Fall officially launches on Monday, September 22nd. But you don’t need to look at the calendar to know that. Just check out the great options as the fall performing arts season begins in earnest. Here are this week’s Best Bets: September 22nd – September 28th:
THE OTHER AMERICANS – The Public Theater – New York, NY – Now – October 26th OPENING NIGHT September 25th
If you’ve ever seen John Leguizamo’s plays, you know that humor and commentary live side-by-side. You’re thinking and laughing simultaneously. The Other Americans will probably share those sensibilities, but it appears to be structured more like a traditional play.
Leguizamo plays Nelson Castro, a Colombian American struggling to keep his laundromat business open in Queens. His son Nick (Trey Santiago-Hudson) is released from a facility tackling possible mental illness after he endured a horrible incident. But his return upends Nelson’s life, and the father must tackle a slew of issues related to race and identity if he hopes to have any semblance of a future.
The cast also features Rosa Evangelina Arredondo, Sarah Nina Hayon, Rebecca Jimenez, Bradley James Tejeda and Luna Lauren Velez.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson directs.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
DUDAMEL LAUNCHES HIS FINAL SEASON – Los Angeles Philharmonic – Los Angeles, CA – September 25th – September 28th
Gustavo Dudamel’s final season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic begins with the world premiere of Earth Between Oceans by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid. This 30-minute work uses the four elements as its inspiration.
On the website Reid writes, “I was inspired by the ways in which these natural forces are infinitely more powerful, more ancient, and more resilient than any rising political chaos.” Amen!
The second half of the concert finds the LA Phil performing Richard Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Op. 64. Though called a symphony, it is truly a tone poem. After all, what symphony has 22 movements? It is one of Strauss’s finest compositions.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY – Metropolitan Opera – New York, NY – September 26th – October 11th
Anyone who was enchanted by Michael Chabon’s novel, which won the Pulitzer Prize, will want to check out this opera about two Jewish cousins and create a comic-book series revolving around an anti-fascist superhero. The opera takes place on the cusp of World War II and they hope their superhero will entice America to join the battle against Nazism. But their fictional world collides with the real one. For director Bartlett Sher he gets to create the fantasy and the reality that is at the heart of this wonderful story.
The opera was composed by Mason Bates with a libretto by Gene Scheer.
Baritone Andrzej Filończyk and Tenor Miles Mykkanen sing the title roles of Kavalier and Clay. They are joined by Patrick Carfizzi, Craig Colclough, Edward Nelson, Sun-Ly Pierce and Lauren Snouffer. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
Sadly, this production is not part of Met Opera in HD. The only way to see it will be in New York.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
FANFARE FOR POWELL HALL – St. Louis Symphony Orchestra – St. Louis, MO – September 26th – September 28th
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra opens their 2025-2026 season with not one, but three fanfares.
Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man is followed by Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1 and Hames Lee III’s Fanfare for Universal Hope. Tower’s piece is having its first SLO performances and Lee’s is a world premiere.
The highlight of these concerts is the world premiere of House of Tomorrow by Kevin Puts. The SLSO commissioned this song cycle that will feature Joyce DiDonato. Puts is composer-in-residence at SLSO this season. Their recording of his Concerto for Orchestra just came out on Friday and is terrific. The album includes two other pieces by Puts.
In what turns out to be a good week for Richard Strauss, the concerts will conclude with his Ein Heldenleben.
Stéphane Denève conducts and the concert features the St. Louis Symphony Chorus directed by Erin Freeman.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
WAITING FOR GODOT – Hudson Theatre – New York, NY – Now – January 4th OPENING NIGHT: September 28th
Samuel Beckett’s classic play gets the Jamie Lloyd (Sunset Blvd) treatment. Will that mean blood? Or will it be as deeply compelling as Betrayal? We’ll soon find out.
But that isn’t why most people are interested in this production. It’s the cast. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, who famously teamed up for Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure which came out in 1989, take on the roles of Estragon and Vladimir.
Their adventure this time truly lives up to the title as they wait for Godot to show up. This is the fifth Broadway production of Beckett’s play.
Waiting for Godot marks Reeves’ Broadway debut. Winter had previously appeared in the 1979 production of Peter Pan and as a replacement in the 1977 revival of The King and I.
Brandon J. Dirden plays Pozzo. Michael Patrick Thornton plays Lucky. Zaynn Arora and Eric Williams alternate in the role of Boy.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
That’s all for Best Bets: September 22nd – September 28th.
Enjoy your week! Go see a show!
Main Photo: Miles Mikkanen and Edward Nelson in “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” (Photo by Evan Zimmerman-Courtesy Met Opera)