Most of the events listed are free. When they are not, they are noted. Links to each event can be found in the individual names of the events.

Creole Giselle – Dance Theatre of Harlem – Now – June 19th

The classic ballet Giselle was reconceived by Arthur Mitchell in the early 1980s. In 1984, Dance Theatre of Harlem premiered Creole Giselle at the London Coliseum in England.

The original Giselle choreography was by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The production was staged by Frederic Franklin.

Creole Giselle garnered rave reviews in both London and New York. For some background on the creation of this work, I suggest reading this 1984 column from Burton Taylor writing for the New York Times.

Dance Theatre of Harlem is making the full ballet available for free viewing through June 19th. The film they are showing of Creole Giselle aired on television in Denmark in 1987.

Hamlet – Stratford Festival – Now – June 25th

Stratford Festival’s ongoing series of Shakespeare’s plays continues with this 2015 production of Hamlet.

Jonathan Goad stars as “Hamlet” with Seana McKenna as “”Gertrude; Geraint Wyn Davies as “Claudius/The Ghost”; Tim Campbell as “Horatio”; Adrienne Gould as “Ophelia;” Tom Rooney as “Polonius;” and Mike Shara as “Laertes.” The production is directed by Stratford Festival Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino.

Stratford’s streaming productions of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens and Love’s Labour’s Lost are also still available this weekend.

The Madness of King George – National Theatre Live – Now – June 18th

Many of us first became aware of this Alan Bennett play by seeing the 1994 Nicholas Hytner film starring Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren.

This 2018 Nottingham Playhouse production stars Mark Gatiss as King George and Debra Gillett as Queen Charlotte. It was directed by Adam Penford.

Bennett’s play depicts a king whose relationship with what is real seems to change on a dime. He’s both a very powerful man and a wildly erratic leader whose delusions call into question his ability to lead. This prompts others to do whatever they can to undermine the King and take control of the Crown.

This production sold out and earned rave reviews. Bennett wrote staggeringly complicated roles for the two leads. It should be pure theater joy watching Gatiss and Gillett in this production.

Michael Tilson Thomas and Yuja Wang at Carnegie Hall – MediciTv – June 12th – June 14th

The collaboration between Carnegie Hall and Medici.Tv continues this weekend with a concert from May of 2019. Michael Tilson Thomas leads the New World Symphony and America’s Orchestral Academy. They are joined by pianist Yuja Wang.

The program features Julia Wolfe’s Fountain of Youth (in its New York premiere); Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 5 and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. The encores find the conductor taking to the piano for a solo performance of his composition You Come Here Often? The concert concludes with Wagner’s Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin.

There is no charge to watch this program.

Björk Ballet – San Francisco Ballet – June 12th – June 19th

San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound Festival in 2019 featured this ballet by Arthur Pita centered on the songs by best-selling singer/songwriter Björk.

Pita used a wide range of her music: from her first album in 1993, Debut, through 2017’s Utopia.

A playlist on SF Ballet’s website for Björk Ballet indicates that the songs used are “Overture” from Selmasongs; “All Is Full of Love” and “Bachelorette – Family Tree Version” from Homogenic; “Vokuro” from Medulla; “Frosti” from Vespertine; “The Gate” from Utopia; “Hyperballad” from Post and “The Anchor Song” from Debut.

Pita says that the duality he finds in Björk as an artist inspired the story he created for this ballet. “She’s this very playful, naughty fairy, dancing nymph, otherworldly creature, full of light and love. And then you’ve got this very deep, mournful, sorrowful, almost tragedy in some of her songs. So it’s like the theater masks.” 

La Fille mal gardée – Royal Ballet – June 12th – June 26th

A love story between Lise and a young farmer, Colas, is the centerpiece of this ballet choreographed by Frederick Ashton. This ballet had its world premiere in 1960.

The translation of the title is The Wayward Daughter. Clearly her parents aren’t too keen on her taste in men. Or in this case, her widowed mother.

Ashton based this work on a 1789 ballet by Jean Dauberval. The music was adapted by John Lanchberry from an 1828 score by Ferdinand Hérold.

Marianela Nuñez dances the role of Lise. Carlos Acosta dances the role of Colas. The role of Lise’s mother is danced by William Tuckett.

Il Trittico – San Francisco Opera – June 13th – June 14th

Puccini’s trilogy of operas seems popular this month. Last week the Royal Opera in London made their 2012 production available. This weekend San Francisco Opera makes their 2009 production available for viewing.

The three operas are Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. For details on these three operas, check out our Royal Opera House preview here.

Cast in this trilogy are soprano Patricia Racette (who performs in all three pieces), contralto Ewa Podles, tenor Brandon Jovanovich and baritone Paolo Gavanelli. Patrick Summers conducts this James Robinson production.

San Francisco Opera’s production received glowing reviews.

Live from Covent Garden – June 13th – 2:30 PM EDT/11:30 AM PDT

This is the first of three live performances from Covent Garden since it had to temporarily close. It takes place on Saturday evening in London.

The event is being streamed live and has an impressive line-up.

Benjamin Britten: On this Island op.11 (1937, to five poems by W.H. Auden), performed by soprano Louise Alder

George Butterworth: Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad (1911, to poems by A.E. Housman), performed by tenor Toby Spence

Ballet Interlude: New pas de deux, choreographed by Wayne McGregor to Richard Strauss Morgen! op.27 no.4 (1894, to the poem by John Henry Mackay). Louise Alder (soprano) and violinist (tbc). Performed by Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales

Mark-Anthony Turnage: Three Songs (2000, to texts by Stevie Smith, Thomas Hardy and Walt Whitman), performed by baritone Gerald Finley

arr. Benjamin Britten: The Crocodile (1941, to a traditional text and melody), performed by Gerald Finley

Gerald Finzi: Fear No More the Heat o’ the Sun op.18 no.3 (1929, to a text by William Shakespeare), performed by Gerald Finley

George Frideric Handel: ‘Tornami a vagheggiar’ (from the opera Alcina, 1735, after a story from Orlando furioso), performed by Louise Alder

Georges Bizet: ‘Au fond du temple saint’ (from the opera Les Pêcheurs de perles, 1863, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré), performed by Toby Spence and Gerald Finley

Vanessa – Glyndebourne – June 14th – June 21st

Composer Samuel Barber won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1958 opera that features a libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti. The world premiere was at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

This Glyndebourne production took place in 2018. Keith Warner directed and the orchestra is conducted by Jakub Hrůša.

Barber’s opera is a psychological drama about family relationships. The title character (sung by Emma Bell) finds herself alone after her boyfriend, Anatol, has left her. She pulls away from the world leaving her with only her mother (Rosalind Plowright) and her niece (Virginie Verrez) for company. Their world gets upended when Anatol’s son (Edgaras Montvidas) shows up twenty years later.

Jeremy Jordan – Seth Rudetsky Concert Series – June 14th – 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT

Seth Rudetsky travels across the country with Broadway stars for evenings of conversation and songs. Unable to take his shows on the road, he’s bringing them to our homes.

This week’s performance features Jeremy Jordan who starred in the musicals Bonnie and Clyde and Newsies (for which he received both Drama Desk and Tony Award nominations). He was also featured in the television series Smash.

The live performance takes place as listed above. If you cannot watch that performance, there is an encore presentation on June 15th at 3 PM EDT/12 PM PDT. These are not free events. Tickets are $25 not including service fees.

Upcoming concerts will feature Seth with Jessie Mueller (Beautiful), Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon), Melissa Errico (Passion) and Audra McDonald (Porgy and Bess).

Life in a Pandemic: “One Day At a Time:” Norman Lear and Rita Moreno in Conversation with RuPaul – 92Y – June 14th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Legendary television producer Norman Lear and living legend Rita Moreno will discuss the many lives of the reboot of One Day at a Time with RuPaul. This is a live-streaming event presented by the 92Y in New York.

I find it unlikely that any of these three need introduction, but here goes. Norman Lear is the five-time Emmy Award winning creator of such shows as All in the Family and Maude. He has also won a Peabody Award and has been awarded a Kennedy Center Honor.

Rita Moreno is an EGOT. She won two Emmy Awards, one Grammy Award, an Oscar for West Side Story and a Tony Award for The Ritz. She also happens to have a Presidential Medal of Freedom, a National Medal of Arts, a SAG Lifetime Achievement Award and is also the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor.

RuPaul is the six-time Emmy Award winning host and producer of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Tickets are required for this event which is not free. The price of each ticket is $20. You must be registered in advance in order to get access to the event.

Before we close out our Best Bets at Home: June 12th – June 14th, here are a few reminders:

Friday’s at Five from SF Jazz features Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi. This takes place at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT on June 12th.

The Metropolitan Opera programming this weekend features their April 2020 At-Home Gala on Friday and Saturday. Sunday is the 2011-2012 production of Handel’s Rodelinda with Renée Fleming.

The musical Allegiance streaming on Broadway on Demand has been extended through June 23rd. You can get details at our preview here.

Here ends our list of your Best Bets at Home: June 12th – June 14th. Enjoy your weekend. Stay safe and healthy!

Main Photo: Elizabeth Powell and Ulrik Birkkjaer in Björk Ballet at San Francisco Ballet (Photo ©Erik Tomasson/Courtesy of SF Ballet)

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We’ve got quite the list for you. There are 14 Best Bets at Home: May 29th – May 31st. Plus a few reminders, of course!

This House – National Theatre Live – Now – June 4th

James Graham wrote this play that sold out two runs at the National Theatre and transferred to the Garrick Theatre in 2017.

The setting is Parliament in Britain in 1974. The Labour and Tory parties are battling one another over the direction England should go. It’s a herculean task and one that requires cunning maneuvers, compromise and finding a way to bend the rules just to the point before breaking.

Michael Billington, writing in The Guardian, gave the show a five-star review. He said, “It has taken four years for James Graham’s enthralling play to make it from the National to the West End. It has been worth the wait because it enables us to see the work from a fresh perspective. In recording the struggle of the Labour government of 1974-79 to simply survive, the play offers a fascinating slice of history. Yet as we enter a new age of fractured opposition, the play raises serious questions about whether our current parliamentary system is fit for purpose.”

Jeremy Herrin directed This House.

Love’s Labour’s Lost – Stratford Festival – Now – June 18th

In Aristophanes’s Lysistrata women withhold sex from their husbands in an attempt to end war. It’s a dramatic play. Shakespeare took a similar premise for Love’s Labour’s Lost, but he was interested in making people laugh.

Four men, including the King of Navarre (Sanjay Talware), have vowed not to be in the company of women for three years. They are more interested in study than in females. Just as they have embarked on this plan, the Princess of France (Ruby Joy) and three female companions arrive testing each man’s resolve. Add a Spanish nobleman and his infatuation with a woman to the mix just to make things more frantic.

Shakespeare employs his usual tricks of disguises and mix-ups for this comedic play.

John Caird (Nicholas Nickelby, Les Misérables) directed this 2015 production.

Snowblind – San Francisco Ballet – May 29th – June 5th

Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome is the inspiration for this one-act ballet by Cathy Marston. In the ballet, Ethan Frome is married to his wife, Zeena. She is a difficult woman and also a hypochondriac. Mattie, Zeena’s cousin, joins the couple to help them in their home. But Ethan soon finds himself drawn to the woman. You know this won’t end well.

The music used in the ballet comes from a variety of composers including Amy Beach and Arthur Foote. Philip Feeney arranged the music. Scenery and costumes are by Patrick Kinmonth and the lighting was designed by James F. Ingalls.

Dancing the principal roles are Mathilde Froustey (Mattie), Sarah Van Patten (Zeena) and Ulrik Birkkjaer (Ethan). This performance took place in 2018.

The Broadhurst At 100! 54 Celebrates the Broadhurst Theatre – Feinstein’s/54 Below – May 29th 6:30 PM EDT/3:30 PM PDT

When New York’s Broadhurst Theatre opened in 1917, George Bernard Shaw’s Misalliance was the first production. Amongst the musicals to have appeared there are Fiorello!, Cabaret, Godspell, The Tap Dance Kid, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Fosse and Anastasia.

100 years after The Broadhurst first opened, Feinstein’s/54 Below celebrated the centennial with a concert featuring cast members from many of the shows that have appeared on that stage. (This show took place in 2017.)

The performers include Jerry Adler (Oh What a Lovely War), Jim Brochu (Zero Hour), Carole Demas (Grease), Wayne Cilento (Dancin’), Josh Franklin (Grease), Marcy Harriell (Lennon), Sarah Charles Lewis (Tuck Everlasting), Howard McGillin (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Bonnie Milligan (Head Over Heels), Christiane Noll (Ragtime), Alice Ripley (Next To Normal), Don Scardino (Godspell), Rebecca Spigelman (Hairspray), and a Trivia Contest Video with Tony Award winner Jason Alexander (Broadway Bound).

Due to rights issues, these performances are only available at the set time and are not repeated.

The Cellist – The Royal Ballet – May 29th – June 12th

If you want to get another look at the work of choreographer Cathy Marston, you can check out the latest offering from The Royal Ballet. The Cellist is a ballet by Marston inspired by the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pré. She was at the pinnacle of her career when she passed away at the age of 28 after suffering from multiple sclerosis. (You might remember the film Hilary and Jackie with Rachel Griffiths and Emily Watson told her story.)

Lauren Cuthbertson dances the role of The Cellist. Marcelino Sambé dances The Instrument and Matthew Ball dances the role of The Conductor. The music includes Schubert’s Trout Quintet along with cello sonatas by Faure and Elgar. The cello solos are performed by Hetty Snell.

The world premiere of The Cellist was just this past February.

Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn – Broadway HD – May 29th – June 1st

The 1942 movie that introduced the world to the song White Christmas was turned into a stage musical that opened on Broadway in 2016. The movie was called Holiday Inn, but the musical includes the composer’s name: Irving Berlin.

Broadway HD is making this film of the 2016 production available for free this weekend.

The story remains pretty much the same: two men vie for the attention of a young rising star. In the film those roles were played by Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds. In the musical they are played by Bryce Pinkham, Corbin Bleu and Lora Lee Gayer.

The musical, directed by Gordon Greenberg (who co-wrote the book with Chad Hodge), includes the classic Berlin songs, “Blue Skies,” “Steppin’ Out With My Baby,” “Cheek to Cheek” and “Easter Parade.”

I guess with everything that’s going on they think we need a little Christmas. (Wait, that’s in Mame.)

Daniil Trifonov Recital – Carnegie Hall – May 29th – May 31st

In February of 2019 pianist Daniil Trifonov gave a solo piano recital at Carnegie Hall. Medicitv.com, in association with Carnegie Hall, is making that performance available for free beginning on Friday, May 29th and continuing through the weekend.

Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times review of this concert raved, “By this point, it’s no surprise that Daniil Trifonov, one of the most awesome pianists of our time, can sell out Carnegie Hall. Still, that the hall was packed for the unusual recital program he played on Saturday was a testimony to the trust his admirers place in him. At 27, he is also an adventurer intent on exploring overlooked realms of the repertory. On Saturday it was thrilling to go along on his journey.”

The program of which he was so enamored included: Beethoven’s Andante in F Major, WoO 57 (“Andante favori”) and Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3; Schumann’s Bunte Blätter and Presto passionato and Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Major. The encores featured Prokofiev’s Allegro rubato and Allegro precipitato from Sarcasms, Op. 17, Nos. 2 and 3 and Chopin’s Largo from Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65 (arr. Alfred Cortot).

How are you doing so far? You’re halfway through the list of Best Bets at Home: May 29th – May 31st!

Allegiance – Broadway on Demand – May 29th – June 7th

Lea Salonga, George Takei and Telly Leung star in this musical set during World War II that tells a story of family, duty, customs and betrayal set during the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The story is based on Takei’s own experiences.

The book was written by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione. Kuo wrote the music and lyrics.

Allegiance was directed by Stafford Arima.

This is not a free streaming event. Broadway on Demand is charging $14.99 for the initial viewing on May 29th at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT. That fee includes a download of the cast album, exclusive content and the ability to watch the show over a 24-hour period. From May 30th – June 7th, the streaming fee, minus those extras, will be $8.99.

30 minutes before the May 29th event Playbill.com will host Toast to Allegiance which will include interviews with the cast. This event is free and open to everyone.

Igor Levit: Vexations – The Gilmore – May 30th – 8 AM EDT/5 AM PDT

If you want to catch this recital you’ll have to get up early and stay up late. Pianist Igor Levit is going to live-stream a performance of Erik Satie’s Vexations. If you are unfamiliar with the work, it lasts 20 hours. There is one theme, two variations and they get repeated 840 times over the course of the 20 hours.

What propels someone to tackle so challenging a work? Levit says in press materials, “The sheer duration of over 20 hours of Vexations doesn’t feel like a ‘nuisance’ or ‘torture’ to me, as the title would suggest, but rather a retreat of silence and humility. It reflects a feeling of resistance.

“That’s why it feels right to play the Vexations right now. My world and that of my colleagues has been a different one for many weeks now and will probably remain so for a long time. Vexations represent for me a silent scream.”

John Williams: Maestro of the Movies – Pacific Symphony – May 30th – August 13th

The Pacific Symphony Orchestra had planned on having a May 30th Family Musical Morning performance. Having to cancel an in-person event, they are holding their first virtual concert and the program is a celebration of the music of composer John Williams.

During this 45-minute online concert, music from Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harry Potter and E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial will be performed by the Pacific Symphony which is being conducted by Richard Kaufman. Interspersed amongst the selections will be Ask the Composer with John Williams along with personal stories and anecdotes about playing at recording sessions with Williams.

Viewing the show requires signing up with an e-mail address, but there is no fee. The program will then be available for streaming for 45 days.

Lucrezia Borgia – San Francisco Opera – May 30th – May 31st

Victor Hugo’s play Lucrèce Borgia served as the inspiration for this opera by Gaetano Donizetti and his librettist Felice Romani.

The scandals and the intrigue in the house of Borgia have fascinated people for centuries. In Donizetti’s opera a young orphan named Gennaro (Michael Fabiano) finds himself in the company of Lucrezia Borgia (Renée Fleming). Though he and his friends were warned about her and her husband, he is enraptured by her beauty and sees in her the mother he never knew. Lucrezia’s husband believes Gennaro to be her lover and plots his murder. What happens over the course of the opera is tragedy at its most dramatic.

This San Francisco Opera production from 2011 marked the first time Lucrezia Borgia had been performed by the company. John Pascoe directed the production and the orchestra was lead by conductor Riccardo Frizza.

The [title of show] Vineyard Theatre Virtual Variety Show Show – May 30th – 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT

In 2006, the Vineyard Theatre in New York presented a unique musical entitled [title of show]. The musical was written by Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen. They starred in their own musical along with Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff. Two years later [title of show] was on Broadway.

To celebrate this musical-within-a-musical that could (and the theatre that gave it life), the Vineyard Theatre is hosting a live-streaming fundraiser event. The evening, which costs a minimum of $25 (after which you are given a link to the show), is billed as “new material from the cast and creators of [title of show] and over 40 starry guest artists from theatre, film, and television sharing performances, sketches, reflections, special quarantine talents, and more.”

You have to secure your “ticket” prior to 12 PM EDT/9 AM PDT on May 30th in order to view the show. The show itself, which Christopher Isherwood of the New York Times called “a zesty, sweet, Broadway-trivia-riddled musical about the anxiety and excitement of creating a zesty, sweet, Broadway-trivia-riddled musical about the anxiety and excitement of creating a. …” has a cult following. Fans of musical theatre have loved it. So have Broadway stars as is indicated by the guests they have lined up for Saturday’s event.

A partial list includes: Laura Benanti, Victoria Clark, Billy Crudup, Christopher J. Hanke, Bill Irwin, Cheyenne Jackson, John Kander, Judy Kuhn, Linda Lavin, The Lopez Family Singers (Lindsay Anderson, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Annie Lopez, Bobby Lopez, and Katie Lopez), Bob Mackie, Audra McDonald, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alex Newell, Leslie Odom, Jr., Kelli O’Hara, Steven Pasquale, Zachary Quinto, Brooke Shields, Douglas Sills, Phillipa Soo and Michael Urie.

Spotlight Virtual Grand Finale – Music Center – May 30th – 10 PM EDT/7 PM PDT

Each year the Music Center in Los Angeles hosts a competition to find the best high school performers from San Diego up to Santa Barbara. They have several categories from which to choose: acting, dance, music and vocals. Usually the event is a big gala at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. This year Spotlight goes online.

There are fourteen students competing in this year’s finals. This Grand Finale will be hosted by an alumnus of the Spotlight program: Tony Award-winner Lindsay Mendez (Carousel). Special guests include Matthew Rushing from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, ballet star Misty Copeland and singer Josh Groban.

Don Giovanni – Glyndebourne – May 31st – June 7th

Mozart’s masterpiece opera about Don Juan is Glyndebourne’s featured opera this week. This 2010 production was directed by Jonathan Kent.

Starring in Don Giovanni are Gerald Finley as Don Giovanni; Luca Pisaroni as Leporello; Anna Samuil as Donna Anna; Brindley Sherratt as Commendatore; William Burden as Don Ottavio; Kate Royal as Donna Elvira; Anna Virovlansky as Zerlina and Guido Loconsolo as Masetto. Vladimir Jurowski conducts the orchestra.

Kent set this production in Southern Europe in the 1970s/1980s. Critics were very divided about how successful this Don Giovanni was. Which seems to make this must-see viewing so we can decide for ourselves.

Don’t forget that this weekend’s operas from the Metropolitan Opera are Bellini’s La Sonnambula (Friday); Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (Saturday) and R. Strauss’s Salome (Sunday).

Fridays at Five from SFJazz this week features Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT on Friday only.

Stratford Festival has two additional Shakespeare plays available this week: The Tempest and Timon of Athens.

I hope that gives you enough Best Bets at Home: May 29th – May 31st for your weekend entertainment.

Main photo: Lauren Cuthbertson and Marcelino Sambé in The Cellist (Photo by Bill Cooper/©2020 ROH)

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If you have children you might know Lea Salonga from her work as the voice of Jasmine in Disney’s animated film Aladdin or the voice of Fa Mulan in Disney’s Mulan. If you are a theatergoer, you might know her from her Broadway debut in Miss Saigon as Kim (for which she won a Tony Award) or from her two stints in Les Misérables or for the musical Allegiance. Recently she appeared in the Tony Award-winning revival of Once On This Island.

Lea Salonga returns Wednesday & Thursday to The Soraya for two concerts where she will celebrate her life and her film and stage career. Just as she does in this medley she performed Live at 54 Below in New York in 2016.

In 2017 she released Blurred Lines, an album that found Salonga performing songs by The Beatles, Rodgers & Hart, The Gershwins, John Legend, Pharrell Williams and more. Like the clip above, it was recorded live at 54 Below.

Which is to say, the best way to experience Lea Salonga is live and in person. She’s previously played one night concerts at The Soraya. This is her first two-night engagement at the venue in Northridge.

You can safely assume her set list will now include a song or two from Once on This Island where she played The Goddess of Love.

The only available tickets at press time for the May 22nd performance are re-sale tickets. You can find them here.

For tickets for the May 23rd performance (and there are very few left) can be found here.

Main Photo by Luis Luque/Courtesy of The Soraya

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But there was a two-year gap between Godspell and Allegiance. Those were troubling times for Leung. And it is his journey through those times that form the foundation of his cabaret show, Sing Happy. Leung will be performing that show on Monday, March 18th Upstairs at Vitello’s in Studio City.

Two days after he finished his run in Aladdin we spoke about the surgery that could have ended his career, how personal his cabaret shows are and whether Broadway really is the impossible dream.

Can you talk about the surgery you had and why you had it?

There’s a surgeon coming for your vocal chords with a knife. It’s frightening. Knowing the story of Julie Andrews, it’s frightening. [The star of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music was diagnosed with non-cancerous nodules on her vocal chords. After the surgery her gorgeous singing voice was ruined.] When you have a vocal injury you think it’s taboo and you can’t talk about it. I was sidelined for six weeks and that time allowed me to heal my voice and my life. I had never said “no.” There’s a deep-seated fear that an actor will never work again. So you just say “yes” to things without considering if this is healthy for me to do. In that six weeks I had a lot of time with my family and my husband and his family. In many ways it was the best thing that happened and the worst thing.

This surgery is fairly common. Why is it taboo in the theatre community?

You’re damaged goods. So many people that I know as singers had this exact same thing happen. And they recovered and were fine. Why are we afraid to talk about it? I felt like there was this aura of mystery around it. After I went through it I felt it shouldn’t be a mystery. When athletes hurt themselves they get sidelined and they come back. That’s what happened to me. Why can’t we talk about it when athletes can? Me telling this story has helped other people. What I do well is cabaret shows and I’m able to tell my story in a creative, fun and musical way.

You performed Sing Happy at Birdland in November. Did you make any changes in the show since that performance?

I always make changes. When I did the show at Birdland nobody knew the story. I did it for an audience that knew me, but didn’t know what had happened. Now that I talk about it, the story is different. I haven’t sung in Los Angeles since 2013. When I do a show for an LA audience I get to revisit some fun Broadway stuff I don’t have to do for New Yorkers.

I last saw your cabaret show at the Magic Castle in 2010. What have you learned about cabaret shows since then?

Oh my gosh. That was the first time I ventured out doing a one-person show like that. I’d just come off doing Rent. There’s a level of comfort I have now doing it. When audiences come to see me in a cabaret show they are coming to see me. I feel like I want to give a piece of me away at the show. That is so much easier for me to do now. The stories I’m doing now are a little harder and I have more courage.

Part of the story in that 2010 show was about your parents coming to terms with your career choice and your sexuality. I assume they are thrilled by both your career and your marriage?

If you had asked me then, “Hey Telly. You’ll be married to this person and your parents will be there and be okay with it.” I would have said, “That’s crazy.” We got married at Sardi’s. Both of our parents come from religious families, his in Indiana and my Chinese family. They did not meet until the wedding. They’ve really come a long way and I really have to give my parents the credit for evolving.

Speaking of Sardi’s, you were recently added to their gallery of Broadway stars with portraits. That must have been a special night.

It was very special. I think the folks at Sardi’s knew what that meant to me because of our marriage. To be in a big Broadway show, my seventh Broadway show, was a wonderful opportunity for me as an Asian-American actor. They felt this was the time. It was an honor. That’s your community saying “job well-done.”

There’s a lyric in the song “Sing Happy” (from the Kander & Ebb musical Flora, the Red Menace) that I’d love you to respond to:

“Tell me tomorrow’s gonna be peaches and cream
Assure me clouds are lined with a silver lining
Say how you’ve realized an impossible dream
Sing me a happy song”

That lyric refers to a dark cloudy time wondering if I was ever going to sing again. There is a time where you are mute and don’t talk and you talk to the voice inside your head. But I hoped for a silver lining. This is a crazy dream for a lot of people. There are so many who dream of being on Broadway. I am living proof that it is possible. Broadway is attainable. It may not happen when you want it to. But if you really want to be a part of this community – and it may or may not be a part of performing – there is something for you. The doors are open in theatre. Our arms are open wide for you to come and join us. I don’t think Broadway is that impossible dream.

Telly Leung will be also be performing Sing Happy at Martini’s Above Fourth in San Diego on Saturday, March 16th.

Main photo by Michael Kushner. All photos courtesy of Telly Leung.

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Of course most people know Takei for his role as Sulu on Star Trek. But anyone who has followed the journey of this musical knows that telling this story – his family’s story – is of paramount importance to the iconic actor who will turn 81 in April.

After the world premiere in San Diego, where Takei said the show broke records, Allegiance went to Broadway where it had a brief run, closing after 111 performances in 2015-2016. The musical was filmed before it closed at the Longacre Theatre and has been screened around the country.

The montage below is from the Broadway production.

I recently spoke to Mr. Takei just after opening night of Allegiance which is currently playing at the Aratani Theatre through April 1st. (Though Mr. Takei did reveal an extension is already being discussed.)

In a recent interview for this production you stated that “young people are the future of society and what Allegiance has to teach is about the mistakes of the past.” When you see what’s going on with the gun control debate after the horrific shooting in Parkland, do you feel encouraged that young people are realizing the future is in their hands?

Indeed. As a matter of fact, when the current president had one of his earliest executive orders it was the Muslim travel ban. When Donald Trump signed that order thousands of young people rushed to the airport to protest that order. Acting Attorney General Sally Yates refused to defend it. [Yates was dismissed by Trump for her actions.]

When 9066 was signed by Roosevelt, every elected official went along with it except for one, the Governor of Colorado [Ralph Lawrence Carr]. He was the only one who stood up and said “this is not right. This is not the American thing to do.” We have made amazing progress in the 75 years since then.

You just had your opening in the same city in which you and your family were rounded-up – Los Angeles. What kind of emotions or satisfaction does bringing this show to Los Angeles offer you?

This is where the story really belongs. This is where my story began. Southern California has the largest concentration of Japanese Americans. It also has the greatest number of people and families who were touched by the internment. Leaders in the Japanese-American community, which was the immigrant generation, were immediately taken away. The executive order was signed on February 19, 1942 and in May our family was ordered out of our home and taken to Santa Anita where we were temporarily put in horse stalls. Innocent people with no due process. No charges. No trials. We were ordered out of our homes at gun point. 

You tell a lot of your story in a TedTalk. You also share some of your father’s wisdom there. How much is he an inspiration for how you play your role in Allegiance?

It’s really a tribute to my father. In the last scene I’m really thinking of him. I have one regret that’s haunted me and we use that in the last act. I was too young to understand the internment when I was in the barbed wire prison camps, so I had my dinner conversations with my father. This was particularly because I read about the shining ideals of American democracy in my civics books and I couldn’t reconcile that with my childhood imprisonment. In one heated discussion I said “you lead us like sheep to slaughter when you took us to the camps.” Suddenly that conversation stopped and I realized I had gone too far. That silence seemed to go on forever. He walked into his bedroom and closed the door. I wanted to knock on the door and apologize. I thought I’d wait until tomorrow and then the next day was more awkward. He let it eventually fade away from us. The fact that he passed away and I can’t do it anymore really pains me. We worked that into the final speech I have.

Have you ever come to peace with both the internment and your comments to your father?

I am at peace with it now. I know that my father understood. Japanese fathers are a special breed I think. They understand and they show it in other ways. He understood me. He showed me he had forgiven me without saying so. That silent paternal understanding. But I was the one who was never able to apologize. That made me feel very guilty, despite I felt he understood.

Allegiance has had mixed success both critically and commercially, yet you persevere with the show. Why?

The major thing I feel about my life with Allegiance is enormous fulfillment. It’s been my mission in life. I’m always taken aback by people I consider to be well-read and well-informed who, when I tell them about my imprisonment, are shocked. It’s something we should be as familiar with as our slave history. It’s been my mission to make people aware of that history so that we try to avoid something like that happening again. Of course, we’re repeating it again with a different populace.

The most profound way to reach people is through their hearts. I always thought of writing a drama about the internment. Jay Kuo said it had to be a musical because musicals hit the heart so profoundly. Of course, being a musical theatre fan I knew exactly what he meant.

It seems the best song about racism from a Broadway musical is in South Pacific with “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught.” That show debuted in 1949 on the heels of World War II. How far have we come since then?

It comes slowly, doesn’t it? What happened in Charlottesville, it’s in the DNA of the United States. “All men are created equal.” Those words were written by great Americans: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson. They were great Americans that established the shining ideals, but they also kept other human beings as slaves. 

Racism is imbedded deep inside the American soul. Dr. King used to say that “racism is a part of America.” We’re still doing battle with that. It’s part of our constant struggle. 

The post George Takei’s Allegiance to a Musical About Japanese-American Internment appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Phantom Thread with Live Score  – The Theatre at the Ace Hotel

Friday, March 2nd (two shows, the first at 8 PM is sold out. The midnight show has availability)

Jonny Greenwood’s Oscar-nominated score for Paul Thomas Anderson’s also nominated film Phantom Thread will be performed live while the film is projected at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel.  Nearly three-quarters of the film is scored by Greenwood. This is a ravishing and beautiful score. There are additional cues by Brahms, Schubert and others. Performing the score will be members of the London Contemporary Orchestra (the orchestra used to record the score.) Not only is this a great opportunity to hear this stunning score, it is also a great opportunity to catch Phantom Thread on the big screen – where it was truly meant to be seen.

Allegiance – Aratani Theatre

Now – April 1st

George Takei of Star Trek fame stars in this musical about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.  As this reflects, in part, his own experiences, he has been a fierce advocate of this musical. He starred in the original production at the Old Globe in San Diego in 2012. He’s also taken the show to Broadway where it opened in 2015 for 111 performances. Jay Kuo wrote the music, lyrics and book and Marc Acito and Lorenzo Thione also wrote the book. Joining Takei in this production are Greg Watanabe, Elena Wang and Ethan Le Phong.  Look for an interview with Takei next week here at Cultural Attaché.

A Trip to the Moon – LA Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Friday,March 2 and Saturday March 3rd

If you ever saw Martin Scorsese’s film Hugo, you might be familiar with Georges Méliès’ film A Trip to the Moon. It’s a delightful and innovative film from 1902. Composer Andrew Norman was commissioned by the LA Philharmonic to write this opera for the child in all of us inspired by the film. Yuval Sharon, the director behind this year’s War of the Worlds, directs this concertized production. Also on the bill is Gustav Holst’s The Planets.

Elīna Garanča – The Broad Stage

Saturday, March 3rd

This mezzo-soprano from Latvia offers up an evening of zarzuelas and arias from operas. Bizet’s Carmen is included in the announced program. Also included are such works as El Gato Montés and El Barquillero. Accompanying Garanca is a full orchestra under the baton of Karel Mark Chichon. This marks a return to the venue where she made her first US recital.

The Graduate – Laguna Playhouse

Official Opening March 4 – March 25

“Well here’s to you Mrs. Robinson, Melanie Griffith plays you in this show….whoa whoa whoa.” Mike Nichols won an Academy Award for directing Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft in 1967’s The Graduate. He was also nominated for another Best Director Oscar for the film Working Girl. Melanie Griffith was nominated for her performance in the same film. And opening night is on Oscar Sunday. What concentric circles!

Griffith portrays the seductive Mrs. Robinson opposite Nick Tag as Benjamin Braddock. Adapting the book and screenplay for the stage is Terry Johnson. Michael Matthews directs.

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