As you can imagine, Broadway has been hit hard by the pandemic with shows closed for months and likely to remain so until next summer at the earliest. So how did this show come to be? The host, Tiny Fey, certainly had a lot to do with it.

Not only has she starred in two hit shows for NBC (Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock), she is also the writer of the book for the musical, Mean Girls, based on the 2004 film she wrote and starred in along with Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. The musical was still running when Broadway was shut down.

Amongst the musicals being represented in One Night Only are Ain’t Too Proud–The Life and Times of The Temptations, Chicago, Jagged Little Pill, Diana: The Musical, Jersey Boys, Mean Girls and Rent.

Diana: The Musical has yet to open on Broadway. Rent hasn’t been on Broadway since 2008. Jersey Boys is off-Broadway after concluding its Broadway run. The latter two shows remain amongst the most popular shows of all-time.

Cast members from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will also appear.

Joining Fey in the two-hour broadcast are Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George), Antonio Banderas (A Chorus Line in Spain), Lance Bass (Hairspray), Kristen Bell (The Crucible), Kelly Clarkson, Brett Eldredge, Jesse Tyler Ferguson (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Sutton Foster (Anything Goes), Peter Gallagher (On the Twentieth Century), Josh Groban (Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812), Jake Gyllenhaal (Sunday in the Park with George), Sean Hayes (Promises, Promises), Ron Cephas Jones (Of Mice and Men), Patti LaBelle, Nathan Lane (The Producers), Camryn Manheim (Spring Awakening), Rob McClure (Mrs. Doubtfire), Alanis Morissette (Jagged Little Pill), Jerry O’Connell (A Soldier’s Play), Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Mary-Louise Parker (The Sound Inside), Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), John Stamos (Bye Bye Birdie), Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl), Aaron Tveit (Moulin Rouge – The Musical), Blair Underwood (A Soldier’s Play), Vanessa Williams (Into the Woods) and Susan Kelechi Watson (A Naked Girl on the Appian Way).

The show will raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

One Night Only: The Best of Broadway airs at 8:00 PM local times.

The post One Night Only: The Best of Broadway appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

In all we have fifteen options for you this weekend. How could you possibly be bored?

So here are this week’s Best Bets at Home: August 13th – August 16th:

Max von Essen Filmed Live at Birdland! – August 13th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT and On-Demand

New York’s Birdland launches a series of concerts filmed live in their venue. The series, called Radio Free Birdland!, begins with Tony Award-nominee Max von Essen. He’s joined by pianist/singer/music director Billy Stritch.

von Essen received his Tony Award nomination for his performance as Henri Baurel in the stage musical version of An American in Paris. He’s also appeared in Les Míserables, Evita and Anastasia. He recently starred in tour of the revival of the musical Falsettos.

Joining as a special guest in this concert will be Nick Adams who appeared with von Essen in Falsettos.

Tickets are $20 plus service charges to view the concert. Goldstar has discounted tickets available for $15 for this concert and the next two in the Radio Free Birdland! series: Monty Alexander (August 18th) and Natalie Douglas (August 20th.)

Adam Shulman Live from SFJAZZ – August 13th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SFJazz, which offers Fridays at Five, is launching a new live series this week with jazz pianist Adam Shulman performing a solo piano concert. Like their Friday series, this requires either a monthly membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view the concert.

Shulman is a fixture in the jazz scene in San Francisco and has been for two decades. In addition to his work as a soloist and bandleader, he’s worked with such artists as Stefon Harris, Miguel Zenón, Luciana Souza, Paula West, Marcus Shelby, Larry Coryell, Mark Murphy, and Bobby Hutcherson.

This event is the first live event at SFJazz since having to suspend operations due to the pandemic. The concert is expected to run one hour.

For fans of Fridays at Five, this week’s concert features Bokanté who is joined by members of Snarky Puppy in a 2018 concert. For details of this show, please go here.

Marin Mazzie & Jason Danieley: Broadway and Beyond – Broadway on Demand – August 14th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

One of the great love stories in Broadway history is that of performers Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley. They were married nearly 21 years before Mazzie tragically died of ovarian cancer after a three-year battle with the disease.

The last concert they gave together was at Feinstein’s/54 Below and it was called Broadway and Beyond. The show celebrated their love and their careers on stage. Broadway on Demand is making that concert available this weekend.

Mazzie began her Broadway career as a replacement in the original production of Big River. She went on to originate roles in Stephen Sondheim’s Passion and the musical Ragtime. She received Tony nominations for both performances. She also starred in the very successful 1999 revival of Kiss Me, Kate! (another Tony nomination).

Danieley launched his Broadway career as a cast member in the revival of Kander & Ebb’s Chicago. He also appeared in the musicals The Full Monty, Curtains, The Visit and Pretty Woman.

He and Mazzie performed together in Next to Normal in 2010.

This concert is a fundraiser for the Cancer Support Community, Tina’s Wish and The Actors Fund through Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids. The price to stream the concert is $7.99 and allows for viewing for 48 hours.

Prior to the concert, Mazzie’s co-star from both Ragtime and Kiss Me, Kate, Brian Stokes Mitchell, will introduce the performance.

Lena Hall Presents Obsessed: Alanis Morissette – August 14th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

In 2018 Lena Hall (Tony Award-winner for Hedwig and the Angry Inch and star of television’s Snowpiercer), launched a series of recordings called Obsessed. Every month for a year she released EPs with her stripped down and acoustic performances of songs made famous by Nirvana, Pink, The Cranberries, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Elton John and more. (You should hear them, they are readily available for purchase and streaming.)

Hall is still obsessed with certain artists and now she’s performing live in our living rooms. Well, almost. On Friday she will perform live selection by Alanis Morissette. The songs she’s scheduled to perform include Thank U, Uninvited, You Learn, Head Over Feet, Right Through You and many more. Lena Hall will be joined by Music Director/ guitarist Daniel Palese.

The concert is scheduled to run approximately 90 minutes. Tickets are priced at $15 for the concert and $40 for to join Hall in her Zoom room and to have a post-show meet and greet.

If you want more Lena Hall, she also has a Virtually Live concert on Thursday, August 13th, where she will sing songs from movies. This is party of her weekly concerts benefitting the Ali Forney Center. Tickets range from Pay What You Can to $50 if you want to request a specific song be performed. For this week’s concert those song requests tickets are sold out.

Hidden Truths – Roundabout Youth Ensemble – August 14th – August 28th

New York’s Roundabout Theatre’s Youth Ensemble is presenting Hidden Truths, a play written and produced by New York youth.

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Othello, writers Jaden Tench, Nicaulis Mercedes and Xavier Chavez re-imagine a play about fidelity and deception for our 2020 world and apparently has a twist related to our current pandemic.

Shai Graham plays Omari who faces racial animus and discrimination. He’s in love with Destiny (Lia Spahn), but is forced to choose between her and his pursuit of education as a result of the harsh judgement he faces from her racist father.

The entire project, which is directed by Tyia  Boateng, has been created, designed and assembled following social distancing guidelines. The streaming of Hidden Truths will launch with a live event on Friday, August 14th at 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT. The play will remain available through August 28th.

As of press time, the website we’ve linked to above says “ticket information will be available soon.”

92Y Jazz Concerts – 92Y – August 14th – August 17th

This weekend New York’s 92Y is making available five different concerts that will certainly appeal to jazz fans:

Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Dee Dee Bridgewater Trio from February 14, 2019.

This concert finds Bridgewater celebrating love. Of course. It’s from Valentine’s Day.

The songs include What a Little Moonlight Can Do, Sometimes I’m Happy and, of course, My Funny Valentine.

This concert will be available on the 92Y Facebook page August 14th at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT.

Eddie Palmieri – 80th Birthday Celebration from December 15, 2016

Latin Jazz pianist and composer Eddie Palmieri celebrated his 80th birthday with this concert at the 92Y. The concert begins with Palmieri playing solo piano and by the time it is over, a full band has joined him and the party is in full swing.

Paquito D’Rivera and Friends from April 8, 2017

In this concert you will travel the world of music with Cuban jazz musician Paquito D’Rivera. This 14-time Grammy Award winner plays clarinet and saxophone. With his friends they perform music that finds influences from Asia, South America, Africa and Cuba.

Dick Hyman and Bill Charlap: Duo Piano from October 14, 2017

The music of George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and more gets the two-piano treatment in this concert featuring two of jazz music’s finest: Dick Hyman and Bill Charlap. You don’t often hear two piano jazz performances, so this concert should be quite special and feature a variety of musical styles within the jazz idiom.

Cécile McLorin Salvant, Renee Rosnes & Artemis from March 2, 2018

On September 11, 2020, Blue Note Records will release the debut album by all-female jazz ensemble Artemis. This supergroup has as its members pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, clarinetist Anat Cohen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller and vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant.

Those who attended this concert in 2018 already know how special this night was. Now we can all get a chance to see what happens when these women jam together.

Coffeehouse Chronicles: HAIR 50th Anniversary – La MaMa – August 15th – 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

In 2017 La MaMa in New York celebrated the 50th anniversary of the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, Hair. They held a 50th anniversary reunion with members of the creative team and the cast. Not only were stories told, but performances were given of songs from the musical.

The creators who participated were co-author James Rado; composer Galt McDermot (who passed away in 2018) and producer Michael Butler. Chris Kapp and Michal Gamily moderated the event.

Performers who participated included Shelley Ackerman, Shaleah Adkisson (Member of the Tribe in the 2011 return engagement of the 2009 Broadway revival), Debbie Andrews, Andy Berger, singer Peppy Castro, Richard Cohen, bassist Dave D’Aranjo, Hair archivist Nina Machlin Dayton, Tony Award-winner Andre De Shields, poet Magie Dominic, drummer Aaron Drescher, Lauren Elder (Member of The Tribe in the 2009 revival), Ellen Foley (Sheila in the 1977 revival), Merle Frimark, Annie Golden (Jeannie in the film), Walter Michael Harris (youngest member of the original Broadway cast), Ula Hedwig (Member of The Tribe in the original Broadway production), Antwayn Hopper (Member of The Tribe in the 2009 revival), Rev. Marjorie Lipari (Member of The Tribe in the original Broadway production), Melba Moore (the original Dionne), Natalie Mosco (Member of The Tribe), guitarist Thayer Naples, Allan F. Nicholls (played Claude and Berger during the original run on Broadway), Jill O’Hara (Sheila in the original off-Broadway production), Robert I. Rubinsky (five roles in the original production), Dale Soules (played Jeannie during the original production), Charles Valentino, conductor Balint Varga and singer-songwriter Jared Weiss.

This program will be found on La Mama’s Facebook page.

Christopher Jackson: Live from The West Side – August 15th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

If you’ve watched Hamilton on Disney+, you know Christopher Jackson as the Tony-nominated actor who portrayed George Washington in the musical. He’s long collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda having appeared in In the Heights and as a member of Freestyle Love Supreme.

In conjunction with performing arts organizations around the country, Washington is performing a concert from New World Stages in Manhattan. Each organization will handle tickets sales and share in the proceeds. Tickets run $40 per household and will enable viewing of the concert for 72 hours.

Those organizations include: Paper Mill Playhouse – Millburn, NJ, Dallas Summer Musicals – Dallas, TX, Theatre Under the Stars – Houston, TX, Texas Performing Arts – Austin, TX, Segerstrom Center – Costa Mesa, CA, Broward Center – Fort Lauderdale, FL, Straz Center – Tampa, FL, The Kimmel Cultural Campus- Philadelphia PA, Shea’s Performing Arts Center – Buffalo, NY, Hennepin Theatre Trust – Minneapolis, MN, Popejoy Hall – Albuquerque, NM, Marcus Performing Arts Center – Milwaukee, WI, Northlight Theatre – Skokie, IL and The Oregon Shakespeare Festival – Ashland, OR.

Advance word has it that in addition to performing Broadway show tunes and telling stories from his collaborations with Miranda, he’ll also perform some original songs and pop hits.

Rather than put a link in the title, we have BroadwayWorld.com links to details for each individual venue.

Hamlet – Glyndebourne Opera – August 16th – August 23rd

Numerous composers have given serious thought to turning Shakespeare’s Hamlet into an opera. Some even tried writing an opera. Amongst them were Berlioz, Bizet, Brahms, Debussy, Glinka, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Respighi, Schumann, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, and Verdi.

Enter Brett Dean. With this, his second opera, Dean appeared to accomplish what no other composer could – he made a real opera that is both its own work and is also faithful to the meaning and spirit of Shakespeare’s text.

In June of 2017, Glyndebourne gave the opera its world premiere. It was a work they commissioned and according to the critics, it was money well spent.

Erica Jeal, writing for The Guardian, said of Dean’s work, “Dean’s music is many-layered, full of long, clear vocal lines propelled by repeated rhythmic figures in the orchestra, and has moments of delicate beauty…”

Allan Clayton sings the role of Hamlet; Barbara Hannigan sings Ophelia; Sarah Connolly sings Gertrude and Rod Gilfry sings Claudius.

Neil Armfield directed the production and the London Philharmonic Orchestra is lead by Vladimir Jurowski

Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak in Èze, France – Metropolitan Opera – August 16th – 1:30 PM EDT/10:30 AM PDT

As part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Met Stars Live In Concert series, husband and wife Roberto Alagna and Alessandra Kurzak will perform with the Vienna Morphing Quintet from Èze, France.

Alagna is one of the most popular tenors of our time. Soprano Kurzak made her Met Opera debut in 2004 and has since performed all over the world. They were married in 2015 and met during a 2012 production of L’Elisir d’Amore.

The program will feature selections from Madama Butterfly, Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, L’Elisir d’Amore, La Fanciulla del West, Cavalleria Rusticana, Otello, The Merry Widow and two very well known songs to which we can all sing along.

Tickets are $20 per household and allow for viewing of the concert live as it happens and repeated viewing for 12 days.

Stephanie J. Block with Seth Rudetsky – August 16th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

When Stephanie J. Block finally won a Tony Award for her portrayal of the star version of Cher in The Cher Show, the entire Broadway community was thrilled. She’s long been one of the hardest working women in Broadway. This was her third nomination having previously been nominated for the revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Falsettos.

Watch her performance of I’m Breaking Down in Falsettos:

Block joins Rudetsky for his continuing series of conversations and performances with some of Broadway’s biggest names.

Her Broadway debut came in 2003 when she portrayed Liza Minnelli in The Boy From Oz. Wicked, The Pirate Queen, 9 to 5 and the revival of Anything Goes all lead up to Drood.

If you are unable to catch the performance live at 8:00 PM EDT on Sunday, there is an encore streaming scheduled for Monday, August 17th at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT. Some of these shows have remained available on demand for up to a week after they originally took place. You may have more than these two options to check out Stephanie J. Block.

If those aren’t enough Best Bets at Home: August 13th – August 16th, a few reminders for you:

This weekend’s operas from the Met Opera are Puccini’s Turandot on August 13th; Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde on August 14th; Puccini’s La Bohème on August 15th and Verdi’s Luisa Miller on August 16th. Our preview can be found here.

I hope these Best Bets at Home: August 13th – August 16th will keep you entertained through the weekend. Enjoy!

Photo of Artemis by Keith Major/Courtesy of Blue Note Records

The post Culture Best Bets at Home: August 13th – August 16th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Haight-Ashbury was the birthplace of the counter-culture movement in the 1960s. The songs Hall has selected for the album all embrace the idea of memory and music. The Villa Satori started its life as a cabaret show she performed.

This clip is from a performance of Jefferson Airplane’s song White Rabbit from a performance at Feinstein’s/54 Below. This song opens the album.

The rest of the tracks on the album are:

Piece Of My Heart
She’s Leaving Home
Somebody
Anarchy In The UK
Calling You
Nothing Else Matters
Violet
Release
Karma Police

The last song on The Villa Satori is Alanis Morrisette’s You Learn (written with Glen Ballard).

Hall shared the album with me and I can tell you that for those who loved her performance as “Yitzhak” will find a lot to love here. For those who also know the gentler side of her singing you will equally be pleased.

If you followed her wonderful Obsessed series of EPs then her embrace of a variety of styles and genres should be no surprise. As a fan of that series, I’m glad to finally hear her sing Radiohead’s Karma Police (which wasn’t part of her Obsessed: Radiohead EP.)

There’s a real challenge in taking familiar material and making it your own, but Lena Hall does exactly that with The Villa Satori. One reason she’s so successful with this project is she clearly has a passion for each and every song.

And a passion for her past. In an e-mail she said, “YES all the photos are of the house I grew up in, it’s called The Villa Satori, this album is about growing up in that house, it’s still there and still looks the same, and YES my parents are and were and will always be Hippies!” 

How cool would it have been to grow up in a place like The Villa Satori? Find out today when Lena Hall shares her songs and stories during her listening party.

All photos by Melisa Hall/Blue Note Weddings (Courtesy of Lena Hall)

Update: This post has been updated to correct the start time which is 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT. Also the first name of photographer Melisa Hall has been corrected as she only has one “s” in her first name.

The post Join Tony Winner Lena Hall For a Listening Party appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Who will you be able to see?

Nina Simone from 1976. The insanely talented and ever-mercurial Simone was one of the best. The chance to see her perform, particularly with songs like Little Girl Blue and I Wish I Knew, is one not to miss.

Etta James in a concert from 1993. If you never got to see James, you missed out. I saw her late in her career. Her weight had gotten to the point where she sat the entire concert. But that didn’t stop her from being both electrifying and overtly sexual. And that voice. Wow!

Quincy Jones and Friends from 1996. The friends include Patti Austin, Patrice Rushen, Mick Hucknall (remember Simply Red?), Toots Thielman and Phil Collins. This concert runs slightly over 2 hours.

Ray Charles in a jam-packed 72-minute set that showcases 16 songs including What I Say, Georgia on My Mind and I Can’t Stop Loving You.

There are concerts by Michael Bublé, Al DiMeola, Carlos Santana (alone and a second concert with John McLoughlin) and other artists not in the jazz world like Marvin Gaye, Johnny Cash, James Brown, Alanis Morissette and more.

That should keep you entertained for quite some time. Enjoy!

Photo of Montreux Jazz Festival by Olivier Bruchez (Courtesy of the Artist and cropped to 16×9)

The post All That Montreux Jazz appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

I discussed with him the first part of that ascent where he was talking about people like Joe Mantello, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, Kelli O’Hara, Jason Robert Brown and more. It should be noted that each and every one of those people has at least one Tony Award. So in his young career he’s keeping some pretty heady company. Which is precisely where we will pick up our conversation.

You realize that you have already worked with some pretty heavyweight Broadway talent. Do you ever just stop and let it sink in?

I’m very aware and I pinch myself constantly with these experiences I’ve had. Just coming off Anastasia and working with Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, Terrence McNally and Darko Tresnjak, I’m just grateful they saw something in me in the audition room and had the willingness to work with me. [It should be noted that they are all also Tony Award winners.]

Even though I didn’t have musical training in college, the experiences and people I’ve worked with has been invaluable. I learn and I continue to learn. Having these role models to learn from…I’m the luckiest guy.

You’ve done two productions of Diner. The show is based on Barry Levinson’s film and features songs by Sheryl Crow. Tell me about the music and why this show hasn’t made it to Broadway.

The music is beautiful. It’s a tricky show and it’s a tricky movie to translate to the stage because it is such a character-driven and relationship-driven show. Incorporating that musical element to that and to find the ebb and flow of the plot line from the movie was a challenge. 

Barry had rewritten [the book] for the show. I know they are still fiddling with it. Hopefully Diner will have a life on Broadway. Sheryl’s music is so beautiful and is written to period. Watching the way she translated all these iconic characters and gave them a musical voice was fun to watch. That was another experience to watch her work and her work with Barry specifically. It seems like such an odd pairing. Strangely enough they worked well together and produced a great musical.

Does new work excite you more than revivals or going into long-running shows?

There is a privilege you get from developing new material. The writers, in a way, are writing the role to fit your skill set and abilities. So if something is feeling wonky or you’re having trouble with it, they are open to tailoring it to you. 

Another really cool aspect is you get to do the cast recordings. You get to make that piece of history. Everybody grows up listening to these iconic albums and the voices they idolize listening to those records. To be a part of that is kind of a dream come true.

In 2014, Stephen Holden of the New York Times called you a dead ringer for the early 70s Richard Carpenter [of The Carpenters] and he continued to say that you are, “so boyish that his baby face virtually sparkles with morning dew.” That almost sounds like the kind of comment that would take years to recover from. How did you feel when he wrote that?

Oh I remember that one. I’ll take it as a compliment that I look youthful. That’s great if I can still pass being a younger self. I do look for roles that will mature with my age and I’ll get to demonstrate that more. As I grow I’m looking for more complex characters to do on stage. In Jagged Little Pill I’m a younger character, but he’s experiencing a lot of life experiences on that stage. I don’t take it as a negative right now.

Jagged Little Pill got rave reviews in Boston. What excites you most about the show and its upcoming opening on Broadway?

I’m very grateful we’re not re-telling Alanis Morissette’s life. Alanis has, and always had, such a strong perspective on the human condition. Whether or not and/or why people make the decisions they make, what experiences we have that cause us to make those decisions…What we do in Jagged Little Pill is almost put the audience on the spot and ask the hard questions. We spotlight really relevant questions that open up the conversation about today.

Our biggest goal is that at the end of the night, no matter what political party you are part of, whether you are rich or poor or somewhere in between, if you walk out and it sparks a conversation about one of the topics we address – we’ve done our job. The last song illustrates what we’re trying to do. You fall down, you make mistakes, you grow as a person. The most important thing you can do is strive to be a better person. Especially today.

For tickets to Saturday’s show at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood go here.

For information and tickets for Jagged Little Pill (previews being November 3rd at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York) go here.

To see part one of my interview with Derek Klena, please go here.

Main Photo:  The company of Jagged Little Pill/photo by murphymade

The post Derek Klena’s Career is Certainly Not Jagged appeared first on Cultural Attaché.