Our top pick this week is actually a twofer. Jazz vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, who has taken the world by storm since her 2017 debut album A Social Call, is featured in two concerts you’ll want to watch this weekend.

With several operas, a very wide range of dance, play readings and more, it will seem at first glance like a pretty intense selection of programs. However, nothing is what it seems this week. Read about each of these programs and you’ll find they almost all represent a new way of telling both familiar and new stories.

Here are the Top Ten Best Bets: June 18th – June 21st.

*TOP PICK* JAZZ: Jazzmeia Horn – SFJAZZ – June 18th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT and Cal Performances on demand through July 21st

This week’s Fridays at Five offering from SFJAZZ is a 2019 performance from the 37th San Francisco Jazz Festival in support of her second album, Love and Liberation.

She rose to prominence after winning the 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition.

In a 2017 review of a performance Horn gave at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York, Giovanni Russonello wrote in the New York Times after calling her one of the most talked-about jazz singers to emerge since Cécile McLorin Salvant and Gregory Porter:

“…she’s possessed of some distinctive tools, all of which were on display: a pinched, sassy tone in the highest register; a fondness for unguarded duets with her bassist (at Dizzy’s, it was Noah Jackson); an array of rough, pealing nonverbal sounds that add drama to codas and interludes, hinting at meanings in the music that go beyond what fits on the page.”

Should you be unable to catch the streaming of this concert on Friday, there is an encore showing on Saturday at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT. Tickets are $5 which includes a one-month digital membership to SFJAZZ.

If you want to explore more of what Horn can do (and perhaps see and hear how she evolved her performances and her set list almost two years later), you can check out a concert filmed at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge in February of this year for Cal Performances.

That concert is available for on-demand streaming with prices ranging from $5 for Cal students and $15 per non-student viewers up to $68 for those who have the ability to pay.

Horn is a force to be reckoned with. These two concerts allow you to chart her growth as, we hope, a new album will soon be on the horizon.

OPERA: Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex – LA Opera – Now – July 18th

Igor Stravinsky composed this opera/oratorio in 1927. Based on the tragedy by Sophocles, it is a work for orchestra, speaker, soloists, and male chorus. If you believe you know well the story of Oedipus, I think you’ll be surprised at all the ultimately timely material to be found in this story.

For this filmed performance of Oedipus Rex, Los Angeles Opera has assembled a terrific ensemble.

Singing the title role is tenor Russell Thomas. The role of his mother, Jocasta, is sung by mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges. Creon and the Messenger are sung by John Relyea. Tiresias is sung by Morris Robinson. The role of the Shepherd is sung by Robert Stahley. Serving as narrator is Stephen Fry (via video).

James Conlon conducts the LA Opera orchestra.

I attended a rehearsal of this production two weeks ago (prior to a live performance in Los Angeles – LA Opera’s first live performance back in their home at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion). Collaborating with them is Manual Cinema. They are the Chicago-based company that did a truly memorable production of A Christmas Carol that was streamed last December (and was also a Best Bet).

At 50 minutes, this is a terrific way to get some opera into your weekend. And it’s free; though donations to LA Opera are encouraged.

If you want to see more of what Thomas and Bridges have to offer, let us remind you of LA Opera’s Signature Recital Series which has recitals by each of them available for streaming through the end of the month. Check out our preview here.

PLAY READING: Dear Elizabeth – Spotlight on Plays from Broadway’s Best Shows – Now – June 21st

You don’t need to know who poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell were. You don’t need to know that they became very good friends, mostly through the hundreds of letters they wrote to each other. Nor that they had an affair. You don’t even need to know that this play, which had its New York premiere in 2015, is written by award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl.

All you really need to know about this reading is that it stars Kevin Kline and Meryl Streep. The two famously appeared together in Sophie’s Choice. This was the film that earned Streep her second Academy Award. They also appeared as exes in Jonathan Demme’s Rikki and the Flash in 2015.

Not to be outdone, Kline won an Academy Award for his performance in A Fish Called Wanda.

They appeared on stage in the 2001 production of The Seagull and the 2006 production of Mother Courage and Her Children at the Delacorte Theater as part of The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park series.

This seems like a pretty easy choice to make for your weekend plans. Why not see these incredibly talented actors together again? This is the final play in the Spotlight on Plays series. They are clearly going out on a high note.

Kate Whoriskey directs.

Tickets are $19 and allow for streaming through Monday, June 21st at 6:00 PM ET/3:00 PM PT. Proceeds benefit The Actors Fund and The Acting Company.

OPERA/MINI-SERIES: desert in – Boston Lyric Opera – Now available

As befits a project from the mind of James Darrah, desert in does not fit easily into any one category. It is a mini-series. It is an opera. It contains nudity. There’s strong sexual content and adult language. It also comes from the minds of playwright christopher oscar peña and Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Ellen Reid.

In other words, it’s like nothing you’ve seen before.

The stories of multiple characters swirl around a lodge in the desert and its swimming pool. A combination of trysts, betrayals and shamanic ceremonies result in the lodge’s owners Cass and Sunny and new guests Ion and Rufus caught up in its mysterious ways.

Appearing in desert in are mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (for whom the project was written), soprano Talise Trevigne, Tony-nominated performer Justin Vivian Bond (Kiki & Herb Alive on Broadway), actors Carlis Shane Clark, Alexander Flores, Anthony Michael Lopez, Jon Orsini, Ricco Ross and Raviv Ullman with vocal performances by tenor Neal Ferreira, Tony Award-winner Jesus Garcia (La Bohème), baritone Edward Nelson, tenor Alan Pingarrón, soprano Brianna J. Robinson, mezzo-soprano Emma Sorenson and bass-baritone Davóne Tines.

Joining Reid in composing music for desert in are Michael Abels, Vijay Iyer, Nathalie Joachim, Nico Muhly, Emma O’Halloran, Wang Lu and Shelley Washington. Each one a truly fascinating composer.

Six of the eight episodes have been released and are available for viewing on operabox.tv. The final two episodes will be released in the next couple of weeks.

You have several options for viewing with varying price points. You can subscribe to operabox.tv, purchase on-demand streaming of the entire series or for individual episodes. Details can be found here.

CLASSICAL MEETS HIP-HOP: Common with the Los Angeles Philharmonic – Debuts June 18th

We’ve previewed the second season of the LA Philharmonic’s Sound/Stage series, but can attest from personal experience that seeing Common on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl with the orchestra is an event like few others. Frankly, it’s almost one of a kind, except that they created this 17-minute film available for free streaming that didn’t come from that concert.

Common is one of the most important and exciting performers in hip-hop. Gustavo Dudamel leads one of the most adventurous orchestras in this country. This pairing is going to please those who can’t imagine hip-hop with classical music institutions and those who can’t imagine a symphony orchestra with hip-hop.

Other episodes in this series are available for streaming and can be found at the link above.

OPERA: This Little Light of Mine – Kentucky Opera in collaboration with the Santa Fe Opera – June 19th – 6:00 PM ET/3:00 PM PT

Here’s a great opportunity to see a work truly in development. The Santa Fe Opera commissioned this opera inspired by the story of Fannie Lou Hamer. She was a voting rights activist whose relentless efforts lead to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

Chandler Carter is the composer of This Little Light of Mine. The libretto is by Diana Solomon-Glover.

The two had previously collaborated on No Easy Walk to Freedom about Nelson Mandela. Solomon-Glover portrayed Winnie Mandela in that work.

On Saturday they will be streaming a workshop of This Little Light of Mine that was filmed on Monday at Kentucky Opera. This opera had been scheduled for a workshop last fall, but was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Nicole Joy Mitchell sings the role of Fannie Lou Hamer. Aundi Marie Moore sings the role of Dorothy Jean Hamer and Heather Hill sings the roles of June Johnson and an Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Worker. The workshop is directed by Beth Greenberg.

There is no charge to watch This Little Light of Mine. It will be available on Kentucky Opera’s YouTube channel.

ONE-ACT PLAYS: Unmasked: A Theatrical Celebration of Black Women’s Liberation – The Wallis – Debuts June 19th

The Wallis collaborated with Black Rebirth Collective on Unmasked, one-act plays by four Black female playwrights that was filmed in the Lovelace Studio Theatre at The Wallis.

Those writers are: Ngozi Anyanwu, Jocelyn Bioh, Dominique Morisseau and Stacy Osei-Kuffour.

Anyanwu is best known for Good Grief, an award-winning play that was first performed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2016. Her play is called G.O.A.T. which finds three close friends who try to determine who is the greatest of all time (hence the title) through a sacred ritual.

Bioh, best known for School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, has written White-N-Luscious. While appearing on a talk show a Nigerian pop star and an Afro-British scholar face issues of self-representation and beauty standards.

Morisseau, who was Tony nominated for writing the book for Ain’t Too Proud and also wrote The Detroit Project trilogy of plays, contributes Jezelle the Gazelle. As the title perhaps alludes to, the title character is a young female runner who is easily the fastest on her block. But does she have the skill set to navigate what life has in store for her and still remain on top?

Osei-Kuffour’s work is called Madness. While handling an issue at work on a phone call, the protagonist is offered a new way to address the situation by a new colleague whom she doesn’t know. Osei-Kuffour’s ANIMALS was recorded by the Williamstown Theater Festival and can be heard on Audible.

The ensemble cast – Kelly M. Jenrett, Masha Mthembu, Candace Thomas and Jonah Wharton – are accompanied by violinist Katherine Washington. Unmasked was co-drected by Kimberly Hébert of Black Rebirth Collective and The Wallis’ Camille Jenkins.

Tickets are $19 for all four plays. If you only want to watch one of the plays, you can purchase a single ticket for $5. Please go here for details on ticket sales. Unmasked will be available for streaming on demand through July 2nd.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Jenn Colella – SETH Concert Series – June 20th – 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

I’ve never been lucky enough to see Broadway star and Tony-nominated actor Jenn Colella in any of the shows in which she’s appeared (Come From Away, If/Then, Chaplin, High Fidelity and Urban Cowboy). But that last show did lead to a chance to see her early in her career and I realized how special she was immediately.

Colella was a guest at a concert by composer Jason Robert Brown in North Hollywood. (He music directed Urban Cowboy). When she sang a couple songs with him it was like the best possible hurricane just blew into and through the theater.

I can only imagine what Colella will do this weekend as Seth Rudetsky’s guest in his concert series.

If you’re unable to see the live stream on Sunday as scheduled, there will be a re-stream of the show at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM the same day. Tickets for either showing are $25.

DANCE: Broadway Bares: Twerk from Home – Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS – June 20th – 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT

Just as Broadway is on the cusp of coming back comes an annual tradition that is one of the toughest tickets in town. And because Broadway isn’t back yet…we all get a front row seat.

Broadway Bares is an annual dance/performance fundraiser, usually performed on a Broadway stage.

For the uninitiated, it is one where clothes become less necessary as each performance goes on. This year’s show is called Twerk from Home and it will debut on Sunday night.

Two-time Tony Award winning choreograph Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots, the 2005 revival of La Cage Aux Folles), is the creator of Broadway Bares and once again he directs this year’s show. Joining this year as co-directors are Laya Barak and Nick Kenkel.

Over 170 dancers are participating in Twerk from Home. Joining them will be Harvey Fierstein, J. Harrison Ghee, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Robyn Hurder, Peppermint and Jelani Remy who make special appearances. This year’s Broadway Bares culminates in a finale extravaganza that was filmed outdoors in Times Square.

There is no charge to watch Twerk from Home, but donations are encouraged. This is one of their biggest fundraisers of the year. Last year’s virtual edition raised $596,504 for Broadway Cares. You can watch the show on BC/EFA’s YouTube Channel.

MODERN DANCE: Future Dance Festival – 92Y – June 21st – July 4th

From a pool of 185 applicants, seven panelists selected 21 choreographer finalists to be part of the 92nd Street Y’s first Future Dance Festival. The goal of the festival is to pair emerging choreographers and creators with working directors.

Beginning on Monday, those 21 finalists will have their work showcased in three different programs that will all be available for free streaming.

Program 1 features work by Annie Rigney, Max Levy, Madison Elliott, Leonardo Sandoval, Burr Johnson, Nicole von Are and Brian Josiah Martinez.

Program 2 features works by Barkha Patel, Adrienne Lipson, Jessie Lee Thorne, William Ervin, Vera Kvarcakova & Jeremy Galdeano, Brian Golden and Caroline Payne.

Program 3 features works by Taylor Graham, Baye & Asa, Patrick Coker, Charly and Eriel Santagado, Jamal Callender, Beatrice Panero and Nicholas Ranauro.

The panelists, who come from Ballet Hispánico, Dance Magazine, Martha Graham Dance Company and other organizations, will introduce each work.

Registration is required.

Here ends the Top Ten Best Bets: June 18th – June 21st. But just a couple reminders:

The Metropolitan Opera celebrates Father’s Day with Verdi’s Rigoletto from the 1981-1982 season Friday; his Don Carlo from the 2010-2011 season on Saturday and his Luisa Miller from the 1978-1979 season Sunday. If you’re not a father, consider this the end of Verdi Week.

Next week the Met will be celebrating Pride Week. Monday that program gets launched with the 2017-2018 season production of Thomas Adés’ The Exterminating Angel. We’ll have the full line-up for you on Monday. We strongly recommend this opera.

Your last chance to watch A Tribute to John Williams from the Boston Pops Orchestra is Saturday. Film music fans, what are you waiting for?

On Monday South Coast Rep starts streaming the final production of their Pacific Playwrights Festival. It’s a concert performance of Harold & Lillian. You can find details here.

You’re now fully loaded with options to enjoy the performing arts this weekend. That’s all for this week’s Top Ten Best Bets: June 18th – June 21st.

Enjoy your weekend!

Photo: Jazzmeia Horn (Photo by Emmanuel Afolabi/Courtesy imnworld.com)

The post Top Ten Best Bets: June 18th – June 21st appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Every year Broadway’s best performers switch gender by having the men sing songs written for female characters and the women singing songs written for male characters. Add clever staging and you have one of each year’s most entertaining concerts.

For Broadway Backwards 2021, the concept allows for the combination of new material and great performances from previous editions of the show.

There is a rather simple storyline this year: Tony nominee Jenn Colella (Come From Away) will play a late night TV host who takes a young man living in isolated New York (Jay Armstrong Johnson of Quantico and The Phantom of the Opera) on an amazing journey. There will be an emphasis on LGBTQ stories in the event.

It strikes me a little like Dorothy’s journey in The Wizard of Oz. And wait until you see who he runs into along the way:

The opening number features Tony Award winners Stephanie J. Block (The Cher Show) and Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon) with Deborah Cox (Jekyll and Hyde).

Who else might he encounter? Debbie Allen, Amy Adams, Ward Billeisen, Matt Bomer, Brenda Braxton, Charl Brown, Tituss Burgess, Joshua Buscher-West, Len Cariou, Carolee Carmello, Jamie Cepero, Bryan Terrell Clark, Glenn Close, Darren Criss, Steven Cutts, Ariana DeBose, Loretta Devine, Cynthia Erivo, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Garlen Gilliland, James Monroe Iglehart, Cheyenne Jackson, Cherry Jones, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Andy Kelso, Eddie Korbich, Marty Lawson, L Morgan Lee, Raymond J. Lee, Aasif Mandvi, Michael McElroy, Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Ruthie Ann Miles, Bonnie Milligan, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Debra Monk, Jessie Mueller, Javier Muñoz, Kelli O’Hara, Karen Olivo, Alfie Parker Jr., Jim Parsons, Brandon Pearson, Bernadette Peters, Eric Petersen, Eve Plumb, Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva, Andrew Rannells, Alex Ringler, Chita Rivera, Roslyn Ruff, Michael James Scott, Sis and Elizabeth Stanley, Ryan Steele, Dennis Stowe, Lillias White, Curtis Wiley and Tony Yazbeck.

You want more? How about special guests Chasten Buttigieg, Anderson Cooper, Ariana DeBose, Don Lemon, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Robin Roberts, Tony Shalhoub and Ben Vereen?

Being this is a Broadway event, we can’t leave out the rest of the company: Danyel Fulton, Shelon Henry, Diana Huey, Aaron Libby, Nathan Lucrezio, Melinda Porto, Shelby Ringdahl, Vishal Vaidya and Blake Zolfo.

Robert Bartley is the writer/director; he also created Broadway Backwards. Mary-Mitchell Campbell is the music supervisor and Ted Arthur is the music director.

As impressive as all of this is, the best thing about Broadway Backwards is that it is a great fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. To date these shows have raised nearly $4.4 million dollars! Each of the last three shows has raised over half a million dollars.

You can watch Broadway Backwards on the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS website and also on their YouTube channel. The show will remain available through 11:59 PM EDT on April 3rd only.

These three clips give you just a taste of what to expect. This is truly the highlight of the week. Tune in, donate if you can, and just wait to be blown away.

Photo: Broadway Backwards 2021 Logo (courtesy of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS)

The post The 2021 Virtual Broadway Backwards appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Parents should note this is an adult Cindy Lou Who – expect raunchiness and double-entendres as this montage makes perfectly clear.

Margherita won an Olivier Award for her role as Inez in Zorro the Musical. She originated the role of Mrs. Wormwood in Tim Minchin‘s Matilda the Musical. She also appeared in Dames at Sea.

Who’s Holiday! was performed off-Broadway in 2017 and garnered Margherita a Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, writing in the New York Times, said of her performance, “More happens, but it is almost besides this hourlong production’s point, which is to watch the brassy, very funny Ms. Margherita strut her stuff in the designer Jess Goldstein’s festive holiday get-up.

“She expertly milks the many double entendres and profane limerick-like rhymes, but this cabaret regular is equally comfortable ad-libbing. (After breaking into a rap at the Sunday matinee, she rasped “I’m out of breath” and reached for a cigarette). She also belts a mean ‘Blue Christmas.’”

There is no charge to watch the show.

Donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS are encouraged. If you’ve ever been to a Broadway show during the holidays you are probably familiar with the red buckets that cast members have in their hands in theater lobbies at the end of a performance. Those buckets collect funds to help those in the theatre community with housing, food, medicine and more. In the absence of shows this year, BC/EFA is hoping for on-line donations.

Photo: Lesli Margherita in Who’s Holiday! (Photo courtesy BC/EFA)

The post Who’s Holiday! starring Lesli Margherita appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

I have to admit, we did sneak in one event that does actually take place live in a parking lot for those in the Los Angeles area. The other 23 are available for streaming from your home. And there’s great stuff, too.

Our two top picks are both holiday-themed, but couldn’t be more different. Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol is an imaginative re-telling of Charles Dickens’ story that is suitable for the entire family. Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic! is truly for adults. (And you might want to have your favorite holiday sauce at your side.)

I also have Shakespeare, jazz, dance, opera, Broadway stars and more for you. So let’s get started.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th:

PLAY: Stratford Festival’s Romeo and Juliet – Center Theatre Group – Now – March 7th

If you were unable to catch any of the streaming productions Canada’s Stratford Festival made available ealirer this year, Center Theatre Group is making a few of them available through their Digital Stage+ program (events that are free to donors/subscribers and $10 for non-subscribers).

The first of five Shakespeare plays being made available is Romeo and Juliet.

Antoine Yared and Sara Farb play the star-crossed lovers in Scott Wentworth’s production from 2017.

The Toronto Star said of this production, “At the production’s heart is the freshness and credibility of the relationship between Sara Farb and Antoine Yared as the title characters. They play them as youthful, impulsive, and vivacious, but far from a perfect hero and heroine. There are tantrums, shrieks, and teenage mood swings aplenty, many of which play as welcome moments of comedy. The usually central scenes of their meeting, marriage, and morning-after-consummation are handled swiftly, as pivot points in the driving forward action.”

PLAY: Who’s Holiday! – Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS – December 11th – December 15th

The insanely talented Lesli Margherita stars in this one-person show that looks at the Dr. Seuss character Cindy Lou Who forty years after she first met The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. The play was written by Matthew Lombardo (Looped) and was written in rhyme to mirror the original story.

Parents should note this is an adult Cindy Lou Who – expect raunchiness and double-entendres.

Margherita won an Olivier Award for her role as Inez in Zorro the Musical. She originated the role of Mrs. Wormwood in Tim Minchin‘s Matilda the Musical. She also appeared in Dame at Sea.

Who’s Holiday! was performed off-Broadway in 2017 and garnered Margherita a Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, writing in the New York Times, said of her performance, “More happens, but it is almost besides this hourlong production’s point, which is to watch the brassy, very funny Ms. Margherita strut her stuff in the designer Jess Goldstein’s festive holiday get-up.

She expertly milks the many double entendres and profane limerick-like rhymes, but this cabaret regular is equally comfortable ad-libbing. (After breaking into a rap at the Sunday matinee, she rasped “I’m out of breath” and reached for a cigarette). She also belts a mean ‘Blue Christmas.'”

There is no charge to watch the show. Donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS are encouraged.

OPERA: The Five Moons of Lorca – Los Angeles Opera – December 11th – December 25th

Los Angeles Opera launches their digital shorts programs with this new work by composer Gabriela Lena Frank and playwright Nilo Cruz.

The Five Moons of Lorca was inspired by the poet Federico García Lorca’s assassination in the early days of the Spanish Civil War. The short was filmed on the stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Choreography and dancing by Irene Rodríguez.

Frank is a Grammy Award-wining pianist and composer who has been commissioned by such artists as the Kronos Quartet, Yo Yo Ma and Dawn Upshaw. Cruz is the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Anna in the Tropics.

Frank and Cruz have collaborated several times previously including La centinela y la paloma (The Keeper and the Dove), The Saint Maker, Journey of the Shadow and the Conquest Requiem. Their opera, The Last Dream of Frida, was scheduled for its world premiere by the San Diego Opera earlier this year, but that was postponed due to the pandemic.

There is no charge to watch The Five Moons of Lorca. Of course, donations are encouraged.

MUSICAL: Meet Me in St. Louis – Irish Repertory Theatre – December 11th – January 2nd

Vincente Minnelli’s 1944 film, Meet Me in St. Louis, serves as the inspiration for this musical adaptation by Hugh Martin (High Spirits), Ralph Blane (Best Foot Forward) and Hugh Wheeler (Sweeney Todd). The musical made its debut on Broadway in 1989.

Meet Me in St. Louis follows the Smith family in 1903 and follows them through the seasons leading up to the opening of the World’s Fair in 1904.

In addition to the title song, the musical includes The Boy Next Door, The Trolley Song and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Irish Rep in New York has filmed a version of the musical that was adapted and directed by Charlotte Moore who appeared in the Broadway production. She’s assembled a terrific cast that includes Melissa Errico (Amour), Ali Ewoldt (Phantom of the Opera), Jay Aubrey Jones (Porgy and Bess) and Max von Essen (An American in Paris).

There are 31 opportunities to stream Meet Me In St. Louis. The price is listed as “Pay what you can” with a suggested donation of $25.

PLAY: Breathe. – YouTube and Twitch – December 11th – December 13th and December 18th

This one-person show by Philicia Saunders follows her increasing participation in civil rights issues. She was inspired by her mentor, Sweet Alice Harris, a legendary community organizer in the Watts area of Los Angeles and a civil rights tour in Alabama.

In Breathe. Saunders depicts 20 different characters within a show that combines film, live performance, performance art and artistic swimming.

Saunders may be best-known to Star Wars fans for her role as Tabala Zo in The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker.

Departing from a lot of programming available now, Saunders will perform Breathe. live on December 11th at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST and on December 12th at 6:30 PM EST/3:30 PM PST. Both performances will be on YouTube.

Encore presentations are taking place on December 13th at 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST on Twitch. This will also feature a TalkBack with Sweet Alice. A second encore takes place on December 18th on YouTube at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST.

Tickets are available from $5-$50 with proceeds going to Sweet Alice’s Parents of Watts and Community Coalition.

PLAY: Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol – The Soraya – December 11th – December 13th TOP PICK

We are all familiar with Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol and its bitter character, Scrooge. But I can assure you you haven’t seen A Christmas Carol like the one Manual Cinema has put together.

Each live performance (and they are live) combines acting, music, puppets and film to create a one-of-a-kind experience with a twist on the story that will surprise you!

There are six performances available over the weekend. Tickets are $20. I strongly recommend Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol.

PAGEANT PLAY – La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin – Latino Theater Company – December 11th – December 20th

For 18 years, Los Angeles-based Latino Theater Company has performed La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin in Los Angeles. The pageant play depicts the story of Juan Diego, a peasant in 1531, who has a vision of the Virgin Mary. Diego’s vision took place in Spanish colonial territory that is now known as Mexico.

Mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzmán (Hopscotch, Carmen) stars in this 2009 filmed performance at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles. She is joined by over 100 actors, singers, Aztec dancers and members of the Los Angeles community. This is performed in English and Spanish.

Evelina Fernández adapted The Nican Mopohua (a mid-16th century text) for La Virgen de Guadalupe. José Louis Valenzuela directed. The director first created the work as a thank you to the community after it supported him during a sleep-in he lead protesting the potential closing of the Los Angeles Theater Center in downtown Los Angeles.

There’s no charge to watch the streaming production and it will be available through December 20th.

CABARET: Merry Christmas Darling: Heidi Kettenring Sings Karen Carpenter – Laguna Playhouse – December 11th – December 28th

On October 13, 1978 – when the soundtrack to the film version of Grease and albums by The Rolling Stones, Donna Summer and The Who were topping the Billboard charts, A&M records released A Christmas Portrait, an album of holiday songs by The Carpenters.

That was followed by a television special. The record became very popular and ultimately went Platinum. A second album, using outtakes from that recording session, was released two years after Karen’s death in 1983.

The darling of Downey, California is being celebrated in Merry Christmas Darling: Heidi Kettenring Sings Karen Carpenter. The show is being streamed via the Laguna Playhouse.

Kettenring appeared as Nessarose in the Chicago company of Wicked. She’s toured as Belle in Beauty and the Beast; Anna in The King and I and Penny in Hairspray.

Karen Carpenter had a one-of-a-kind voice. Kettenring sounds terrific even if she’s not Karen. But that doesn’t take away from the pure joy of hearing these songs sung well and remembering everything that made the Carpenters so beloved.

Tickets are $35 can be purchased through December 25th. The show will be available for streaming through December 28th.  

JAZZ: The Klezmatics: Happy Joyous Hanukkah – SFJazz – December 11th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Hanukkah has started and what better way to celebrate than with the Grammy Award-winning ensemble The Klezmatics. Their music is so infectious it is impossible not to be filled with joy – particularly in this concert at SFJAZZ from 2015.

This is part of SFJAZZ’s Fridays at Five series. The concert will only stream once at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST. You’ll need either a one-month membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to stream the concert. That will give you access to additional concerts for the length of your membership.

JAZZ: Dave Holland – Village Vanguard – December 11th – December 12th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Since his start at London’s Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, bassist Dave Holland has made a name for himself in the jazz world. From collaborations with Miles Davis (including Bitches’ Brew), Joe Henderson, Kenny Wheeler through to his work as a bandleader (including the 2005 Grammy Award winner Overtime), Holland is considered one of the best.

His most recent release is this year’s Without Deception which finds him performing with pianist Kenny Barron and drummer Johnathan Blake.

For these two concerts from New York’s Village Vanguard he’ll be joined by Jaleel Shaw on saxophone; Steve Nelson on vibraphone and Obed Calvaire on drums.

Tickets are $10.

CLASSICAL: Stephen Hough Recital – Philharmonic Society of Orange County – December 11th – December 18th

Easily one of the finest classical pianists in the world, Stephen Hough will perform a live recital for the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. Critics long ago ran out of superlatives to describe his playing.

The scheduled program finds Hough performing: Bach/Busoni: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004; Schumann: Fantasie in C major, Op. 17; Liszt: Funérailles and Mephisto Waltz No. 1, S. 51 and Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15, mvt. 7, “Träumerei.”

The recital debuts at 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST and will remain available for streaming for one week. Tickets are $20.

DANCE/THEATRE: Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man – Center Theatre Group – December 11th – December 13th

Hector Berlioz’s opera Carmen serves as the inspiration for this ballet from Matthew Bourne (all-male swan version of Swan Lake.) Another source of inspiration for Bourne was the novel The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain and its subsequent film versions.

The ballet had its world premiere 20 years ago in Plymouth, England. The Car Man played the Ahmanson Theatre one year later.

Lewis Segal, in his Los Angeles Times review, said of Bourne’s choreography, “Whether he’s evoking the heat, insects and lust of a night when nothing is happening or the surreal frenzy of social dances that barely contain the characters’ primal urges, this is daring, accomplished, uncompromisingly lurid movement theater.

Center Theatre Group and Matthew Bourne have teamed up to make his film of The Car Man available for viewing with five opportunities to see it this weekend. The film of the ballet will stream on Friday at 8:00 PM PST; Saturday at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM PST and on Sunday at 1:30 PM and 6:30 PM PST.

Tickets are $10 (whether you are a donor/subscriber or not).

Can you believe we’re halfway through Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th? Let’s keep going.

PLAY: The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk – The Wallis – December 11th – December 18th

England’s Kneehigh Theatre originally brought The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk to the Wallis in 2018. Now Kneehigh Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and Wise Children bring a film of the show to The Wallis for one week of streaming.

This highly theatrical show portrays the life of painter Marc Chagall and his wife Bella. Through the use of color and imagery mirroring the master painter’s work and music from the Russian Jewish history, this show offers many of the same delights found in other Kneehigh projects such as their Brief Encounter and Tristan and Yseult. Marc Antolin plays Marc Chagall and Audrey Brisson plays Bella. The show was written by Daniel Jamieson and directed by Emma Rice.

When The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk played The Wallis I spoke to Antolin about the show and his role. You can read that interview here.

This is a wonderful show. I strongly recommend seeing it. Tickets are $21.38 (the current exchange rate with the English pound. But it doesn’t not include any additional credit card fees).

PLAY/DANCE/MUSIC/POETRY: KICKBACK – About Face Theatre – December 12th – January 12th

A collection of short plays, dance, music, and poetry make up this online festival from Chicago’s About Face Theatre. The work centers around Blackness and queerness and where those two worlds meet.

For KICKBACK, About Face reached out to numerous artists to create work. The end result features contributions from Dionne Addai, Ky Baity, Keyonna Jackson, Robert Cornelius, Ben Locke, ShaZa (a collaboration between Zahra Baker and Shanta Nurullah), About Face Artistic Associate Paul Oakley Stovall, Michael Turrentine, Cori Wash, Vic Wynter and Rebuild Foundation resident artists Jenn Freeman and avery r. young.

Rebuild Foundation and their collections were made available to the artists who were asked to use their archives as inspiration for their work.

During our turbulent times, it will be fascinating to see what these artists have to say about where we’ve been, where we are and most importantly, where we might be going.

OPERA: La Bohème – San Francisco Opera – December 12th – December 13th Starting 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST

Conducted by Giuseppe Finzi; starring Michael Fabiano, Alexia Voulgaridou, Nadine Sierra, Alexey Markov and Christian Van Horn. This John Caird production is from the 2014-2015 season.

Easily one of the most popular operas in the world, Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème had its world premiere in Turin, Italy in 1896. The libretto is by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. The opera is based on Henri Murger’s 1851 novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème.

The story centers on four friends who are unable to pay their rent. Successfully getting out of a potentially bad situation with their landlord, all but one go out on the town. Rodolfo stays home and meets a young woman named Mimi. They fall in love, but Mimi’s weakness may be a sign of something far more life-threatening than they know. (If this sounds like the musical Rent, it is because La Bohème served as Jonathan Larson’s inspiration for that musical.)

San Francisco Opera had two casts performing La Bohème. Joshua Kosman, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, said one performance in this production stood out.

“If one singer left a particularly outsize impression from the weekend’s openings, it was Fabiano, whose performance as Rodolfo made good on the promise of his fine 2011 company debut in Lucrezia Borgia and hinted at even more impressive things to come. This was a full-throated, almost heroic depiction of the moonstruck poet, with muscular sound, impeccably placed high notes and an air of romantic ardor that lent weight and power to everything he sang.”

CLASSICAL: Reaching Dreams Through Music – Lang Lang International Music Foundation – December 12th – 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST

Classical pianist Lang Lang and his foundation have assembled an illustrious cast for Reaching Dreams Through Music. Joining Lang Lang and his wife will be Stay Human’s Jon Batiste, ballet dancer Misty Copeland, opera singer Renée Fleming, actor/director Ron Howard, musician Wyclef Jean, jazz pianist/vocalist Diana Krall and pop singer Sam Smith.

The purpose of this streaming event is to celebrate the role music plays in our lives and how it has shaped these artists lives since their childhood. In short, if reading is fundamental, music is instrumental in our lives.

The Young People’s Chorus of New York City will also be making an appearance, along with the LLIMF Young Scholars and Junior Music Camp Music Ambassadors.

There is no fee to watch Reaching Dreams Through Music. There was no information available as to how long this program will be available for viewing at press time.

OPERA: Bryn Terfel in Wales – Met Stars Live in Concert – December 12th – 12:00 PM EST/9:00 AM PST

Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel is what you’d call a cross-over artist. He’s performed in countless opera productions (you should see him in Don Giovanni if you get the chance), he’s portrayed the title character in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd and he has released albums of songs from his native Wales.

That’s exactly where you’ll find him in this Met Stars Live in Concert performance – specifically Brecon Cathedral.

Joining Terfel are harpist Hannah Stone, pianist Jeff Howard, the Welsh traditional folk group Calan plus soprano Natalya Romaniw and tenor Trystan Llyr Griffiths – two rising young Welsh singers.

The announced program finds a combination of holiday-appropriate songs, music by Gustav Holst, Richard Wagner, Lerner and Loewe and traditional songs.

The show takes place live on Saturday, but will remain available for streaming afterwards. Tickets are $20.

DANCE: Pam Tanowitz Dance – The Joyce Theatre – December 12th – December 26th

Acclaimed choreographer Pam Tanowitz debuts new work live from New York’s The Joyce Theatre on Saturday at 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST. You may recall she is the choreographer of Four Quartets in which she collaborated with Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho and American painter Brice Marden on a presentation of T.S. Eliot’s monumental work.

Finally Unfinished: Part 1 was created during the pandemic (with obvious precautions in place) and is set to new music by composer Ted Hearne. It is a site-specific work that utilizes The Joyce Theatre in all its emptiness.

Gustave Le Gray, No. 2 has its New York premiere in this program. Composer Caroline Shaw‘s music for solo piano serves not just as the score for the dance, but also its inspiration.

The dancers are Jason Collins, Brittany Engel-Adams, Christine Flores, Zachary Gonder, Lindsey Jones, Victor Lozano, Melissa Toogood.

Tickets are $13 (including service charges).

OPERA: La Bohème aka The Hipsters – Pacific Opera Project – December 12th – December 13th

Josh Shaw and Pacific Opera Project are back with another drive-in opera for you: their version of Puccini’s La Bohème (I guess it’s La Bohème week). Only their version, as you would expect, is not going to be traditional.

Several years ago Shaw updated Puccini’s opera to present-day and gave the opera a subtitle, The Hipsters. He’s been reworking it again so that the opera takes place between Christmas Eve 2019 and November 2020. I wonder what significant events might inspire him since Act 3 is in April of 2020 and Act 4 appears timed to the elections.

No longer will you find the bohemian characters Puccini introduced to the world. These hipsters are a graphic designer, a screenwriter, an English major, an indie-rocker and a fashion designer.

The cast includes Arnold Livingston Geis as Rodolfo, Oriona Falla as Mimi, Ben Lowe as Marcello, Maria Dominique Lopez as Musetta, E. Scott Levin as Schaunard, Keith Colclough as Colline, and Luvi Avendano in the roles of Benoit, Alcindoro and Parpignol.

The socially-distanced performances take place in the parking lot of the Camarillo United Methodist Church at 5:30 PM. Tickets are $65-$175 per car (there are sections just as there would be in an opera house).

CABARET: Shoshana Bean – Sing Your Hallelujah – For the Record Live at the Apollo Theatre – 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST

Singer/actress Shoshana Bean sold out New York’s Apollo Theatre the last two years in a row. The pandemic made a trifecta impossible, so what’s a girl to do? Film a special there. That’s exactly what Bean has done with Sing Your Hallelujah which is being streamed on Saturday night.

The show was inspired by the holiday television specials some of us grew up with (or maybe you experienced A Holly Dolly Christmas earlier this week).

Joining Bean for the show are Gavin Creel (Tony Award-winner for Hello, Dolly!), tap dancer Jared Grimes, Jeremy Jordan (The Last Five Years), singer Shayna Steele, Connie Talbot (Britain’s Got Talent Finalest) and Daniel J. Watts (Tony Award-nominee for his performance as Ike in Tina – The Tina Turner Musical). David Cook serves as Music Director.

Tickets start at $30 with various VIP packages also available that will include a Q&A hosted by Sara Bareilles.

PERFORMANCE: Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic! – CAP UCLA – December 12th – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST TOP PICK

Two years ago, after rocking my world with A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Taylor Mac returned to Los Angeles to perform Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce. Mac, who prefers judy as the preferred pronoun, brought to CAP UCLA at Royce Hall a holiday concert like no other.

judy is back in a pandemic version of this holiday show which has been safely produced to skewer our world this holiday season. Fans of Mac will know to expect wildly imaginative costumes (by designer Machine Dazzle), uniquely arranged songs (with the assistance of Music Director Matt Ray) and definitely an adult take on everything. This is NOT family friendly material. Unless, of course, you’re “family.”

Mac was the named a MacArthur Fellow and this year became the first American to win the International Ibsen Award. American Theatre Magazine says the award is considered “the Nobel Prize for theatre.”

Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic will only stream once. Tickets require a minimum of $25 with proceeds going to CAP UCLA.

CLASSICAL: Jeremy Denk Recital – 92nd Street Y – December 13th – 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST

If you didn’t get a chance to see pianist Jeremy Denk‘s recital from Caramoor in October, he’s performing the same program from New York’s 92nd Street Y on Sunday.

The program is scheduled to include: Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C Minor, K 457; Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins’s The Battle of Manassas; Joplin/Chauvin’s Heliotrope Bouquet; Tania León’s Ritual; Frederic Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 32 in C Minor, Op. 111.

You’ll get two classical period compositions, ragtime, the work of a young Black man during The Civil War and the work of two contemporary composers. How’s that for diverse?

Tickets are $15.

OPERA: Pasión Latina – Lyric Opera of Chicago – December 13th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Music from Argentina, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain is on tap in this concert starring soprano Ana María Martínez that will premiere on Sunday on the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Martínez has appeared at LA Opera in the title role of Carmen and in the title role of Madama Butterfly with Lyric Opera of Chicago. Those are just two of her many roles she’s performed around the world.

Joining Martínez in Pasión Latina are Mexican-American tenors René Barbera and David Portillo; Mexican tenor Mario Rojas, Mexican-American bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba; Mexican soprano Denis Vélez and Puerto Rican baritone Ricardo José Rivera.

The singers will be accompanied on piano by Ryan Opera Center music director Craig Terry and Ensemble pianist Chris Reynolds. The show concludes with a concert segment in which the singers are joined by members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra.

This concert is free.

CHORAL: Broadway Inspirational Voices: A Season of Hope and Inspiration – December 13th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

What began as the Broadway Gospel Choir in 1994 has become an acclaimed ensemble that has captured the hearts of all those who hear them sing. Broadway Inspiration Voices is a music group that has members of Broadway and off-Broadway shows – whether singers or musicians – as their members.

Last year BIV was awarded a Special Tony for Excellence in Theatre.

This Sunday they are live streaming A Season of Hope and Inspiration. As it is a live stream, this will only be shown live as scheduled.

You won’t want to miss this concert. Take a look at who’s joining them: guest appearances by Debbie Allen, Gavin Creel, Montego Glover, Celia Rose Gooding, Angela Grovey, Marva Hicks, LaChanze, Telly Leung, Lisa Lynne Mathis, Audra McDonald, Michael McElroy, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Karen Olivo, John Eric Parker, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Robinson, Jeanine Tesori, Leslie Uggams, Schele Williams and Vanessa Williams.

There will also be performances featuring Shoshana Bean, Crystal Monee Hall, Marcus Paul James, Patti LuPone, Leslie Odom Jr., Billy Porter, Daniel J. Watts, and hundreds of guest artists from Broadway, U.S. National tours, London’s West End, and Australia.

You can watch the concert for free, but you do need to register for it. you can also make donations to Broadway’s Inspiration Voices and also purchase a VIP experience that allows for some pre-show fun.

We’ve come to the end of Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th. With so many options from which to choose, I’m not going to add any reminders. If you are curious, check out our This Week in Culture section on the main page or the Now Playing section.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Have a great weekend and enjoy these Best Bets at Home: December 11th -December 13th.

Photo: Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past from Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol (Courtesy of The Soraya)

The post Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

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.

Thankfully a number of people have created new programming to keep us in the spirit – or to let the spirits move us. The programming ranges from fun for the entire family to idiosyncratic entertainment for adults seeking more adventurous offerings.

Tim Burton said, “Every day is Halloween isn’t it? For some of us.” At least every day this week will be for all of us. So which one of these shows do you want in your trick or treat bag? Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep.

Bob Baker’s HaLLoWe’eN SpoOkTaCuLar – PlayhouseLive – Now – November 18th

Pasadena Playhouse’s PlayhouseLive has added another Bob Baker Marionette Theater show to their line-up: the classic HaLLoWe’eN SpoOkTaCuLar. This annual Halloween tradition has been filmed and is perfect entertainment for the entire family.

There will be some classic characters including Dracula, The Invisible Man and the Purple People Eater. Think of this as a Monster Mash with strings.

Renting the show, which runs 48 minutes, costs $14.99

Attention Deficit Disorder *COBWEB* Cabaret – Club Cumming – October 27th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

This is not your typical cabaret. Nor should it be for Halloween. Angela Di Carlo, a comedic cabaret singer, is the hostess for this special Halloween edition of her recurring Attention Deficit Disorder Cabaret shows. This live show will emanate from Alan Cumming’s Club Cumming in New York City.

What to expect? Let me use their own description: Join us as we take a virtual stroll thru the Dead Baby Graveyard in a slutty nurse costume while eating Pumpkin Spice potato chips. In these troubled and uncertain times there’s nothing better than curing your raging ADD with all your favorite spooky songs and laffs galore with ADD *COBWEB* Cabaret. 

Joining Di Carlo for this show will be David Ilku of Unitard Comedy and Kyle “Special K” Forester on piano. Other guests might be added.

ADD Cabaret has been running for over five years and has attracted great reviews and celebrity fans like Parker Posey and Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters. This won’t be a traditional show at all. That’s why I like it!

Tickets are $20.

Lena Hall Virtually Halloween Edition – October 29th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

Not only will you get Lena Hall rocking out some great Halloween tunes, you are encouraged to dress in costume for this week’s Lena Hall Virtually concert. VIP tickets that include a song request are sold out, but there are still general admission tickets available as are charitable donation tickets. The Ali Forney Center receives all money raised with donation tickets.

What will she sing? Depends on the requests. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one or two songs from The Rocky Horror Show, Monster Mash and I Put a Spell On You to be part of the repertoire. Whatever it is, it’s going to be (psycho) killer, Qu’est-ce que c’est, Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-far better.

I Put a Spell On You: The Sanderson Sisters Break the Internet – October 29th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

The 1993 film Hocus Pocus is the focus of a couple shows this week. I Put a Spell On You is an annual concert and party. For obvious reasons, this year’s party is going online.

It is free, but donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS are encouraged.

Jay Armstrong Johnson, Allison Robinson and Amanda Williams Ware take on the roles of Winifired, Sarah and Mary Sanderson played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in the film.

This online party, which takes the form of a filmed adventure, will find the Sanderson Sisters recruiting as many iconic villains as they can to carry out a fiendish plot.

Joining in the fun will be Broadway’s Nick Rashad Burroughs (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Drew Gehling (Waitress), J. Harrison Ghee (Mrs. Doubtfire), Todrick Hall (Kinky Boots), Robyn Hurder (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Julia Mattison (Godspell), Eva Noblezada (Hadestown), Ahmad Simmons (West Side Story) and Will Swenson (Waitress). 

There will also be some popular drag queens including Bob The Drag Queen (TV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race), Kizha Carr, Marti Gould Cummings, Peachez and Alexis Michelle (TV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race).

Rounding out the show are cast members from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, West Side Story, The Cher Show, The Real Housewives of New York City, On Your Feet! and several other shows.

Sharon Needles: Mask It Or Casket! – Club Cumming – October 29th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

If you are familiar with the drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race, you know there is one queen who screams Halloween: Sharon Needles. She won Season 4 and has put together a show that will undoubtedly be like no other. Mask It or Casket! will run four times: 3 performances on October 29th and one late show on Halloween.

It is said in press materials that this show will be a contemporary spin on camp classics like the Paul Lynde Halloween Special. And here’s a reminder of what that show was like:

Joining Sharon Needles will be Amanda Lepore, RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Alaska 5000 (Season 5) and Aja (Season 9), Michael Musto, Jada Valenciaga, illusionist Michael Carbonaro and special appearances by Countess Luann from Real Housewives of New York and Tony Award-winner (and club owner) Alan Cumming.

Tickets are $25 with showtimes on October 29th at 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT, 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT and a midnight show that will air at 9:00 PM PDT on the West Coast. The Halloween showtime is midnight on the East Coast and 9:00 PM PDT on the West Coast.

The Brett Loudermilk Halloween Special – October 29th – October 30th

America’s Got Talent 2020 semi-finalist Brett Loudermilk is putting on his own Halloween special and he’s enlisted Elvira, Gilbert Gottfried and Puddles Pity Party to join him.

Loudermilk earned his spot on AGT by not just swallowing swords – his specialty along with a quick wit – but in making the judges wholly uncomfortable, particularly Sofia Vergara.

Elvira we all know and certainly Halloween is the perfect occasion to revisit the Mistress of the Dark. Puddles Pity Party, who was a quarter-finalist on the 2012 season of America’s Got Talent, is also joining the show. He is one of the most unique and talented performers I’ve ever seen. The less you know, the better the surprise is of what Puddles Pity Party does.

There will be two performances of The Brett Loudermilk Halloween Special. One on October 29th at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT and one on October 30th at 10 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT. Tickets are $25.

In Search of the Sanderson Sisters: A Hocus Pocus Hulaween Takeover – October 30th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

This is our second Hocus Pocus-related event for Halloween. In Search of the Sanderson Sisters: A Hocus Pocus Hualween Takeover finds Bette Midler reunited with co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy. This is a fundraiser for The New York Restoration Project.

NYRP started as a grass roots project by Midler to clean up parks in New York City.

One of their biggest events each year is Hulaween – a masquerade ball with a Hawaiian twist (Midler was born in Honolulu). Circumstances being what they are, this year’s event is online.

In Search of the Sanderson Sisters takes the form of a “documentary” program in which Elvira (she’s back) explores with all three Sisters their background. Mysterious secrets will be revealed about their ancestry, education and loves found and lost.

Joining Midler, Parker and Najimy will be co-stars Thora Birch, Omri Katz and Doug Jones. But they also have a few special guests lined-up: Glenn Close, Billy Crystal, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Debney, Samantha Diaz, Todrick Hall, Jennifer Hudson, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Michael Kors, Adam Lambert, George Lopez, Alex Moffat, Vinessa Shaw, Martin Short, Sarah Silverman, John Stamos, Meryl Streep, Kenan Thompson, Sophie von Haselberg and other surprise guests.

Tickets to watch the show are $10 plus a $3 service charge. Proceeds benefit the New York Restoration Project. It is important to be aware that there will be only this one showing of In Search of the Sanderson Sisters.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Concert – October 31 – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

“Just because I cannot see it, doesn’t mean I can’t believe it.” Well Jack Skellington, believe it.

The Actors Fund and the Lymphoma Research Foundation are teaming up for a one-night-only benefit concert of the music and songs from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. The event takes place on Halloween and will be a one-time-only presentation.

The concert was the idea of Tony Award-winner James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin). He has invited many of his friends from Broadway to perform the classic Danny Elfman songs from their homes. The stars joining him are Danny Burstein (Moulin Rouge!), Rafael Casal (Blindspotting), Lesli Margherita (Matilda), Rob McClure (Mrs. Doubtfire), Nik Walker (Ain’t Too Proud) and Adrienne Warren (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical).

Each of the cast members was tasked with coming up with costumes and props using things they already had in their homes.

This show is not only family-friendly, but also has a family-friendly price of $4.99.

In Hocus Pocus, Winifred Sanderson says, “Oh look, another glorious morning. Makes me sick.” I believe with all this Halloween programming available to you this week, you’ll start November in a much brighter place than Winifred ever did.

Photo: Sharon Needles (Courtesy Club Cumming)

The post Halloween Tricks and Treats for Culture Vultures appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, cultural events are picking up now that we’ve entered the traditional fall season. This week proves that point as we have 13 different shows for you to consider. Plus a few reminders, just in case you don’t find something you like. But seriously, what are the odds of that?

So here are our Best Bets: October 16th – October 18th:

Shipwreck – The Public Theater – October 16th – 12:00 PM EDT/9:00 AM PDT

Starting on Friday – for an open-ended run – is a radio play from The Public Theater called Shipwreck. This is a recent work from playwright Anne Washburn who was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2009.

The play was scheduled to be part of The Public Theater’s 2020 season and has been recorded and produced for listening at home.

In Shipwreck a group of friends have gathered in upstate New York. What starts out as a glorious day, suddenly turns dark and stormy. That applies to both the weather and to the relationships. It turns out that even close, liberal friends, can find their belief systems challenged in present-day America.

Performing Shipwreck are Mia Barron, Brooke Bloom, Phillip James Brannon, Rob Campbell, Bill Camp, Raúl Esparza, Jenny Jules, Sue Jean Kim, Bruce McKenzie, Joe Morton, Jeremy Shamos and Richard Topol. Saheem Ali directs.

When the Almeida Theatre in London produced Shipwreck in 2019, the play earned strong reviews. Amongst them was this comment from Michael Billington writing in The Guardian: “…this is an important play that not only examines the Trump phenomenon but also asks why he was elected: one character shocks his friends by explaining that he voted for Trump because a failing democracy needs a shock to the system. It is precisely the argument you sometimes hear in Britain about a no-deal Brexit being a catalyst for change.”

Andra Day – Los Angeles Philharmonic Sound/Stage – October 16th – 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT

The fourth episode of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Sound/Stage online series starts running on Friday and it is the first one to feature a solo artist without the orchestra: singer/songwriter Andra Day.

Day is perhaps best known for her hit song, Rise Up. She’ll perform that song along with Gold (both songs are from her 2015 album Cheers to the Fall) and also Nina Simone’s classic song, Mississippi Goddam. She will also appear in an interview as part of the program.

Included in the program as well will be performances from Flypoet Summer Classic that was filmed at The Ford.

For details about the full Sound/Stage series, please check out our full preview here.

Henry IV – St. Ann’s Warehouse – October 16th – October 22nd – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

Brooklyn’s St. Ann’s Warehouse has partnered with London’s Donmar Warehouse to stream Shakespeare Trilogy on Film, three of his plays performed by all-female casts. They began by streaming the 2013 production of Julius Caesar last week. (Don’t worry, you have another chance to see it).

This week the 2016 production of Henry IV is streaming.

Phyllida Lloyd (who, for better or worse, was the director of Mamma Mia! both on stage and screen) directed all three plays.

In this version of Henry IV, the two Shakespeare plays have been condensed into one 135-minute play. Harriet Walter, who is perhaps best known for her roles in Sense and Sensibility and Atonement, plays Henry.

Ben Brantley of the New York Times, called Walter “one of the great Shakespearean interpreters of her generation” in his review of this production when it played St. Ann’s Warehouse in 2015.

He also said of Lloyd’s Henry IV, which is set in a women’s prison, “It’s a multilayered act of liberation. Prisoners are allowed to roam the wide fields of Shakespeare’s imagination; fine actresses are given the chance to play meaty roles that have been denied them; and we get to climb out of the straitjackets of our traditional perceptions of a venerated play.”

The third play in this trilogy is The Tempest, which will become available on October 23rd – October 29th. But fear not, the entire trilogy (which includes Julius Caesar) will be available for streaming at will October 30th – November 1st. All viewings are free.

Mary Stallings and Bill Charlap Trio – SFJAZZ – October 16th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

This week’s Friday’s at Five concert from SFJAZZ features vocalist Mary Stallings with the Bill Charlap Trio (which includes Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums). The concert is from March, 2018.

If Mary Stallings isn’t familiar to you, let me start by sharing this review from her concert.

“At 78, Stallings has entered territory that’s largely uncharted. Her voice sounds remarkably lithe and strong, and her gift for blues-tinged phrasing links her directly to matriarchs Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington.

“The only precedent for a world-class jazz vocalist sounding this good closing in on 80 is Ernestine Anderson (the extraordinary Sheila Jordan is still going strong at 89, but she’s a very different kind of jazz singer). Considering how relatively little Stallings has recorded, her performances feel like precious, ephemeral experiences, and she made the most of her time with Charlap’s trio, a unit that’s been touring and recording together for more than two decades.”

Those were the words of Andrew Gilbert writing in the San Francisco Classical Voice.

Stallings’ most recent album was last year’s Songs Were Made to Sing. She has kept some pretty fine company during her career: Tony Bennett, Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams and the list goes on. Her best known recording was Cal Tjader Plays, Mary Stallings Sings which came out in 1960.

This collaboration with the Bill Charlap Trio should be a great way to start your weekend.

Sticks & Stones – October 16th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

The story of David versus Goliath gets a new telling in the musical Sticks & Stones which was written by composer John McDaniel and lyricist/bookwriter Scott Logsdon.

A concert performance of Sticks & Stones will stream this weekend as a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation.

Teen bullying is the theme of Sticks & Stones with the Biblical story serving as the setting for the story.

An impressive cast has been assembled for the concert. Audra McDonald plays David’s mother, Nizevet. Javier Muñoz, who was the first actor to take over the title role in Hamilton after Lin-Manuel Miranda left the show, plays David’s father, Jesse. George Salazar, who appeared in Be More Chill, plays King Saul. Joshua Colley (2014 revival of Les Misérables) is David and Mykal Kilgore (Motown: The Musical) is The Prophet Samuel.

The concert will be available for streaming through October 20th. There is no charge to watch Sticks & Stones, but donations are encouraged.

Aaron Diehl Trio – Caramoor – October 16th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Because I think he is one of the finest pianists working today, I’ve written about Aaron Diehl a few times and have interviewed him. He plays both jazz and classical music. (You can read the interview here.)

For this concert he’ll be performing standards and some of his own compositions with Aaron Kimmel on drums and Paul Sikivie on bass.

Rather than reiterate his credits or offer more praise, just listen to the music.

This concert is streaming from Caramoor in Katonah, NY which is a bit more than 40 miles from Manhattan. They are presenting the Aaron Diehl Trio in association with Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Tickets are free for Caramoor members. If you’re not a member, there is a $10 fee to watch the live stream concert.

Ben Williams Live – Blue Note New York – October 16th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

At the 2009 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Bass Competition, the musicians had a mightily impressive jury to win over. Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Dave Holland, Robert Hurst, Christian McBride and John Patitucci were the judges. They awarded 1st place to Ben Williams.

Williams will be performing live from Blue Note in New York on Friday.

In addition to the live stream listed above, there is an encore showing at 11:00 PM EDT/8:00 PM PDT.

Lest you think his competition victory was a fluke, he’s gone on to work with George Benson, Terence Blanchard, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Roy Hargrove, Chaka Kahn, Pharrell and many more.

His most recent album is I Am a Man which was released earlier this year. It’s a terrific album. He also released an instrumental-only version called I Am a Man: Mentals.

Tickets for either the live performance or the re-stream are $15.

Los Angeles Dance Festival Week #3 – October 16th – October 18th

The third week of Los Angeles Dance Festival is upon us. The show, which runs two hours, becomes available at 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT on October 16th and will remain available until 3:00 AM EDT/12:00 AM PDT on October 19th.

This week’s line-up features Charlotte Katherine & Co (modern dance), Nannette Brodie Dance Theater (modern dance), Kybele Dance (multi-cultural contemporary dance), Poets In Motion, MarieElena Martingano & Camryn Eakes, John Castagna (contemporary ballet), Louise Reichlin & Dancers/Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers (contemporary dance), The Dance Narrative Project, Lula Washington Dance Theatre (modern dance) and SIDFIT South Korean Artists: Lee Jihee, Kim Jubin. 

Atilla – SF Opera – October 17th – October 18th (begins 10:00 AM through 11:59 on 10/18)

This marks the second weekend of opera productions streamed by San Francisco Opera this fall. This weekend finds a rarely performed opera by Giuseppe Verdi: Atilla.

Verdi’s opera, his ninth, had its premiere in Venice in 1846. The libretto was based on Zacharias Werner’s play Attila, König der Hunnen (Attila, King of the Huns) and was written by Temistocle Solera.

Atilla isn’t an easy man to please. Odabella, a prisoner of war, hopes to kill Atilla in retribution for his killing of her father. Ezio, a Roman Envoy, wants to cause havoc in the empire with Atilla’s help. Instead he infuriates him.

Amongst those who have survived the carnage that is dividing the empire is Foresto. He reunites with Odabella who had assumed he was dead.

Meanwhile Attila has a dream where an old man tells him not to enter Rome. He disregards the advice and marches in. In doing so, he sets off a series of events that will ultimately lead to his death.

This 2012 production marked the return of Atilla to San Francisco Opera after 21 years. Ferruccio Furlanetto sings the title role. Ana Lucrecia García sings Odabella. Diego Torre is Foresto and Quinn Kelsey sings the role of Ezio. Gabriele Lavia directed and Nicola Luisotti conducted.

In looking up reviews of this production, my favorite quote comes from Joshua Kosman writing in the San Francisco Gate. He wrote, “…it was a swift, short onslaught marked by ferocity and thunder. The difference was that only the title character died, and everybody else had a grand time.”

Atilla runs 1 hour and 50 minutes. It will become available at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT and ends on Sunday, October 18th at 11:59 PM PDT/2:59 AM EDT on October 19th.

Speaking Truth to Power – Orpheus Chamber Orchestra – October 17th – October 22nd

Most classical music fans are well-acquainted with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Egmont Overture. Fewer are familiar with the subsequent nine pieces that follow which call for soprano, narrator and orchestra.

In Beethoven’s work (inspired by a play by Johann Wolfgang Goethe) he used the story of Lamoral, Count of Egmont, whose execution prior to the start of the Eighty Years’ War inspired a movement that led to Netherlands’ independence.

The composer was using this work as a statement against Napoleon.

The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has commissioned a new translation to reflect our present-day world. Egmont was adapted by playwright/translator Philip Boehm.

Joining Orpheus for this performance are Liev Schreiber as the narrator and Karen Slack singing the soprano parts.

Schreiber won a Tony Award for his performance in the 2005 production of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross. He also starred in the Showtime series Ray Donovan.

Slack made her Metropolitan Opera debut in their 2006 production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller. She also sang the role of Emelda Griffith in Terence Blanchard’s Champion at San Francisco Opera. (That production will be streaming next week by SFJAZZ beginning on October 21st.)

The concert was recorded in Beechwood Park in Hillsdale, New Jersey, following social distancing guidelines.

Speaking Truth to Power begins streaming at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT on October 17th and remains available through October 22nd. Tickets to watch the performance are $15.

Lizz Wright – Mandolin – October 17th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT $15

I’ve seen singer Lizz Wright several times in concert. From the first time I heard her 2003 record, Salt, I was hooked. She has a beautiful voice and has a unique ability to make each song she sings her own.

Rather inexplicably she has only recorded five other albums since her debut. The most recent was 2017’s Grace. She does appear on No Beginning No End 2 by José James which was released earlier this year.

If you don’t know Lizz Wright, I strongly encourage checking out this concert. If you do, you know how terrific it’ll be.

Ticket are $15.

March – Los Angeles LGBT Center Anita May Rosentein Campus Parking Lot – October 17th – November 15th

Our first live and in-person event (and the reason the title of this column was changed). The venue is the parking lot below the Anita May Rosentein Campus at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Sixteen cars will be admitted per performance. The audio will be broadcast to you through your radio.

The title of this play is March and it was conceived and directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera. The cast has contributed to the writing of the play during exercises and rehearsals.

A pandemic is gripping the world in March. The time could be a quarter century into the future – or not. Three Trans/Gender Non-Confirming women need to find a place where The Military will not find them. Not much is known beyond that. A little mystique never hurt anyone, did it?

The cast of March includes Miss Barbie Q (MJ), Chad Christopher, Matthew Clark, Amir Levi, Marcelino Mendoza, Coretta Monk, and Roland Ruiz.

What makes this so appealing is that Rivera is one of the most interesting and talented writer/directors working in Los Angeles theater. I have no idea what to expect from March, but I have absolutely no doubt that it will be fascinating.

Performances take place only on Saturday and Sunday. There are two performances each night. One at 7:30 PM and one at 9:00 PM. The per car price to attend is $20.

Keala Settle & Seth Rudetsky – October 18th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Anyone who saw The Greatest Showman knows who Keala Settle is. She introduced the song This Is Me to the world in her role as Lettie Lutz, the bearded lady in the film. She is Seth Rudetsky’s guest this week for his conversation/concert show.

If you only know Settle from that film, you’re missing out. She was memorable as Norma Valverde in Hands on a Hardbody. It’s a role that yielded multiple nominations including a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She’s appeared in the musicals Les Misérables, Waitress, Hairspray and South Pacific.

If the Sunday live performance does not work for you, there will be an encore showing of the concert on Monday, October 19th at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT. Tickets for each showing are $25.

That’s the official list of Best Bets: October 16th – October 18th. A few reminders before we go:

Donizetti Week at the Metropolitan Opera concludes this weekend with Maria Stuarda on Friday; Roberto Devereux on Saturday and Don Pasquale on Sunday. You can read our full preview here.

Table Top Shakespeare: At Home has the following plays this weekend: Henry VI, Part 2 on Friday; Henry VI, Part 3 on Saturday and Richard III on Sunday. You can read our preview here.

Part 2 of Evelina Fernández’s A Mexican Trilogy is now streaming from Latino Theater Company. The play is called Hope and will be available through October 22nd. For details read our preview here.

That is my complete list of your Best Bets: October 16th – October 18th. Whatever you choose to watch, I hope you enjoy!

Photo: Aaron Diehl (Photo by Maria Jarzyna/Courtesy AaronDiehl.com)

Update: Center Theatre Group has changed the dates for Luis Alfaro’s trilogy of plays. Though originally announced to start this week, they have been rescheduled to start November 6th. We have removed “Electricidad” from this weekend’s Best Bets.

The post Best Bets: October 16th – October 18th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

This weekend’s Best Bets include traditional ballet and hip-hop dance; a celebration of one of America’s greatest playwrights; an opera legend in concert; a production of an opera by Stravinsky; a chamber music concert from Carnegie Hall; one of Broadway’s most provocative events and a live concert with a Broadway star who knows his way around roller skates.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: July 31st – August 2nd:

The Sleeping Beauty – Royal Ballet – Now – August 6th

Fourteen years ago, the Royal Ballet dusted off their 1946 original staging of Sleeping Beauty. While the costumes and designs by Oliver Messel remained in tact, they combined the choreography of Marius Petipa from the 19th century with new sections created by Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell and Christopher Wheeldon.

The music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky remains front and center as does the story of a young girl, Aurora, who has a curse placed on her. On her 16th birthday she will prick her finger on a spindle and die. The Lilac Fairy can’t reverse the curse, but she does create an opposing spell that spares Aurora from death, but she will remain asleep until a handsome prince kisses her.

Fumi Kaneko dances the role of Aurora. Kristen McNally dances the role of Carabosse who puts the curse on the girl. The Lilac Fairy is danced by Gina Storm Jensen. The Prince is danced by Federico Bonelli.

The Kindness of Strangers – TennesseeWilliams.net – July 31st – August 14

When the 2020 Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival had to be cancelled, actor Bryan Batt (Mad Men) suggested rounding up long-time participants in the festival and taking it online. The result is Friday’s The Kindness of Strangers. The event takes place live on Friday, July 31st at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT. It will remain available online for free through August 14th.

If you need me to tell you the source of the event’s title, perhaps The Kindness of Strangers isn’t for you. But for a quick refresher course on Williams, he is the playwright who gave us The Glass Menagerie, Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending, Suddenly Last Summer, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Night of the Iguana and, of course, A Streetcar Named Desire.

The festival was launched in 1986, so they have a length list of participants and many of them are joining for The Kindness of Strangers.

Batt will serves as the host. The scheduled performers includes: Samantha Beaulieu, Troi Bechet, Curtis Billings, Betty Buckley (Camino Real), Leslie Castay, Michael Cerveris, Patricia Clarkson, Patrick Cragin, Brenda  Currin, Lisa  D’Amour, Arsène DeLay, Gwendolyne Foxworth, Alison Fraser, Lawrence Henry Gobble, John Goodman (who was a terrific “Big Daddy” in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Geffen Playhouse), Rodney Hicks, Kenneth  Holditch, Corey Johnson, Idella Johnson, Peggy Scott Laborde, Donald Lewis, Ti Martin, Elizabeth McCoy, Jessica Mixon, Whitney Mixon, Wendell Pierce (who gives a great performance in the film Clemency), Francine Segal, Janet  Shea, Harry Shearer, Carol Sutton, Beverly Trask, Kathleen Turner (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Cassie Worley, and Jake Wynne-Wilson.

The Kindness of Strangers is free to watch, but donations are encouraged.

Janine Jansen and Jean-Yves Thibaudet play Grieg, Debussy, and Chausson – Medici.tv – Now – August 2nd

This week’s Carnegie Hall concert made available on Medici.tv finds violinist Janine Jansen and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performing a chamber musical recital from 2018. They are joined by the Dover Quartet for performances of music by Edvard Grieg, Claude Debussy and Ernest Chausson.

The program offers Debussy’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor; Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major and Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet in D Major.

This concert was part of Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives series which allows an artist to program a series of concerts. This was the next-to-last of Jansen’s series.

Zoo Nation: The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – Royal Ballet – July 31st

Hip-hop meets Lewis Carroll in this adaptation inspired by the author’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Zoo Nation/The Kate Prince Company was commissioned to put this dance piece together by The Royal Ballet to accompany Christopher Wheeldon’s full-length ballet named after Carroll’s book.

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party centers around a young psychotherapist in his first job at the Institute for Extremely Normal Behaviour. His patients are all familiar characters to fans of this book: the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, Tweedledum and Tweedledee and the Queen of Hearts. He hopes his PhD in normalization will help him understand his patients better. Perhaps there isn’t anything to understand beyond that normal may not be all it is cracked up to be.

Kate Prince directed and choreographed the show. Music is by Josh Cohen and DJ Walde with all three creators collaborating on the lyrics.

Zoë Anderson from the The Independent in London said of the show, “Prince blends big group numbers with explosive solos. The whole company is strong, with dazzling turns by some of its best regular performers.”

Renée Fleming in Concert – Metropolitan Opera – August 1st – 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT

As part of the Metropolitan Opera’s ongoing series of Met Stars Live in Concert, Renée Fleming will be accompanied by pianist Robert Ainsley for a live recital from Washington, D.C.’s Dumbarton Oaks.

Lyric soprano Fleming is amongst the most popular opera singers in the world.

A graduate of Juilliard, she won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 1988. That same year she made her debut with the Houston Grand Opera Company in The Marriage of Figaro. She sang the role of The Countess. Three years later she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the same opera and the rest is history.

She is a 17-time Grammy Award nominee with four wins. She’s a fierce advocate for the study of health and music and how they are intertwined. Fleming is also passionate about education. She can be found on Broadway (the most recent revival of Carousel) and has collaborated with a wide range of artists including Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, Brad Mehldau and more.

The recital is scheduled to include works by Handel (Semele), Massenet (Manon), Richard Strauss (Der Rosenkavalier), Korngold (Die Tote Stadt), Cilea (Adriana Lecouvreur), Puccini (Giannia Schicchi) along with a folk song by Joseph Canteloube and a little nod to Hollywood with Over the Rainbow from The Wizard Oz by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg.

Tickets to watch the concert are $20. With your ticket you will be able to watch the performance live and have access to it for 12 days.

Broadway Bares: Zoom In – Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS – August 1st – 9:30 PM EDT/6:30 PM PDT

One of the most popular annual events in the Broadway community is a burlesque show called Broadway Bares. Director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell created the event to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Broadway Bares finds Broadway dancers performing uniquely choreographed routines that all gradually peel away their clothes.

Nobody appears fully nude in show, as per the truest tradition of burlesque. Men and women perform the numbers which are choreographed by some of the Broadway community’s best.

This is always one of the toughest tickets to get in New York. But this year, we’re all invited. Broadway Bares: Zoom In takes place on Saturday and will feature newly created pieces filmed/performed adhering to social distancing guidelines, plus there will be films of classic routines from the nearly 30-year history of the event.

There is no charge to watch the event, but donations are encouraged.

The Rake’s Progress – Glyndebourne – August 2nd – August 9th

Igor Stravinsky’s opera had its world premiere in Venice in 1951. Poet W. H. Auden and poet/librettist Chester Kallman wrote the libretto. All three were inspired by artist William Hogarth’s paintings from the 1730s – a series entitled A Rake’s Progress.

The opera traces the fall of Tom Rakewell. When he encounters Nick Shadow, he leaves behind Anne Truelove. Shadow and Rakewell soak up all that London has to offer.

But Rakewell is unaware that Shadow is actually the Devil. One series of events leads to another and our protagonist finds himself in a mental word.

In this 2010 production from Glyndebourne, Topi Lehtipuu sings the role of Rakewell. Matthew Rose sings Shadow and Miah Persson sings the role of Truelove.

This is a revival of John Cox’s 1975 production that was designed by artist David Hockney. Vladimir Jurowski lead the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tim Ashley, writing for The Guardian, said of this revival, “Designed by David Hockney and directed by John Cox, Glyndebourne’s production of The Rake’s Progress dates from 1975 and is still widely regarded as the benchmark staging of Stravinsky’s great, if difficult, opera.

“Hockney’s designs mediate between the 18th century and the 20th, just as the score self-consciously shuttles between Mozartian models and modernism. Cox’s understanding, meanwhile, of when to keep us detached and when to let emotions through remains wonderfully acute.”

Cheyenne Jackson with Seth Rudetsky – BroadwayWorld.com – August 2nd – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

If you only know Cheyenne Jackson from his roles on Glee or American Horror Story, there’s much more than that to him. For it is Broadway where he truly rose to fame.

Jackson made his Broadway debut as a replacement in the musical Aida. He was also a replacement in Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Audiences started taking serious notice when he starred in the musical All Shook Up in 2005. The stage musical Xanadu was next in 2007 (which showcased his roller skating abilities). He starred alongside Kate Baldwin in the wonderful 2009 revival of Finian’s Rainbow. His most recent show was The Performers in 2012.

Jackson joins music director/composer/pianist and Broadway expert Seth Rudetsky for his weekly Online Seth Concert Series. The show will be a combination of conversation and song. Sunday’s performance will be live. If you can’t watch the show live, there is an encore showing on Monday, August 3rd at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT.

Tickets are $20 for either performance.

As you can see, this week’s Best Bets at Home: July 31st – August 2nd is a short but sweet list. But I have a few reminders before we go:

This weekend’s opera productions from the Metropolitan Opera are Dvořák’s Rusalka on Friday; Verdi’s Ernani on Saturday and Wagner’s Die Walküre on Sunday.

SF Jazz continues their multi-part Wayne Shorter Celebration on Fridays at Five with Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard on Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT.

The Fred Hirsch Trio will perform live sets from the Village Vanguard on Friday and Saturday at 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT.

The Julius Rodriguez Trio performs live from Smalls on Sunday at 7:45 PM EDT/4:45 PM PDT.

I hope you enjoy this weekend’s Best Bets at Home: July 31st – August 2nd. Stay safe and healthy!

Photo: Artwork from the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival 2020 Cover/Courtesy of the Festival

The post Culture Best Bets at Home: July 31st – August 2nd appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

On Thursday, July 16th, Broadway Barks will take place at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT and can be watched on Broadway.com’s Facebook page.

This year marks the 22nd annual event. Each event features celebrities and shelter pets that are available for adoption. This year, with the pandemic, animals and celebrities are being paired up within the safety of their homes.

Peters and her colleagues have assembled a great line-up of talent:

Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Betty Buckley, Danny Burstein, Michael Cerveris, Kristin Chenoweth, Victoria Clark, Alan Cumming, Ted Danson, Ariana DeBose, Raúl Esparza, Gloria Estefan, Sutton Foster, Victor Garber, Whoopi Goldberg, Jeff Goldblum, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Joel Grey, Josh Groban, Jake Gyllenhaal, Julie Halston, Jon Hamm, Emmylou Harris, Sean Hayes, Hugh Jackman, Andy Karl, Nathan Lane, Laura Linney, Rebecca Luker, Audra McDonald, Malcolm McDowell, Laurie Metcalf, Bette Midler, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Rita Moreno, Bebe Neuwirth, Alex Newell, Kelli O’Hara, Orfeh, Mandy Patinkin, Randy Rainbow, Andrew Rannells, John Stamos, Mary Steenburgen, Will Swenson, Michael Urie, Nia Vardalos, Adrienne Warren and Vanessa Williams. 

32 different shelters will participate both in providing dogs and cats available for adoption and in receiving money raised during the event. There is no cost to join Broadway Barks online, but donations are encouraged.

Every year Broadway Barks is a hugely successful pet adoption event. Over the twenty-two years it has taken place they have been able to place approximately 85% of the animals. That means if you fall in love with one of the dogs or cats you see online, you better act quickly!

During Bernadette Peters: A Special Concert, Michael Urie talked about how passionate Peters is in rescuing animals. He said that she regularly goes to shelters that have a “kill policy” (meaning that animals will be euthanized after a certain amount of time has passed) and takes them to shelters that do not have the same policy.

She and co-founder Mary Tyler Moore found a way to take their passion for our four-legged friends and add their celebrity to help animals find homes.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Broadway.com are producing the event. Paul Wontorek, who produced the recent Buyer and Cellar and Take Me to the World events, produces for Broadway.com

Photo: Bernadette Peters at the 2018 Broadway Barks events (Photo by Emilio Madrid for Broadway.com/Courtesy of Broadway.com)

The post Broadway Barks Online appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Our list this weekend also includes something for everyone: a deeply moving play, a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical in concert, a virtual reading of a bittersweet comedy from the 1970s, the longest-running one-woman show in Broadway history and concerts by two of Broadway’s finest leading ladies.

So here are your Best Bets at Home: July 10th – July 12th:

The Deep Blue Sea – National Theatre Live – Now – July 16th

Terence Rattigan’s 1952 play, The Deep Blue Sea, has proven itself time and time again as great drama and also a great opportunity for an actress.

Peggy Ashcroft originated the part of Hester Collyer, a woman whose failed marriage and crumbling relationship with an RAF pilot leads to a suicide attempt. When Hester is discovered in her apartment after failing to take her own life, the residents of the tenement house in which she lives try to encourage her to choose life over death. One neighbor, Dr. Miller, (Nick Fletcher) proves to be particularly influential.

In this 2016 National Theatre production Helen McCrory took on the role of Hester. (Other actresses who have tackled the part include Vivien Leigh, Blythe Danner, Gretta Schacchi and Rachel Weisz.) Carrie Cracknell directed.

Michael Billington, writing for The Guardian, said of McCrory’s performance, “I’ve seen many fine Hesters but few who have conveyed so clearly what Shakespeare called ‘the very wrath of love.'” 

National Youth Orchestras of the United States Highlights (2014-2019) – Medici.tv – July 10th – July 12th

This week’s offering from Carnegie Hall and Medici.tv features highlights from six years of performances by National Youth Orchestras from America. Joining the various orchestras are violinist Gil Shaham, singer Dianne Reeves and conductors Marin Alsop, Sir Antonio Pappano, David Robertson and more.

The program is split into three sections.

The first features John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Aaron Copland’s Billy the Kid Suite.

Part two features works by Sergei Prokofiev. Shaham joins for the composer’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major and then the orchestra plays the second movement from Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major.

The final segment features a jazz orchestra. Their program begins with the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story written by Leonard Bernstein. That is followed by works by John Coltrane and Miguel Zenon before Reeves comes out to sing a couple songs. The program ends with music by Dizzy Gillespie and Thad Jones.

Golda’s Balcony – The Wallis – Now – July 13th

William Gibson is a playwright best known for The Miracle Worker. He also wrote Two for the Seesaw and Golden Boy. One of his later works was a one-woman show about Golda Meir, the fourth Prime Minister of Israel (1969-1974). That show is called Golda’s Balcony.

Tovah Feldshuh, who recently appeared at The Wallis in Sisters in Law, has made Golda’s Balcony her own.

The play opened at New York’s Helen Hayes Theatre in 2003 and ran for nearly 500 performances making it the longest running one-woman show in Broadway history. Feldshuh received a Tony Award nomination for her performance.

This was not, by the way, Gibson’s first play about Meir. Anne Bancroft played her in a less-successful play called Golda in 1977. It only ran for 93 performances.

The Wallis has teamed up with the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival to make Scott Schwartz’s film of Golda’s Balcony available for free viewing through July 13th. On the final day there will also be a Q&A with Feldshuh at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT.

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel: Live from Lincoln Center – Lincoln Center – July 10th -September 8th

In 2013, the New York Philharmonic staged a concert version of the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel. Starring in the production were Kelli O’Hara (Kiss Me, Kate) and baritone Nathan Gunn.

That concert will be available from Lincoln Center through September 8th.

The cast of Carousel also included Jessie Mueller (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Jason Danieley (Pretty Woman: The Musical), opera singer Stephanie Blythe, Shuler Hensley (The Ferryman), Kate Burton (Present Laughter) and John Cullum (Waitress).

Amongst the songs you will know from Carousel are “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “If I Loved You,” “Soliloquy” and “June Is Busting Out All Over.”

Bernadette Peters: A Special Concert – Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS – July 10th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

I published a separate preview of this concert earlier this week. So for details you can go here. This will be amazing and I just wanted to make sure it was on your radar.

Eric Reed Quartet Live at the Village Vanguard – July 10th and July 11th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

If you’ve ever been to New York’s Village Vanguard you know how the venue is steeped in music history that permeates your experience of being in the room.

Live concerts won’t be happening anytime soon for you to experience in person, but that doesn’t mean the music has stopped playing.

Pianist Eric Reed leads his quartet in two live performances this weekend. There won’t be an audience in person, but you can join online for one of both of the sets.

Reed’s quartet includes Stacy Dillard on saxophone, Dezron Douglas on bass and McClenty Hunter on drums.

J.D. Considine, writing for DownBeat Magazine said of Reed, “(he) is one of those tremendously gifted players who has chops galore, but seldom uses them to show off, instead letting his obvious command of dynamics add color to the melodies he plays.”

You need to purchase tickets to watch either of these sets. Tickets are $10.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Summerfest – July 11th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra launches the first of five Summerfest concerts from Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School of Music this weekend.

Ensembles are small and practice social distancing during performance. Each performance is filmed in advance for streaming.

The series launches with principal cellist Andrew Shulman, concertmaster and violinist Margaret Batjer and pianist Andrew von Oeyen performing.

The program begins with Florence Price’s The Deserted Garden. Price was the first black female composer to be recognized as a symphonic composer. Her Symphony No. 1 had its world premiere in 1933 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The centerpiece of the program is a performance of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D Minor. The composer wrote this four-movement trio in 1839. It is considered amongst his best compositions.

This is a free concert. If you cannot watch it live as it happens, the concert will be archived here for later viewing.

Additional concerts are scheduled to take place every other Saturday this summer. We will keep you notified of those performances.

Same Time, Next Year – Guild Hall – July 12th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PDT

Eastern Long Island’s Guild Hall is holding a virtual stage reading of Bernard Slade’s 1975 play Same Time, Next Year.

The play revolves around Doris and George who are married to other people, yet meet once a year in Northern California to continue their annual affair. Same Time, Next Year depicts the couple’s getaways from 1951 to 1975.

Starring in this virtual reading will be Julianne Moore (Still Alice) and Alec Baldwin (30 Rock).

When the play opened on Broadway the leads were Ellen Burstyn and Charles Grodin. Burstyn won the Tony Award for her performance. A film version was released in 1978 with Alan Alda joining Burstyn.

This is a fundraiser and tickets are priced at $100 per household. You can purchase tickets here. Once you have purchased tickets you will get details how and where to see the reading.

Audra McDonald with Seth Rudetsky – July 12th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald is Seth Rudetsky’s guest for his weekly concert series. Each concert features a live performance with a second opportunity to see the concert later.

McDonald has won Tony Awards in all four possible categories for an actor or actress: Best Actress in a Musical (The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Carousel, Ragtime); Best Actress in a Play (Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill) and Best Featured Actress in a Play (Master Class, A Raisin in the Sun).

She and Rudetsky have known each other for years. They have regularly appeared together including this performance of “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady.

Tickets for either the live stream or the second viewing are $25 each. The rerun of Sunday’s concert will be streamed at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 13th.

Billy Budd – Glyndebourne – July 12th – July 19th

Herman Melville’s short novel, Billy Budd, left unfinished by the author and published in 1924 (33 years after Melville’s death), serves as the inspiration for Benjamin Britten’s opera.

Billy Budd, the opera, had its world premiere in London in 1951. Novelist E.M. Forster (A Passage to India) and Eric Crozier wrote the libretto. Billy Budd is a rare opera in that it features no female roles. Even the chorus is all-male.

The opera tells the story of a young sailor (Jacques Imbrailo) who is newly recruited to join the HMS Indomitable. He possess great beauty and charm. The Master-at-Arms, Claggart (Phillip Ens), finds himself inexplicably drawn to the young man. Uneasy with the feelings Budd instills him, Claggart seeks to do everything he can to destroy the young man.

This 2010 production from Glyndebourne was directed by Michael Grandage. This was the first opera Grandage directed. He is best known for his work in theatre including the plays Red and Frost/Nixon. Mark Elder conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Andrew Clements, writing for The Guardian said of this production, “Jacques Imbrailo’s Billy is a total joy – slight, lithe and wonderfully guileless, singing his farewell to life with immense dignity and pathos. …The remorseless inhumanity of the story is certainly vivid, both on stage and in Mark Elder’s account of the score, by turns luminous and scaldingly intense. Elder does not neglect a single detail of what is perhaps Britten’s greatest orchestral accomplishment, and both the playing of the London Philharmonic and the singing of the Glyndebourne chorus have marvellous presence.”

That’s it for your Best Bets at Home: July 10th – July 12th. As always, a few reminders:

The Metropolitan Opera productions available this weekend are Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin on Friday; Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Saturday and my personal favorite opera, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde on Sunday.

Fridays at Five from SFJazz this weekend features John Scofield and Lettuce in a concert from 2019.

Stratford Festival continues its Shakespeare films with their 2017 production of Romeo and Juliet. Also available are The Adventures of Perciles and Antony and Cleopatra.

Now we’re officially done with the Best Bets at Home: July 10th – July 12th. Enjoy your weekend and stay safe and healthy.

The post Culture Best Bets at Home: July 10th – July 12th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.