Last week I mentioned the scurry of Broadway shows opening before Tony eligibility deadlines. In Best Bets: April 6th – April 12th there are four shows opening. But there’s more than just Broadway shows in this week’s list. Take a look!
INNOCENCE – Metropolitan Opera – New York, NY – April 6th – April 29th
This opera by composer Kaija Saariaho takes place in Finland and examines the lingering impact of a school shooting that reveals itself during a wedding.
Upon its premiere in 2021, it was hailed as a great work of modern opera. Innocence’s libretto was written by Sofi Oksanen.
Original director Simon Stone and original conductor Susanna Mälkki return for this Metropolitan Opera premiere.
Appearing in Innocence are Joyce DiDonato, Vilma Jää, Jacquelyn Stucker, Miles Mykkanen, Kathleen Kim, Rod Gilfry and Stephen Milling.
Lucy Shelton, who originated the role of The Teacher, makes her Met debut in the same role. It’s a remarkable accomplishment for the soprano who is 82 years old.
Though Innocence is not part of Met Opera Live in HD, you can stream the April 6th and 18th performances on their website and on the Met Opera Radio on Sirius.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
BECKY SHAW – Hayes Theater – New York, NY – April 6th – June 14th
OPENING NIGHT: April 6th
In 2009, I saw Gina Gionfriddo’s Becky Shaw at the Second Stage Theatre in New York. I was immediately taken by this comedy centered on two people on a bad date that goes from bad to much worse. But there’s so much more than that.
Now Becky Shaw is finally appearing on Broadway in this production directed by Trip Cullman.
Madeline Brewer, making her Broadway debut, plays the title character. Alden Ehrenreich plays Max, the other party in the blind date. He’s also making his Broadway debut.
The rest of the cast includes Patrick Ball, the always fabulous Linda Emond and Lauren Patten.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
WE CHOSE TO GO TO THE MOON – Carnegie Hall – New York, NY – April 7th – April 8th
There was no way for Carnegie Hall know that this celebration of America’s space race would happen at the same time four astronauts are enroute to circle around the moon.
Director Michael Mayer has collaborated with historian John Monsky (who narrates) to combine history with popular song.
The cast of Broadway stars performing are Skylar Astin, Brent Comer, Claybourne Elder (check out his new album), Elizabeth Gillies, Taylor Louderman and Joy Woods.
Ian Weinberger conducts the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
The press release indicates a few of the songs that will be performed including Fly Me to the MNoon, Rocket Man, Space Oddity and My Generation. Given the Artemis II mission maybe they’ll also do something from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE for April 7th and HERE for April 8th. If you can’t make it, the show is being filmed for later broadcast.
CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL – Broadhurst Theatre – New York, NY – April 7th – September 6th OPENING NIGHT: April 7th
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s blockbuster musical Cats was never one of my favorites. But this new production, which started at Perelman Performing Arts Center and become a hot ticket, piques my interest.
Directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch have set Cats in the underground world of ballroom culture. If you saw the show Pose, you know that world. They have brought in two icons of that world to choreograph: Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles. Every clip I’ve seen of this production makes me excited to see the show.
The cast includes André De Shields as Old Deuteronomy and “Tempress” Chastity Moore as Grizabella (the one who sings Memory). The cast is too large to include everyone here, but one look at the clip below and you’ll know how fiercely talented they all are:
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
DEATH OF A SALESMAN – Winter Garden Theatre – New York, NY – Now – August 9th OPENING NIGHT: April 9th
It was only four years ago that the last revival of Arthur Miller’s powerful play. That 2022 revival had a great cast and so does this one.
If you follow Cultural Attaché, you’re likely to know the story, so I won’t recap it here.
Starring as Willy Loman is Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf plays his wife Linda. The two sons are played by Christopher Abbott (Biff) and Ben Ahlers (Happy).
Also in the cast are Jonathan Cake, John Drea, K. Todd Freeman and seven more.
Joe Mantello directs. Caroline Shaw composed the original score.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
OPERAFEST LA – Multiple Venues – Los Angeles, CA – April 11th – May 30th
The opera scene is front and center in this festival that brings together Beth Morrison Projects, LA Opera, Long Beach Opera, Overtone Industries, Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater, Synchromy, The Industry, The Wallis, USC Thornton School of Music and more.
The festival kicks off at The Wallis and serves as a preview of the programming and includes a panel discussion with Beth Morrison, Paul Hopper of LA Opera, Tim Griffin of The Industry and more.
Amongst the main events during the festival are:
Long Beach Opera’s Celebrating the Central Park Five Opera on April 11th
The Industry’s Veronika Krauss & Her Rogues’ Gallery on April 16th
LA Opera’s Falstaff at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from April 18th – May 10th
The USC Thornton School of Music Opera Program’s Turn of the Screw on April 22nd and 23rd
Overtone Industries’ Original Vision V: Menagerie on April 24th and 25th
LA Opera’s James Conlon Farewell Concert on April 24th.
The Industry’s Listening Party with Christopher Cerrone on May 15th
Synchromy’s Hysteria on May 17th
Beth Morrison Project’s Jodie Landau’s ‘Performance of Self’ on May 29th and 30th
For tickets and more information, click on the name of the event above. For the complete list, please go HERE.
TITANIQUE – St. James Theatre – New York, NY – Now – September 20th (EXTENDED)
OPENING NIGHT: April 12th
This is the story of the little show that could. When Titanique began previews in off-Broadway in New York on June 14, 2022, it is highly unlikely that anyone thought the show would run for three years. Which is exactly what this celebration of Celine Dion has done.
It does so with humor (it is a parody of James Cameron’s Titanic, of course), actors who can ad-lib their way through anything and an audience that eats it up night after night.
Now Titanique is opening on Broadway with the prestige of having won an Olivier Award as well.
Marla Mindelle (one of the creators along with Tye Blue and Constantine Rousouli) plays Celine Dion. Jim Parsons plays Ruth Dewitt Bukater. Melissa Barrera plays Rose DeWitt Bukater. Deborah Cox plays Unsinkable Molly Brown. Frankie Grande plays Victor Garber and Rousouli plays Jack.
Blue directs. If history repeats itself, this show will go on – even though this is listed as a limited engagement.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
PACIFICA QUARTET – Washington Performing Arts at Sixth & I– Washington, D.C. – April 12th
The fourth annual Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial Recital includes this concert by Pacifica Quartet entitled Revolutionary Portraits: Our Better Angels.
There are two world premieres that make this concert utterly compelling. Gabriela Lena Frank’s The Edge of Everything is a musical portrait of Rachel Carson, a scientist and writer whose life and career revolved around environmental issues and its impact on the sea.
The second premiere is Jennnifer Higdon‘s Steps for Justice which honors Ginsburg. It’s a work for string quartet and narrator. Ginsburg’s close friend Nina Totenberg serves as the narrator for this concert.
The concert opens with Florence Price’s String Quartet in G Major and closes with Beethoven’s Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 with Grosse Fuge, Op. 133.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
That’s all for Best Bets: April 6th – April 12th.
Enjoy your week and go see a show!
Main Photo: André De Shields in Cats: The Jellicle Ball (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)