Available
You really couldn’t go anywhere in the last couple of weeks, including this website, without being aware of the 50th anniversary of A Chorus Line. Though that show was an unstoppable juggernaut, there were plenty of other shows that season. Not the least of which was Chicago.
That season will be celebrated in a concert with performances from Boccaccio, Broadway Legends, Chicago, Goodtime Charley, The Lieutenant, The Robber Bridegroom, Shenandoah, Truckload, Very Good Eddie, The Wiz and more…including A Chorus Line.
Amongst the scheduled performers are Aeja L. Barrows, Jamin Bartlett, Steve Boockvor, Michael Colby, Robert Cuccioli, Penny Fuller, Ilene Graff, Travis Kent, Caorlyn Kirsch, Michael Lavine, Jeanne Lehman, Michon Peacock, Austin Pendleton, Kurt Peterson, Lee Roy Ream, Virginia Seidel, Megan Styrna and more.
Matt Koplik is the host. The music director is Canaan J. Harris.
For tickets and more information to attend in person, please go HERE. For tickets and more information to livestream at 7PM ET/4 PM PT, please go HERE.
TWELFTH NIGHT – Shakespeare in the Park/Delactore Theater – New York, NY – August 21st – September 14th
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, directed by Saheem Ali, is in previews and officially opens on Thursday, August 21st. Since the Delacore Theater has been closed for a couple years, this is a star-studded production to herald the venue’s return.
Amongst the cast are Peter Dinklage as Malvolio, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Andrew Aguecheek, Junior Nyong’o as Sebastian, and Lupita Nyong’o as Viola and Sandra Oh as Olivia.
In the play siblings Sebastian and Viola have been shipwrecked. Each fears the other has died. She disguises herself as a young man and all sorts of mayhem ensues, as befits Shakespeare’s plays, with love triangles, surprise returns and an arrogant deputy (Malvolio) who thinks he knows what’s best for everyone.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
PROTEST – BRICOLAGE PRODUCTION COMPANY AT THE FOUNTAIN THEATRE – Los Angeles, CA – August 22nd – August 24th
Václav Havel’s two-character play gets a brief production during our troubled times. It tells the story of a dissident, Ferdinand Vaněk, whose close friend asks for help in a situation involving his son-in-law, a member of an opposition party who has been arrested. How far can and will Vaněk go to help his friend’s son without compromising his own safety?
Steve Schub and Robert Anthony Peters star in Protest. Jeffrey Carpenter directs.
Protest takes place in the new upstairs space at The Fountain Theatre (one of LA’s best and most consistent theaters.)
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
MUSICA TRANSALPINA – Sierra Madre Playhouse – Sierra Madre, CA – August 23rd
Early music from England is performed in this concert by Musica Transalpina. They are a baroque instrumental and vocal ensemble. The concert is named Our Lady’s Dowry: Marian Music from Mediæval England.
The program includes works by William Byrd, Christopher Tye and more. The concert will be anchored by a performance of Robert Fayrfax’s Missa “O Bone Jhesu.” This is a deeply emotional work that will certainly be the highlight of this concert.
Bryan Roach is the Musical Director. The featured artists are Dr. R. Matthew Brown, contra tenor; John Buffett, bass; William Duffey, mean; Luc Kleiner, tenor; Sean Maxwell, organ and Anna Schubert, treble.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
INTERVIEW – Riverside Studios – London, England – August 23rd – September 27th
Theo van Gogh’s 2003 film, Interview, is the inspiration for this two-person play adapted and directed by Teunkie Van Der Sluijs.
Interview tells the story of a Katya, a present-day influencer who has parlayed her fame into a film career. She feels that she is wildly underestimated by journalists, especially male writers. She agrees to do an interview with the formerly hot-shot war correspondent Pierre Peters, but things don’t go as planned for either of them.
Paten Hughes and Robert Sean Leonard star in the play. I saw him in his Tony Award-winning performance in The Invention of Love. He’s a fine actor and reason enough to see this, or any other, play. Hughes was in Long Wharf Theater’s A View From the Bridge last year.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
That’s all for Best Bets: August 18th – August 24th.
Enjoy your week and go see a show!
Main Photo: Junior Nyong’o and Lupita Nyong’o in rehearsal for Twelfth Night (Photo by Joan Marcus/Courtesy The Public Theater)