If you love Broadway, we’ve got several stars appearing in readings, live concerts and more.

If you love jazz, we have an advance screening of a documentary about one of jazz’s most legendary singers and a great concert from 2017 that introduced a new tentet to the world.

Classical music fans have everything from Baroque music to contemporary music to watch and hear.

If you love Verdi and opera, we’ve got that for you, too.

Theater fans have a new translation of a classic play and a documentary born out of a highly-acclaimed show from 2013. There’s also our featured selection: The Gaze, a 12-part series from playwright Larry Powell.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: November 20th – November 22nd.

Uncle Vanya – Spotlight on Plays – Now – November 23rd

Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya gets a new translation by playwright Neil LaBute in this Spotlight on Plays reading from Broadway’s Best Shows.

Vanya and Sonya manage the property owned by an old professor and his second wife, Yelena. Vanya is the professor’s late first wife’s brother. Sonya is his daughter with his first wife.

Sonya has romantic feelings for Dr. Astrov, a local doctor, who is smitten with Yelena. Vanya, too, has become enamored with Yelena. With unrequited love ensnaring the characters, Vanya and Sonya are shocked when the professor announces he plans to sell the home they have been managing for him. They are appalled when the old man announces why he’s selling the house Vanya and Sonya have called home for so long.

Starring as the title character is Tony Award-winner Alan Cumming (Cabaret). Joining him for this reading are Constance Wu, Samira Wiley, K. Todd Freeman, Anson Mount, Mia Katigbak, Manik Choksi and Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore). Narration is by Gabriel Ebert. Overseeing the production is director Danya Taymor.

For me, this reading had me at Ellen Burstyn. Add Alan Cummig to the mix and what’s not to love?

Tickets are only $5 to watch Uncle Vanya. Proceeds will benefit The Actors Fund.

Citizen Detective – Geffen Stayhouse – Now – February 7th

In their continuing series of newly-produced Zoom shows, Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse offers up a brand new virtual murder mystery called Citizen Detective.

Written and directed by Chelsea Marcantel, Citizen Detective finds best-selling crime author Mickie McKittrick (Mike Ostroski) enlisting the audience’s help in trying to solve a mysterious Hollywood murder from the 1920s.

Either as one large group or broken out into smaller rooms, audience members while have to find evidence and see where that might lead them. No two shows are going to be the same.

Also in the cast is Paloma Nozica as Andrea. The show runs 85 minutes without an intermission.

Citizen Detective‘s original announced run sold out. The show has been extended through February 7th with those tickets going on sale on November 27th. There are only 24 tickets available for each performance. Tickets are $65 per household.

Finales – LA Philharmonic Sound/Stage – November 20th – continuing

Earlier this week the Los Angeles Philharmonic announced that there will be a second season of Sound/Stage starting in February. For anyone who has seen the previous eight episodes of the inaugural season, you’ll know this is good news.

Like any season, it has to wrap up with a grand finale. This week the final episode of Sound/Stage will do just that.

This new show finds Gustavo Dudamel back on the podium leading the LA Phil. On the program are the Finale of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7; Ritual Mind – Corporeous Pulse from Gabriela Ortiz’s Corpórea and Maurice Ravel’s The Fairy Garden from Mother Goose.

If you have missed some of the previous eight shows, they are still available and will remain so for one year. The only exception is the episode Solitude which will only be available through December 15th. They are all worth checking out.

All episodes of Sound/Stage are free. (Not that a donation to the LA Philharmonic would go amiss.)

TaReKiTa – Los Angeles Master Chorale – November 20th – 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST

Composer Reena Esmail composed TaReKiTa in 2016 for Los Angeles-based Urban Voices Project. She has revised the work and it will have its premiere in this video performance from the Los Angeles Master Chorale. 24 singers will be joined by choreographer and dancer Shalini Haupt.

The piece does not use words, but rather sounds.

Esmail explains it on her website as “based on sounds the Indian drum, the tabla, makes, called ‘bols’ — they are onomatopoeic sounds that imitate the sound of the drum. The result is something like a scat would be in jazz – ecstatic, energetic, rhythmic music that feels good on the tongue.”

I’ve heard the original version and can’t wait to hear it expanded for so many more voices. Esmail’s composition is short and the entire performance runs two minutes.

Virtual Halston – Cast Party YouTube Channel – November 20th – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST

I’ve written several times about the delightful Julie Halston and her Friday happy hour virtual salons. The reason for writing again is that her guest this week is the phenomenally talented Gideon Glick.

Glick made his Broadway debut in the original production of Spring Awakening in 2006 after launching the show off-Broadway. He survived Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark when his role was cut during previews of the troubled musical. He played the lead role of Jordan Berman in Joshua Harmon’s Significant Others both off-Broadway and on. His most recent Broadway appearance was in the Aaron Sorkin adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. He received a Tony Award nomination for his performance. Last year he appeared in the off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors as Seymour.

At 32, Glick is an actor to watch. You should follow him on Twitter where his pithy comments make it abundantly clear he’ll make a great guest with Halston.

There is no charge to watch the show, but donations are encouraged with proceeds going to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation

Angela Hewitt Performs Bach – 92 Street Y – November 20th – 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST – December 4th

In 2018 pianist Angela Hewitt culminated a four-year journey through the works of Johann Sebastian Bach at New York’s 92 Street Y with performances of the Goldberg Variations, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I and The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II. All three performances will be available for streaming starting on Friday and continuing through Friday, December 4th.

Hewitt has recorded all three works twice. With the Goldberg Variations she recorded them first in 2002 (in a recording that started around 11 PM at night and was captured live with just a few retakes the next day) and she revisited the work in 2015.

BBC Music Magazine raved about the later recording by saying, “Sixteen years on, the fingers are as formidably on the ball as ever—capable of the most tender translucency, of staccato leaps that ‘ping’, and able to differentiate and characterise several voices simultaneously with jaw-dropping felicity.”

She recorded The Well-Tempered Clavier (both books) in 1998-1999 and again in 2008. The earlier recording was named by BBC Music Magazine as Best of the Year. The later recordings were named a Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice.

All three performances become available simultaneously. There is a $15 fee to watch each performance. You can also purchase all three performances for $35. Links to each performance can be found in the opening paragraph of this preview.

Laura Osnes & Tony Yazbeck – Caramoor – November 20th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

The music of composer George Gershwin will be celebrated by Broadway stars Laura Osnes (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Anything Goes) and Tony Yazbeck (On the Town, Finding Neverland) in this live-streamed benefit concert for the Caramoor Center for Music & the Arts in Katonah, New York. Fred Lassen serves as accompanist and music director.

In 2017, Osnes and Yazbeck worked together on a concert version (with dance) of the musical Crazy for You at Lincoln Center. That 1992 musical featured Gershwin’s songs and won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

They have also performed Gershwin together in cabaret settings since Crazy For You. In other words, they know their way around a Gershwin tune.

Two very talented Broadway stars, great Gershwin music, who could ask for anything more?

Tickets range from $50 – $125 and are tax-deductible. The two-hour show will remain available for 24 hours after its conclusion.

Anat Cohen Tentet – SFJAZZ – November 20th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

This week’s Fridays at Five concert from SFJAZZ features clarinetest Anat Cohen in a concert from December 2017.

The concert was in support of the first release by the Anat Cohen Tentet called Happy Song. Amongst the members of the ensemble are guitarist Sheryl Bailey, pianist/accordionist Vitor Gonçalves, trumpeter Nadja Noordhuis and vibraphonist James Shipp.

The music director/arranger is Oded Lev-Ari.

Last year the Anat Cohen Tentet released a follow-up album called Triple Helix.

Watching this concert requires the purchase of either a one-month digital membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60). The show streams only once at 5:00 PM PST (thus the program’s name Fridays at Five).

The Gaze…No Homo – Fountain Theatre – November 20th – December 31st

Actor and playwright Larry Powell (The Christians, The Legend of Georgia McBride) has adapted his Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference finalist play THE GAZE…(NO HOMO: PART ONE) into a twelve-episode series that begins streaming this week.

Powell has created stories that examine the lives and stories of queer people of color within what are traditionally white spaces.

The Gaze stars Eugene Byrd (Star Wars, 8 Mile), TC Carson (God of War, Star Wars:The Clone Wars), Yvette Cason (Dreamgirls, A Wrinkle in Time), Jason Green (The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo), Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue, Shameless), Devere Rogers (Will & Grace, My Spy) and Galen J. Williams (Pose, Motown The Musical).

Each week three of the episodes will be released on the Fountain Theatre’s website.

Powell directed three of the episodes. The other directors of The Gaze…No Homo are Satya Bhabha, Reginald L. Douglas, Amber A. Harris, Bianca Laverne Jones, Zhailon Levingston, Jonathan McCrory, Joanna Strapp and Leland Durond Thompson.

This digital series should be both thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining.

If I Should Wake – Greenway Court Theatre – November 20th – December 10th

As long as we’re on the topic of playwright Larry Powell, let’s take a look at another project in which he’s involved.

If I Should Wake is a play in two-parts featuring eight different monologues that explore the impact of the upheaval we’re experiencing in the world today and how that might alter our existence in the afterlife.

It’s a continuation of a program that launched Greenway Arts Alliance back in 2000. That series of monologues was written by José Rivera and was centered around the millennium.

There are eight different playwrights involved with If I Should Wake. In addition to Powell, they include Alex Alpharaoh, Boni B. Alvarez, Arianna Basco, Diana Burbano, Inda Craig-Galván, Yehuda Hyman and Grace McLeod.

The first part begins streaming on November 20th at 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST. Part one includes The Waiting Room by McLeod, Body Quakes by Basco, The Reclamation of my Black Ass Imagination: An Awakening by Powell and Francis by Alvarez.

Part one will be available from November 20th – November 27th. It will be available again December 4th – December 10th.

The second part will feature Quicksand: A Bardo Monologue by Burbano; They Say My Name by Craig-Galván; Cassandra by Alpharaoh and The Let Go by Hyman.

Part two will be available from November 27th at 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST and will remain available through December 10th.

Both parts of If I Should Wake will be available on Greenway Theatre’s Twitch.TV page. There is no charge to watch the play.

Gershwin & Dvořák– Pasadena Symphony – November 20th

The final concert in the Pasadena Symphony’s Pasadena Presents series finds a performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Antonin Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12 “American” on the program.

The soloist for Rhapsody in Blue is pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner. The musicians performing the Dvořák are Carrie Kennedy and Joel Pargman on violin; Aaron Oltman on viola; Ryan Sweeney on cello and James Lent on piano.

Music Director David Lockington conducts.

Tickets are $25 to watch the concert.

Border Crossings Continued – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – November 20th – 9:30 PM EST/6:30 PM PST

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra continues their Border Crossings series with Close Quarters Episode 2. Once again, Patricia Mabee leads the performance from the harpsichord.

On the program are Joseph Pla’s Sonata III; Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Assobio a Jato, Gaspar Sanz’s Jácaras and Pastoreta Ychepe Flauta by an anonymous composer.

As these films combine performance and visuals (under the curation and supervision of James Darrah), the artists whose work appear in Close Quarters Episode 2 are Yuki Izumihara and Yee Eun Nam. Choreography is by Chris Emile and the dancer is Rosalynd LeBlanc.

The musicians are Josefina Vergara and Susan Rishik on violin; Armen Ksajikian on cello; Ben Smolen on flute; Jason Yoshida on theorbo/baroque guitar and Peter Corpela on percussion.

The performance lasts approximately 30 minutes. If you missed Episode 1, you can find it on LACO’s YouTube channel.

Rigoletto – San Francisco Opera – November 21st – November 22nd

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Željko Lučić, Aleksandra Kurzak and Francesco Demuro. This revival of the 1997 Mark Lamos production is from the 2012-2013 season and was directed by Harry Silverstein.

Victor Hugo, the author of Les Míserables, was also a playwright and it was his play, Le roi s’amuse, that served as the inspiration for Giuseppe Verdi’s opera. Francesco Maria Piave, who regularly collaborated with the composer, wrote the libretto. The opera had its world premiere in Venice, Italy in 1851.

The title character is a jester who serves the Duke of Mantua. The Duke is a seductive man who, upon learning that the woman with whom Rigoletto lives is his daughter and not his wife, makes the young woman, Gilda, his next target. Curses, assassination plots and more leave this clown without much to smile about.

For this production, San Francisco Opera had two casts in the three lead roles and Rigoletto was performed on back-to-back nights its opening weekend.

In Joshua Kosman‘s review for the San Francisco Chronicle he said there was one definitive revelation: “Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, whose company debut Friday night as Gilda was nothing short of remarkable. In a role that is often sung with silvery, laser-like precision and naivete, Kurzak opted instead for a full-throated sound and an air of emotional assurance that made her plight all the more poignant.”

There is no charge to watch Rigoletto. The opera becomes available at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST and remains available until just before midnight PST on Sunday, November 22nd.

Circus Kid – Center Theatre Group Digital Stage – November 21st – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST

Seven years ago Lorenzo Pisoni brought his show, Humor Abuse, to the Mark Taper Forum. The play explored his life growing up in the circus. Filled with humor, pathos and some daring maneuvers, it was a thoroughly entertaining evening of theatre.

Pisoni has now taken that story further with a film called Circus Kid. This 2016 documentary finds him in search of the man behind the clown make-up who was his father. Pisoni grew up in and around the Pickle Family Circus. From a young age, he was made a regular performer as part of the circus.

Center Theatre Group will stream the documentary just this one time.

Following the documentary there will be a conversation between Pisoni and one of our finest actors and clowns: Bill Irwin (more about him later.)

The film runs 1 hour and 47 minutes. There is no charge to watch Circus Kid.

Jeremy Denk Recital – Philharmonic Society of Orange County- November 22nd – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST

If you’ve been reading Cultural Attaché for some time, you know how strongly I feel about pianist Jeremy Denk. I’m not alone in that assessment. He’s the recipient of MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, he’s had his recordings top the classical music charts and critics regularly try to find new superlatives to describe his playing.

On Saturday, he’ll be performing a recital live from the stage of the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The program includes Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K. 457; Clara Schumann’s Three Romances, Op. 22; Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111.

Tickets are $20 and allow for viewing through November 28th.

Billie – 92 Street Y – November 22nd – 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST

In advance of its release theatrical and online release, the 92 Street Y is hosting a free screening of James Erskine’s documentary Billie. His subject is, of course, the legendary Billie Holiday.

If what you know about Holiday can be summed up in one or two sentences, or is based on the film Lady Sings the Blues, this documentary sheds new light on all the factors that lead to Holiday’s trouble with drugs and the law. This includes battles with racism, the exploitation of her as an artist, how politics factored into her daily life and, of course, her addiction.

The film makes use of interviews with Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Charles Mingus and others that were conducted in the 1970s.

You need to register in advance to watch the screening.

Jarrod Spector & Kelli Barrett: Funny How It Happens – Adelphi Theatre – November 22nd – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST

Tony Award-nominated actor Jarrod Spector made his Broadway debut at the age of 9 in the long-running original production of Les Misérables as Gavroche. He joined another long-running musical, Jersey Boys, as Frankie Valli. He originated the role of Barry Mann in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and received his Tony nomination. He also originated the role of Sonny Bono in The Cher Show.

As an adult he’s taken on some pretty iconic men in music. He’s also taken on a more important role as husband to another Broadway star, Kelli Barrett.

Barrett first appeared on Broadway in the 2009 production of The Royal Family. She followed that by playing two different roles in the musical Baby It’s You. Next up was a turn as Nessarose in Wicked in 2014. The short-lived musical adaptation of Dr. Zhivago followed. Her most recent Broadway role was as Dani Franco in Gettin’ the Band Back Together.

With their show Funny How It Happens, Spector and Barrett will explore, through stories and song, how two people can fall in love, get married, keep busy performing and filming schedules and still remain the best of friends.

Tickets are $20.

Adam Pascal with Seth Rudetsky – November 22nd – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST – POSTPONED DUE TO TECHNICAL ISSUES. RESCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER 20th.

Broadway fans, and particularly Rent-heads, know Adam Pascal from his role as Roger in the original production of Jonathan Larson’s Rent. His other Broadway credits include the Elton John and Tim Rice musical, Aida, Cabaret, Chicago, Memphis, Something Rotten! and most recently, Pretty Woman.

He’s Seth Rudetsky’s guest for this week’s concert and conversation.

Pascal knows Rudetsky well. He appeared in his musical, Disaster!

If Sunday’s live stream doesn’t work for you, they will re-stream the concert on Monday, November 23rd at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST.

Tickets are $25.

Those are my Best Bets at Home: November 20th – November 22nd. But it wouldn’t be one of my weekly columns if I didn’t offer up a reminder or two.

Earlier I mentioned Bill Irwin. Don’t forget that there are four more opportunities to stream his show, On Beckett/In Screen from the Irish Repertory Theatre.

Metropolitan Opera‘s celebration of Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin continues with Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites on Friday (very strongly recommended); Puccini’s Turandot on Saturday and Berg’s Wozzeck on Sunday.

Long Beach Opera’s 2020 Songbook remains available through Sunday for viewing. (See last week’s Best Best at Home for details.)

I suppose if you add these four reminders, you actually have almost as many options from which to choose as you have hours in a day. Luckily you have three days to watch them all.

That’s the complete list of Best Bets at Home: November 20th – November 22nd.

Enjoy your weekend!

Photo: Galen J. Williams in The Gaze (Photo courtesy Tell Me a Story Productions)

Update: This post has been updated to include the Sunday morning announcement that the Adam Pascal concert with Seth Rudetsky is postponed until December 20th due to technical issues.

The post Best Bets at Home: November 20th – November 22nd – UPDATED appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Thankfully it appears we will have an even larger number of ways to enjoy culture at home in the weeks and months ahead. This weekend’s best bets include a virtual version of the annual Monterey Jazz Festival, a live-streamed musical from England, a dystopian virtual reality live musical, a concert with two stars of opera and stage and so much more.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: September 25th – September 27th:

From The Ford with Lula Washington Dance Theatre – Now

Cultural Attaché made a big deal about the cancellation of this summer’s Hollywood Bowl season. Lost in the shuffle was the cancellation of the season at The Ford Theatre as well. Much like their colleagues on the other side of the Cahuenga Pass in Los Angeles, they have been presenting some programming on line.

While much of it isn’t programming that we would naturally cover – which does not reflect on its quality at all – this week’s program is a perfect fit.

Los Angeles-based Lula Washington Dance Theatre performed at The Ford in 2018. That performance became available Thursday on The Ford’s Facebook and YouTube pages. The performance (and, in fact, all of the performances they began streaming in August) are available for viewing.

Earlier this year I interviewed Lula Washington as they celebrated their 40th anniversary. You can read that interview here and get more information about this wonderful company.

Monterey Jazz Festival – September 25th – September 27th

Every day this weekend the Monterey Jazz Festival is streaming two-hours of performances by jazz legends. There will be a mix of archived and new performances. The streaming begins each day at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT on the festival’s YouTube channel.

The line-up is as follows (and when I last checked there was still a notice that more performances might be added):

Friday, September 25th: Dianne Reeves, Roy Hargrove & RH Factor, Christian Sands (the 2020 and 2021 Monterey Jazz Festival Artist-in-Residence), Terri Lyne Carrington – Mosaic Project, Next Generation Jazz Orchestra Directed by Gerald Clayton, Christian McBride & Inside Straight, Jamie Cullum and Herbie Hancock.

Saturday, September 26th: Regina Carter, Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo Directed by Katie Thiroux, Next Generation Jazz Orchestra Directed by Gerald Clayton, Davina and the Vagabonds, Clint Eastwood in conversation with Tim Jackson, Eastwood at Monterey with Diana Krall & Kenny Barron Trio, Berklee Institute of Jazz & Gender Justice Quintet, Our Native Daughters featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell and a Tribute to Dave Brubeck with Cannery Row Suite featuring Kurt Elling & Roberta Gambarini.

Sunday, September 27th: Sonny Rollins Tribute featuring Jimmy Heath, Joe Lovano, Branford Marsalis, and Joshua Redman, Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, Anat Cohen Tentet, Angela Davis in conversation with Terri Lyne Carrington, Gerald Clayton Quartet, Cooking Demonstration with Lila Downs from her home in Oaxaca, 2012 Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour with musical director Christian McBride and Dee Dee Bridgewater on vocals, 2018 Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour with musical director Christian Sands and Cécile McLorin Salvant on vocals and a Tribute to Quincy Jones, “The A&M Years”, featuring Hubert Laws and Valerie Simpson.

There is no charge to watch these programs. Donations are encouraged and will go to the artists performing, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Just Like Us – Latino Theater Company – September 25th – October 4th

Los Angeles-based Latino Theater Company continues presenting both archived films of previous productions and readings of new works with a sneak peek of Karen Zacarías’s Just Like Us.

The play depicts the lives for four teenage Latinas. Two girls are undocumented and two are not. As the realities of their separate immigration situations begin to reflect what each girl may or may not be able to accomplish, their friendships get tested.

Zacarías based her play on Helen Thorpe’s best-selling book of the same name. Zacarías (Native Gardens) uses a documentary-style approach to this play.

The cast includes Richard Azurdia, Natalie Camunas, Michelle Castillo, Alicia Coca, Peter Mendoza, Elyse Mirto, Lys Perez, Geoffrey Rivas, Lucy Rodriguez, Kenia Romero and Alexis Santiago. Just Like Us is directed by Fidel Gomez.

While you are at the LATC website (where you can access Just Like Us), you might also notice that Nancy Ma’s Home will be available for viewing. Ma performed her one-person show at LATC last year. The play illuminates Ma’s struggle to accept her own identity when she finds herself torn between her immigrant family’s Chinese Toisan background and her new-found American home.

Miranda: A Steampunk VR Experience – Now – September 26th

In 2013 the first production of Kamala Sankaram’s steampunk opera took place. Seven years later, a new version that takes the work and brings it into the virtual reality world, co-created by Tri-Cities Opera and co-presented by Opera Omaha, is available for free (with advance registration).

Miranda tells the story of three suspects who are on trial for the murder of a wealthy woman. Each of the three defendants will have to testify in order to exonerate themselves. You, the audience, will serve as judge and jury. The entire story takes place in a dystopian feature that appears to be a radical version of our present-day world with steampunk influences.

The performance happens live in real time. Each performer is kept separated in their own motion capture cubicles. Utilizing motion capture gear (think Andy Serkis in the Planet of the Apes remakes) their movement and performances are captured a brought into the 3D virtual environment.

There are three performances each day. The website lays out the various ways you can experience Miranda (you don’t have to have VR gear to do so.)

I honestly don’t know how good this will be, but it is certainly a unique way to bring the performing arts to audiences during the pandemic. The sheer bravado of doing a project this way makes it worthy of inclusion.  

Dances at a Gathering – The Royal Ballet – September 25th – October 24th

Jerome Robbins’s Dances at a Gathering was first performed in 1969 by the New York City Ballet. The hour-long work is set to the music of composer Frédéric Chopin.

The Royal Ballet brought the ballet back onto their stages during the 2019-2020 season. It marked the return of this particular Robbins work after an absence of eleven years.

Dances at a Gathering features five couples. The company for this performance includes Luca Acri, Federico Bonelli, William Bracewell, Alexander Campbell, Francesca Hayward, Fumi Kaneko, Laura Morera, Yasmine Naghdi, Marianela Nuñez and Valentino Zucchetti.

Robbins was a five-time Tony Award winner and a two-time Academy Award winner. He’s best known for West Side Story.

The Royal Ballet is charging £3 to view the ballet. That’s just under $4.

Romantics Anonymous – The Wallis – September 26th – 4:00 PM EDT/1:00 PM PDT

For the past few years Emma Rice and Kneehigh have brought their innovative productions of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk and Brief Encounter to the stage at The Wallis in Beverly Hills.

This year Rice was scheduled to return to the United States with a tour of The Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and Plush Theatricals Production of the musical Romantics Anonymous, but that was not to be.

Romantics Anonymous is based on the 2010 film Les Émotifs Anonymes. It tells the story of two people who make chocolate and are navigating their way through the world in very different ways. Angélique, who pours her heart and soul into her chocolates, is part of a support group helping her get a better grip on her life. Jean-René listens to self-help tapes while trying to keep his floundering chocolate factory afloat. They are both very emotional people and, of course, fall in love.

The musical was written by Michael Kooman (music) and Christopher Dimond (lyrics). Rice wrote the book.

Lyn Gardner, writing for The Guardian, said of the show, “Romantics Anonymous is a multifaceted gem, chock-full of love, generosity and joy…”

Ever resourceful, Rice and the entire team have taken a unique approach to making their show available. The entire cast and crew have been in quarantine and will be performing the show live at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre on Saturday. The Wallis is one of six companies to host the United States performance.

Romantics Anonymous stars Marc Antolin, Carly Bawden, Me’sha Bryan, Philip Cox, Omari Douglas, Harry Hepple, Sandra Marvin, Laura Jane Matthewson and Gareth Snook.

The cost to watch the show is £21 which is just under $27 (as of the exchange rate on 9/24 when this was written). Romantics Anonymous will only be streamed live on this one date. There will be, however, an audio described version and a closed caption version available on Monday, September 28th at 11:00 AM and 11:30 AM respectively.

A Time to Sing: An Evening with Renée Fleming and Vanessa Williams – The Kennedy Center – September 26th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Opera singer Renée Fleming and Tony Award-nominated actress Vanessa Williams team up for this new concert filmed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The women will share the stage and perform songs written by Harold Arlen, Benjamin Britten, Antonín Dvořák, Joni Mitchell, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Stephen Sondheim, Sting and more. There will also be the world premiere of Diva by Andrew Lippa.

Tickets to watch the concert are $15 and will allow access to view A Time to Sing through the rest of 2020.

Open Fist Theatre Company’s 30th Anniversary Virtual Gala – September 26th – 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT

For any theatre company to last thirty years is quite an accomplishment. Los Angeles-based Open Fist Theatre is celebrating that accomplishment with a virtual gala and online auction on Saturday night.

Joining the company during this one-hour event will be Shoshana Bean (Broadway’s Waitress), Jason Paige (For the Record shows) and Ty Taylor (lead singer of Vintage Trouble.)

Since their inception in 1990, Open Fist Theatre Company has produced multiple award-winning productions including Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage, The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved In The Former Soviet Union and DeLEARious.

There is no cost to watch the gala. Donations are, of course, encouraged. There are also VIP tickets for a virtual cocktail hour that runs in the 60 minutes prior to the gala’s start. Those tickets are $100.

Those are my choices for your Best Bets at Home: September 25th – September 27th. As usual, I have some reminders for you.

Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new series Sound/Stage launches today on their website. This week’s program is called Love in the Time of Covid and features performances by the orchestra with Gustavo Dudamel conducting. Guests include mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges and actress María Valverde. Works by Peter Liberson, George Walker and Gustav Mahler will be performed.

This weekend’s Table Top Shakespeare: At Home will have performances of King John on Friday, Titus Andronicus on Saturday and Much Ado About Nothing on Sunday.

Here are this weekend’s listings from this week’s Jazz Stream:

The Nicole Glover Quartet performs live from Smalls on September 25th.

Fridays at Five from SFJAZZ streams at 2014 concert: John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme 50th Anniversary Celebration on September 25th.

The Kenny Barron Trio live at the Village Vanguard streams on September 25th and September 26th.

Ramsey Lewis performs live on September 26th.

The Marcus Strickland Trio live at Blue Note streams on September 26th.

Charles Lloyd, Zakir Hussain and Julian Lage perform live from Healdsburg Jazz Festival on September 26th.

This weekend’s operas from the Metropolitan Opera’s Puccini Week are Tosca on Friday, Turandot on Saturday and La Bohème  on Sunday.

That is a lot of options for this weekend’s Best Bets at Home: September 25th – September 27th. Continue to check back at Cultural Attaché for our weekly suggestions to satisfy your desires to see the performing arts.

Main photo: The company of Romantics Anonymous (Photo by Steve Tanner/Courtesy The Wallis)

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Ives wrote four symphonies. Dvořák wrote nine. For these concerts Dudamel pairs Ives symphonies with the last three of those written by Dvořák (the most popular being his 9th.)

The series begins on February 20th with two performances of Symphony No. 1  by Ives with Dvořák’s 7th Symphony. Each symphony has four movements and they both run less than 40 minutes.

Ives composed his first symphony as an exercise for his composition teacher at Yale. The work is often compared to Dvořák’s 9th Symphony which premiered one year earlier.

Dvořák’s 7th had its world premiere in 1885 in London. The composer’s three late symphonies are considered his masterworks.

Beginning February 22nd (again for two performances) Dvořák’s 8th Symphony (composed in 1889) is paired with the Symphony No. 2 by Ives (composed between 1897-1902).

It took nearly 50 years for Ives’ second symphony to have its world premiere. Leonard Bernstein, leading the New York Philharmonic, gave the first performance of the work in 1951. Bernstein was a huge advocate of Ives and his work.

Ives was well-known for interpolating (or less politely, borrowing) the themes from other compositions into his work. That practice began with this symphony where strands from Columbia the Gem of the Ocean, Turkey in the Straw and Camptown Races can all be heard.

Dvořák conducted the world premiere of the 8th Symphony in Prague in 1890. Just as Ives was inspired by American themes, Dvořák was inspired by Czechoslovakian folk themes. Of all of Dvořák’s symphonies, this is, by far, my personal favorite.

Next week the series continues with one performance of Symphony No. 3 (“The Camp Meeting”) by  Ives and Dvořák’s enormously popular Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World.”)

Once again Ives had to wait for his work to have its premiere. Though written in 1904 (with additional work from 1908-1911), Symphony No. 3 did not get performed until 1946 when Lou Harrison lead the New York Little Symphony in a performance. Ives was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for this work.

Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 is one of the most widely-embraced of all symphonies. The program for these Los Angeles Philharmonic performances begins its description with “Has there ever been a work so beloved, so recognized, and yet so impossible to give a fair hearing as the ‘New World’ Symphony?”

To which my response would be, “Why?” It has a lovely theme which you better love. Because you will hear it and variations of it for the next 40 minutes. (Yes, I’m aware this is an over-simplification). Dvořák wrote this symphony in 1892-1893. The work had its premiere in New York in 1893.

Of course, if anyone can convince me that this work is more than its repeated theme, it would be Dudamel with this orchestra.

This concert, and the two that follow, will open with The Unanswered Questions, a six-minute work by Ives.

The final concerts are on February 28th and 29th when Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 is paired with the Symphony No. 4 by Ives.

Though only 30 minutes in length, Symphony No. 4 is one of the larger works written by Ives. Joining the LA Phil for this work will be the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Ives wrote this symphony over a period of time ranging from 1910-1925. Though the first two movements (there are four) were performed in 1927, the full work was not performed until 1965 when legendary conductor Leopold Stokowski (Fantasia) lead the American Symphony Orchestra.

If you aren’t familiar with the work of Charles Ives, I strongly recommend taking a crash-course in his work vis-a-vis these concerts. He was more than a truly American composer. He wrote with such heart and passion that it is a shame more of his work is not performed regularly.

Dvořák 7 and Ives  1

For tickets on February 20th go here.

For tickets on February 21st go here.

Dvořák  8 and Ives 2

For tickets on February 22nd go here.

For tickets on February 23rd go here.

Dvořák 9 and Ives 3

For tickets on February 27th go here.

Dvořák 9 and Ives 4

For tickets on February 28th go here.

For tickets on February 29th go here.

Photo of Composer Charles Ives (Tully Potter Collection – courtesy of Gramophone)

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The concert launches a season that will feature a tour of Violins of Hope – 60 stringed musical instruments rescued during the Holocaust. In late March and early April there will be multiple concerts (at The Soraya, the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, Thousand Oaks Civics Arts Plaza and the Long Beach Symphony) that will feature some of these rescued instruments.

Perlman himself has been to the workshop in Tel Aviv where the instruments have been restored. He said of the experience, “I believe that the violin is a replica of the soul, and these violins more than most are powerful examples of perseverance. They once represented survival for their owners, and they symbolize the same to us today.”

The program for Thursday night’s rare recital by Perlman is scheduled to include Beethoven’s Violin Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, No. 3, the Franck Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano and Dvorak’s Sonatina in G major for Violin and Piano, Op. 100, B. 183. The website also indicates that additional works will be announced from the stage.

Hopefully you have tickets for The Soraya opening. It appears they have sold out. But the link above for the Violins of Hope concerts will give you full details of where and when you can see and hear the recovered and restored instruments.

For tickets (you never know when an extra ticket or two might become available) go here.

Photo of Itzhak Perlman by Lisa Marie Mazzucco/Courtesy of The Soraya

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The production, new to San Francisco Opera, comes to them vis-a-vis Lyric Opera of Chicago. David McVicar directed Rusalka there in 2014. In John von Rhein’s review for the Chicago Tribune, he wrote when comparing a then-running production at the Metropolitan Opera to McVicar’s production, “Well, eat your hearts out, New Yorkers. The plain truth is that the Met’s routine revival cannot hold a candle to Lyric’s far superior effort.”

Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen makes her role debut as the title character, a water nymph willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to earn the affection of a human prince. Brandon Jovanovich plays the prince. The cast includes Jamie Barton as Ježibaba, bass Kristinn Sigmundsson as Vodník and Sarah Cambidge as the Foreign Princess.

The orchestra will be lead by Eun Sun Kim, who is the Houston Grand Opera Principal Guest Conductor. This is Eun Sun Kim’s first appearance at San Francisco Opera.

Rusalka, which had its world premiere in 1901, has not been performed at San Francisco Opera since its first appeared in the 1995 season.

Alex Ross, whose book The Rest is Noise is required reading for classical music fans, feels that Rusalka, while containing beautiful stretches of music, “wavers among various stylistic options. Certain moments soar into a Wagnerian mode, others follow a Smetana-derived national-opera pattern or even a hint of Mozartiana.*”

Opera lovers, however, warmly embrace Rusalka. Among the opera’s best-known arias is Song to the Moon. Frederica Von Stade sings the aria in this clip.

For tickets go here.

Photos by Todd Rosenberg/Lyric Opera of Chicago courtesy of San Francisco Opera

*This quote comes from a 1993 review of a Metropolitan Opera production.

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The 7th Symphony was a commission from the London Philharmonic Society in 1884. While the 9th is more popular, critics argue that it is this 7th Symphony that serves as the composer’s finest symphony.

Also on the bill is Dvořák’s “Overture to Vanda.” In between these two pieces are two works by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. First is the Violin Concerto in No. 1 in A Major performed by Martin Chalifour (Principal Concertmaster of the LA Philharmonic). The first half of the concert concludes with the composer’s “Havanaise,” which was written in 1887 for Cuban violinist Rafael Diaz Albertini.

Leading the LA Philharmonic for this one-night concert is Paolo Bortolameolli. He was a Dudamel Fellow in 2017 and now serves as the Assistant Conductor of the LA Philharmonic through the 2018-2019 season. The Chilean native is making a name for himself and this is a good opportunity to see what the buzz is all about.

Photo Courtesy of LA Philharmonic

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