With yesterday’s good news that those who are vaccinated can go around without masks with the exception of a few specified areas, it seems like only a matter of time before live events will come roaring back.

The question now is whether or not all the streaming events of the past 15 months will become a relic of the era or a regular part of our cultural experience. Only time will tell.

For now, there are still plenty of great programs available for viewing. Topping our list is MCC Theater’s Miscast 2021 Gala. There are two other gala events, a new musical reading, a vintage classical music concert, new music, a play reading and more.

Here are the Best Bets: May 14th – May 17th.

*TOP PICK* – Miscast 2021 – MCC Theater – May 16th – May 20th

Yesterday we posted a full preview of this event, but here’s what makes this show so entertaining: Broadway stars perform songs separately or with others they would never be cast to sing. For instance, Robert Fairchild sings this song from the musical Sweet Charity in a clip from last year’s “quarantine” edition of Miscast.

This year’s line-up includes Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George), Melissa Barrera (In the Heights), Gavin Creel (Hello, Dolly!), Robin de Jesús (The Boys in the Band), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton), Leslie Grace (In the Heights), Cheyenne Jackson (Finian’s Rainbow), Jai’Len Josey (SpongeBob SquarePants), LaChanze (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical), Idina Menzel (Wicked), Kelli O’Hara (Kiss Me, Kate), Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), Kelly Marie Tran (Raya and the Last Dragon), Aaron Tveit (Moulin Rouge) and Patrick Wilson (The Full Monty).

This is a free event, though donations are encouraged.

PLAY READING: Watch on the Rhine – Broadway’s Best Shows – Now – May 17th

Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine had its world premiere at the Martin Beck Theater on April 1, 1941. Her play tells the story of a German man, Mueller, married to an American woman, who is involved with anti-fascist causes in Europe. While visiting his wife’s relatives in Washington, D.C., another guest, also staying with the family, blackmails Mueller after discovering Mueller is planning to send money to aid underground operations in Germany.

For this reading as part of Spotlight on Plays, Ellen Burstyn, Alan Cox, Carla Gugino, Mary Beth Peil and Jeremy Shamos star in this reading directed by Sarna Lapine.

Tickets are $18 with the reading available for viewing through Monday at 6:00 PM ET/3:00 PM PT. Proceeds from the reading benefit The Actors Fund.

Trivia: Two years later a film version of Watch on the Rhine was released starring Bette Davis and Paul Lukas (reprising his role from Broadway). The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. Lukas won for Best Actor.

DANCE: Stephen Petronio Company – The Joyce Theater – Now – May 26th

There are five works being showcased in this new film by the Stephen Petronio Company, the New York-based dance company that was founded in 1984.

Two of the five pieces being performed are set to songs made famous by Elvis Presley: Are You Lonesome Tonight and Love Me Tender.

There are two versions of Are You Lonesome Tonight being performed. Love Me Tender was originally performed in 1993 in a collaboration with artist Cindy Sherman.

New Prayer For Now (Part 1) has its debut in this film. Petronio was inspired by Balm in Gilead and Bridge Over Troubled Water when creating New Prayer…. Monstah Black (who is also a dancer and choreographer in addition to being a musician) composed the music and performs with the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.

The program wraps up with a new version of Group Primary Accumulation by Trisha Brown and Pandemic Portraits, a film by Dancing Camera.

Tickets are $25.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Berlin Philharmonic 1967 – Carnegie Hall – May 14 – May 21st

Herbert von Karajan leads the Berliner Philharmoniker in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Alexis Weissenberg.

This is amongst the most popular concerti in the world. But if Weissenberg’s name isn’t familiar to today’s audiences, this quote from his obituary by Maraglit Fox in the New York Times defines his reputation:

“Mr. Weissenberg possessed a technical prowess rivaled by few other pianists. The ice of his demeanor at the keyboard (he sat, leaned forward and got down to business, playing with scarcely a smile or grimace) was matched by the fire that came off the keys.” (Weissenberg passed away in 2012.)

There is no charge to watch this performance. This is the first of a new series Carnegie Hall Selects featuring performances by artists who played major roles in the 130-year history of the venue.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Jose Llana: Broadway Stories & Songs with Ted Sperling – May 14th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

Broadway star Jose Llana is Ted Sperling‘s guest for Broadway Stories & Songs. Llana has been seen in The King and I, Rent, Street Corner Symphony, Flower Drum Song, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Wonderland on Broadway.

I first saw him in Flower Drum Song at the Mark Taper Forum. I also saw him in the incredible show Here Lies Love at the Public Theater.

He also performed Adam Guettel’s song cycle Saturn Returns (later renamed Myths and Hymns) which is where he and Sperling first worked together.

If you can’t see the show on Friday, there is an encore showing scheduled for May 15th at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT. Tickets for either showing are $25. You can watch the show a second time if you buy tickets for the Friday night showing.

JAZZ: Robert Glasper: Everything’s Beautiful – SFJAZZ – May 14th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

This 2018 concert found innovative musician/composer Robert Glasper putting his own spin on works by Miles Davis for his album Everything’s Beautiful. Glasper’s music was featured in Don Cheadle’s film Miles Ahead from 2015.

If you don’t know Glasper or his work, he’s one of the most interesting artists working in jazz today. He’s also collaborated with Erykah Badu, Herbie Hancock, Kendrick Lamar, Ledisi and Jill Scott.

Joining Glasper in this performance are vocalist Bilal; Michael Severson on guitars; Burniss Travis on bass and Justin Tyson on drums.

If you can’t watch Friday night’s showing that is part of SFJAZZ’s Fridays at Five series, there is an encore showing on Saturday, May 15th at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT. Tickets require either a one-month digital membership for $5 or a $50 annual digital membership.

MUSICAL: Breathe: A New Musical – May 14th – July 9th

Playwright Timothy Allen McDonald (Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka) and novelist Jodi Picoult (The Book of Two Ways) have teamed up for this new musical suite that features interlocking stories of five different couples navigating their way through the Covid pandemic and its impact on their lives.

The songs were written by Doug Besterman (The Big One-Oh!), Zina Goldrich (Ever After), Marcy Heisler (Hollywood Romance), Kate Leonard (Ratatouille: The TiKTok Musical), Douglas Lyons (Peter, Darling), Daniel J. Mertzlufft (Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical), Rebecca Murillo (Credence & Cecilia), Ethan Pakchar (Five Points), Rob Rokicki (The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical) and Sharon Vaughn (My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys).

Appearing in this online musical are Tony Award winners Kelli O’Hara and Brian Stokes Mitchell along with Denée Benton (Hamilton), Rubén J. Carbajal (Hamilton), Max Clayton (Moulin Rouge), Josh Davis (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Colin Donnell (Anything Goes), Matt Doyle (the upcoming revival of Company), Patti Murin (Frozen), T. Oliver Reid (Hadestown), and Daniel Yearwood (Once on This Island).

Tickets are $25 to watch Breathe. If you want to join the official opening night on Friday, May 14th at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT, those tickets are $40 and includes an post-premiere cast party and a download of the music from the show.

CONTEMPORARY SONG CYCLE: Dorothea – CAP UCLA – Debuts May 15th – 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT

Ted Hearne, one of our most fascinating and interesting composes, has created a song cycle inspired by the poetry of Dorothea Lasky.

Lasky is an acclaimed poet who told the LA Review of Books, “I do believe it’s better not to be safe in your poems.” As a composer, Hearne also doesn’t play it safe.

They both are utterly compelling. This combination should double down on that and prove to be very exciting to watch.

Hearne was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his 2018 composition Sound From the Bench. Both Los Angeles Opera and San Francisco Opera performed his opera The Source about Chelsea Manning.

Hearne will be singing vocals in this performance. Joining him are Eliza Bagg on vocals and synths; Ashley Bathgate on cello; Nathan Koci on piano/keyboards; Diana Wade on viola; Ron Wiltrout on drums and Ayanna Woods on bass.   

There is no charge to watch Dorothea. Donations to CAP UCLA are encouraged.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Nadia Sirota, Gabriel Cabezas and Rob Moose – The Phillips Collections – Debuts May 16th – 4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Trio Sonata No. 6 in G Major, BWV 530 serves as the foundation for this performance by violist Nadia Sirota, cellist Gabriel Cabezas and violinist Rob Moose.

The concert will begin and end with a movement from the sonata with a third movement at the halfway point.

Interspersed amongst the concert are works by three of today’s most interesting contemporary composers: Marcos Batler, Missy Mazzoli and Nico Muhly.

Sirota is also the music producer for Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Close Quarters series.

There is no charge to watch this performance, however registration is required. The program will remain available for viewing through May 22nd.

PLAY READING: Sejanus, His Fall – Red Bull Theater – Debuts May 17th – 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT

New York’s Red Bull Theater will present a new adaptation of Ben Johnson’s 17th-century play Sejanus, His Fall on Monday night. The adaptation is by Nathan Winkelstein, who also directs.

The play depicts a power struggle between Tiberius, the Emperor of Rome and Sejanus, his right-hand man. Sejanus covets being the emperor. Tiberius has no desire to make that a possibility. Factions line up behind each man and the power struggle begins with all of our own contemporary issues surrounding politics and power at play.

Participating in the reading are: Shirine Babb (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Grantham Coleman (The Great Society), Keith David (Seven Guitars), Manoel Felciano (To Kill a Mockingbird), Denis O’Hare (Assassins), Matthew Rauch (Junk), Liv Rooth (To Kill a Mockingbird), Laila Robins (Heartbreak House), Stephen Spinella (Angels in America), Emily Swallow (High Fidelity), Raphael Nash Thompson (The Red Letter Plays), Tamara Tunie (Radio Golf) and James Udom (The Rolling Stone).

Tickets are pay what you can with proceeds going to Red Bull Theater.

CONCERT/GALA: Stand Up, Stand Strong – Covenant House – May 17th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

Sara Bareilles, Stephanie J. Block, Jon Bon Jovi, Zach Braff, Terron Brooks, Rachel Brosnahan, Stephen Colbert, Charlie Day, Darius De Haas, Ariana DeBose, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Morgan Freeman, Jon Hamm, Adrianna Hicks, James Monroe Iglehart, Capathia Jenkins, Jewel, Jeremy Jordan, Amanda Kloots, Ames McNamara, Laurie Metcalf, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Abby Mueller, Alex Newell, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, Kelli O’Hara, Laura Osnes, Dolly Parton, Jo Ellen Pellman, Ben Platt, Jason Ralph, Ryan Reynolds, Chita Rivera, Robin Roberts, Aliza Russell, Keala Settle, Tony Shalhoub, Meryl Streep, Ana Villafañe, Dionne Warwick, Marlon Wayans, Frank Wildhorn, Vanessa Williams, Daniel Yearwood and more will join co-hosts Audra McDonald and John Dickerson for this annual fundraiser for Covenant House.

The organization provides shelter for homeless youth living on the streets. They have helped more than one million youth since their inception more than 40 years ago.

This gala fundraiser will offer music, stories and more. There is no charge to watch the show, however donations are encouraged. For a list of the many ways you can watch Stand Up, Stand Strong, please go here.

VOCALS/STORIES: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – May 17th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

Though Jim Caruso has multiple guests for this Monday’s 58th episode of Pajama Cast Party, I can sum up the reason to tune into this particular episode with two words: Marilyn Maye.

That’s the official list of Best Bets: May 14th – May 17th. Here are also a few reminders:

Lincoln Center Theater’s Tales from the Wings, which we previewed here, will remain available through Monday, May 17th. This is a must for theater fans.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic debuts Chamber Music: Piazzolla in their Filmed at the Ford series. You can find details here.

This weekend’s offering from the Metropolitan Opera include the documentary The Audition on Friday; Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia from the 2014-2015 season on Saturday and Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux from the 2015-2016 season on Sunday.

Sunday will also be the finals of the National Council Auditions at the Met at 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT.

Monday begins Week 62 at the Met where the theme is Unhinged Mad Scenes. The first production being streamed is the 2006-2007 season production of Bellini’s I Puritani with Anna Netrebko.

There are just two weeks left to see Sutton Foster’s Bring Me to Light. You can find details in our preview here.

There you have a jam-packed list of Best Bets: May 14th – May 17th.

Enjoy your weekend and enjoy the shows!

Photo: Renée Elise Goldsberry (Photo by Justin Bettman/Courtesy MCC Theater)

The post Best Bets: May 14th – May 17th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Simply put, Miscast finds Broadway stars performing songs they’d never really be cast to do.

This year’s line-up is impressive:

Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George), Melissa Barrera (In the Heights), Gavin Creel (Hello, Dolly!), Robin de Jesús (The Boys in the Band), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton), Leslie Grace (In the Heights), Cheyenne Jackson (Finian’s Rainbow), Jai’Len Josey (SpongeBob SquarePants), LaChanze (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical), Idina Menzel (Wicked), Kelli O’Hara (Kiss Me, Kate), Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), Kelly Marie Tran (Raya and the Last Dragon), Aaron Tveit (Moulin Rouge) and Patrick Wilson (The Full Monty).

Creel and Tveit will be reuniting after their steamy performance of this song from Rent at the 2016 Miscast:

There will also be special appearances by McKinley Belcher III, Nick Blaemire, Sandra Caldwell, Juan Castano, Trip Cullman, Hugh Dancy, Halley Feiffer, Dominique Fishback, Jennifer Garner, Paige Gilbert, Lucas Hedges, Evan Jonigkeit, Alex Lacamoire, Donja R. Love, Zosia Mamet, Laurie Metcalf, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ana Nogueira and Marisa Tomei.

By my calculations, this cast has received 15 Tony Awards and 27 Tony nominations.

In the half hour before the show starts there will be a pre-show that will revisit some of the highlights from previous Miscast galas.

Though you can watch this for free, there’s also the ability to donate to MCC Theater. For you big money folks, you can purchase tickets ranging from $1500 – $50,000 with escalating perks.

There is also an auction with multiple items available for bidding including three trips, signed memorabilia, personalized messages from Judith Light and Julia Margulies and more.

Don’t worry if you can’t watch the show on Sunday. Miscast will remain available online through Thursday, May 20th.

Photo: Billy Porter (Courtesy MCC Theater)

The post Top Pick of Best Bets: Miscast 2021 appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

This week’s selections run the gamut from spoken word to Ukranian music to Cuban jazz to Broadway royalty.

My top pick amongst this week’s Best Bets: April 16th – April 19th is part 3 of MasterVoices’ Myths and Hymns. Adam Guettel’s song cycle is one of my favorite compositions of his and the first two parts of MasterVoices’ series were extraordinary. Dove Cameron (who appeared in a small tour of the composer’s The Light in the Piazza) and Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson are amongst the guest joining MasterVoices for this section called Love.

Here are my Best Bets: April 16th – April 19th:

*TOP PICK* VOCALS: Myths and Hymns Part 3: LOVE – MasterVoices YouTube Channel – Available Now

I’ve already written about this series of four programs that combine performance, film and animation to present Adam Guettel’s Myths and Hymns.

Part three is called Love and features performances by Dianne Drayse Alonso, Nina Bernstein, John Brancy, Dove Cameron, Drew Gehling, Cheyenne Jackson, Shereen Pimentel and Lori Wilne.

The films in this episode are directed by Victoria Clark (Tony Award winner for her performance in Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza) and Ted Sperling (Tony Award winner for his orchestrations of the same musical; he’s also the Artistic Director of MasterVoices).

The first two parts of Myths and Hymns were terrific. I have no doubt this will be just as inspiring and moving as the other two. Thus it is my top pick this week.

SPOKEN WORD: Black Nourishment – Not a Moment, But a Movement – Center Theatre Group – Now – June 15th

From the stage of the Kirk Douglas Theatre spoken word artists Tru Sound, Yazmin Monet Watkins and Alyesha Wise will speak their truth about being Black in America. Performing in front of murals from their home towns are spoken word artists Chris Webb and Sierra Freeman in Cleveland; Royce Hall and Jali Ajani Nafula in Atlanta and from Oakland are Shawn William and Prentice Powell.

Music is provided by Sugi Dakks who is joined by Jarren Heidelberg on drums; Josh Howard on bass; Aaron Mastin on keys and Terall Whitehead on guitar. Expect hip-hop music with a jazz flavor.

Black Nourishment is directed by Tyrone Davis and Bruce A. Lemon Jr. There will be an introduction from Emmy Award-winner Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us).

There is no charge to watch Black Nourishment through April 30th. After that it will cost $10 to view the show.

ROCK OPERA: Weightless – Women’s Project Theater – Now – May 30th

One story Ovid’s Metamorphoses serves as the inspiration for this rock opera by The Kilbanes (married couple Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses). That story is one of sisterhood, but also includes extremely violent acts.

The Kilbanes have created a rock opera that was first performed at Z Space in San Francisco in 2018.

When it was presented at the Under the Radar Festival in 2019, Laura Collins-Hughes, writing in the New York Times, called Weightless, “an accomplished work, and an entertaining one. The Kilbanes banish rape from the narrative in favor of pleasurable sex, and shape the story with female voices.

“Unlike so many pieces of music theater, Weightless has a well-crafted form, and its spoken dialogue melds beautifully with the propulsive score.”

The Kilbanes have made a film of their rock opera (directed by Tamilla Woodard) with fellow cast members Lila Blue, Kofy Brown, Dan Harris and Joshua Pollock.

Weightless will be available for streaming through May 30th. There is no charge, however donations are encouraged.

WORLD MUSIC: DakhaBrakha – CAP UCLA – Now – May 31st

For those who like their music from other parts of the world, this Ukranian ensemble gives you a taste of the traditional and the adventurous.

DakhaBrakha is a four-person ensemble featuring Nina Garenetska, Marko Halanevych, Iryna Kovalenko and Klena Tsybulska. They have been winning over audiences and critics for 17 years with their unique blend of old and new.

Or perhaps as their name is translated, the Give and Take.

This concert was filmed exclusively for CAP UCLA in Kyiv.

There is no charge to watch this concert, but donations are encouraged. CAP UCLA will continue to make DakhaBrakha’s concert available through May 31st.

PLAY: Sitting and Talking – Laguna Playhouse – April 16th – May 2nd

How do sixty-somethings (or anyone for that matter) navigate dating during a quarantine? That’s the question asked by Lia Romeo in her designed-for-Zoom play Sitting and Talking. Her play will have its Southern California premiere via the Laguna Playhouse starting this weekend.

Starring as the man and woman trying to find love are Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) and Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me). James Grossman directs.

Tickets are $20 per household. There will be a live talkback this Sunday, April 18th at 8:30 PM EDT/5:30 PM PDT with Lauria, Malick, Romeo, Grossman and producer Chris O’Connor.

OPERA: Zemlinskys Zimmer – the little OPERA theatre of ny – April 16th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

This will be a livestream performance from St. John’s in the Village of a work that combines scenes from Alexander Zemlinsky’s opera Eine Florentinische Tragödie with vocal and chamber music by the composer. They are being combined to tell the story of a love triangle with a married woman torn between her husband and a Prince. (It’s opera, of course there’s a love triangle! Of course a Prince is involved!)

Zemlinsky’s work was based on an Oscar Wilde play. His opera had its world premiere in 1917 in Stuttgart.

the little OPERA theatre of ny production will feature Katy Lindhart, Eric McKeever and Nicolas Simpson. Catherine Miller accompanies on piano and serves as Music Director. Laura Frautschi will appear as a guest violinist. Philip Schneidman directs.

Tickets begin at $5 and increased based on your ability to pay/make a donation.

JAZZ: Daymé Arocena – SFJAZZ – April 16th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Though not a household name in America, Daymé Arocena is very well-known in Cuba where she was born. Arocena began her professional career at the age of 14 working with the band Los Primos.

Her first album, New Era, was released in 2015. She followed with One Take (2016), Cubafonía (2017) and Sonocardiogram (2019).

This concert, part of SFJazz’s Fridays at Five series, comes from November 2019 when she was touring in support of Sonocardiogram. Raul Da Gama, in his review of the album for LatinJazzNet, said, “…what she does on Sonocardiogram is to raise the level of her music art to the heights achieved by men with a longer standing in this realm – even such men as the doyen of them all, Román Díaz, and the explosive Pedrito Martinez. Like them Miss Arocena’s ability to invoke (such goddesses as) Oyá, Ochún and Yemayá is not only palpable, but she delivers her invocations with enormous power, poise and stylistic grace.

There will be an encore presentation of this concert on Saturday, April 17th at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT. Tickets are $5 (which includes one month of digital membership) or $60 (which includes a full year of digital membership.) Digital membership allows for free streaming of the Fridays at Five concerts and discounted tickets to additional streaming events (one of which you can find below).

PLAY: An Evening with John Wilkes Booth – Whitefire Theatre – April 16th – 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT

Given that Classic Stage Company is celebrating the musical Assassins, it seems only fair to offer another point of view. In this case, the point of view of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

The play was written by Lloyd J. Schwartz (a producer/director of The Brady Bunch) and Clinton Case.

Starring in An Evening with John Wilkes Booth is Stephen Spiegel.

Case’s extensive research forms the factual spine of this one-man show. We don’t often get to hear from those who pull the trigger, so this should be a fascinating companion piece to Tell the Story about Sondheim’s musical.

It features a performance by Spiegel that prompted a critic from The Free Press in Columbus, Ohio to state, “the actor does anything but phone his performance in. Indeed, Spiegel kills as America’s archetypal assassin.”

Tickets are $15.99 and allow for streaming on demand for 72 hours.

OPERA: Verdi’s Don Carlo – San Francisco Opera – April 17th – April 18th

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Michael Fabiano, Ana María Martínez, René Pape, Mariusz Kwiecień and Nadia Krasteva. This revival of Emilio Sagi’s 2003 production is from the 2015-2016 season.

Don Carlo had its world premiere in 1867 in Paris. Friedrich Schiller’s play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien, served as the basis for the libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle. The opera was originally performed in French. Three months after its debut in Paris, Don Carlo was performed in Italian. First at Covent Garden in London and later in Bologna. It is most frequently performed in Italian.

Don Carlo of Spain and Elisabetta of Valois are betrothed to one another. They have never met. Don Carlo sneaks away to meet this unknown woman. They fall in love. However, their happiness is quickly ruined when Carlo’s father, Filippo, announces that he’s in love with her and she is to be his bride.

Even though she is now his stepmother, Don Carlo tries multiple times to woo Elisabetta away from his father. With the Spanish Inquisition ongoing, the affairs of all three and the appearance of a mysterious monk lead to murder plots, revenge, unrequited love, thievery and more being played out in Verdi’s longest opera.

James Ambroff-Tahan, writing in the San Francisco Examiner, said of this production, “It’s been 13 years since San Francisco Opera has staged Don Carlo, one of Verdi’s most mature operas. Yet the talented cast in this summer’s sumptuous revival of director Emilio Sagi’s production — boasting the vocal heft and staying power the four-and-a-half hour work requires — makes the dry spell well worth the wait.”

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bang on a Can Marathon – April 18th – 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT

Bang on a Can (founded by Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe) began its traditions of marathon concerts celebrating new music in 1987. They return with another marathon this year and this one features all world premieres.

Here’s the line-up (using EDT):

1:00 PM: Anguish from Falling Sky by Michael Abels performed by Vicky Chow; witness… by Mantana Roberts; ad astra by Joan La Barbara performing by Iva Casian-Lakos (and noted to be for a cellist who sings) and Chaconne in A Minor by Anton Batagov.

2:00 PM: How Was Your Year by Rudresh Mahanthappa performed by Ken Thomson; House Calls by Timo Andres performed by David Byrd-Marrow; Meditation #1 by Leyla McCalla performed by Arlen Hlusko; Persuasion by John Hollenbeck performed by David Cossin

3:00 PM: STALLION by Carman Moore performed by Robert Black; new work written and performed by Kelly Moran; Song for Eric by Michael Friday performed by Jeff Anderle and new work by Jonathan Bailey Holland performed by Mark Stewart

4:00 PM: Six Riffs after Ovid for solo oboe by Michael Daughtery performed by Titus Underwood; new work written and performed by Andy Akiho and See You on the Other Side written and performed by Soo Yeon Lyuh

Tickets begin at $10 and increase based on your ability to pay.

CABARET: Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus – Seth Concert Series – April 18th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Married couple Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus perform together in this weekend’s Seth Concert Series with Seth Rudetsky.

Block is the Tony Award winner for The Cher Show.

She also appeared in the 2016 revival of Falsettos, the 2012 revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Boy From Oz.

Arcelus appeared in Rent, Good Vibrations, Elf, A Time to Kill and co-wrote the book for Gettin’ the Band Back Together Again.

They both appeared in Wicked (she as Elphaba, he as Fiyero) where they met and fell in love.

There will be an encore showing at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT on Sunday. Tickets for either showing are $25.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Telegraph Quartet – Crowden Music Center – April 18th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Violinists Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violist Pei-Ling Lin and cellist Jeremiah Shaw formed Telegraph Quartet in 2013. They have toured the world with their mix of traditional classical music repertoire and more contemporary works.

This will be the case for their performance from Crowden Music Center in Berkeley, California. Scheduled repertoire includes Britten’s Three Divertimenti (their recording of this work can be found on their 2018 recording Into the Light), Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1 and Brahms’ String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51 No. 2.

There is no charge to watch their performance, however donations are encouraged. The concert will remain available for streaming for one week.

JAZZ: Alone Together: Tuck & Patti – SFJAZZ – April 18th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

On Thursday, April 15th jazz duo Tuck & Patti gave a live performance for SFJAZZ. That performance will be available again on Sunday, April 18th.

Guitarist Tuck Andress and singer Patti Cathcart have been performing for over four decades and they’ve been married for 38 years and counting.

They have regularly received rave reviews for their live performances. The combination of his playing and her voice is one that makes the complicated seem simple and the simple seem to have more depth than you imagined.

In 2018 they went on tour with St. Vincent. Why? Tuck is her uncle. St. Vincent is also a fascinating artist. Why wouldn’t she take advantage of their talent? You should, too.

Tickets are $5 for members and $10 for non-members. Ticket buyers will have access to on-demand streaming through May 31st.

CABARET: Broadway Close Up: Kay Swift – Kaufman Music Center – April 19th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Kay Swift is one of the most interesting women in the history of Broadway musicals. Her musical Fine and Dandy opened on Broadway in 1930 and ran for 255 performances. This is one of five musicals she wrote (she also wrote the lyrics for her fifth, Paris ’90) and was easily the most successful.

One song of hers, Can’t We Be Friends, has proven particularly popular and has been recorded dozens of times. It’s also a favorite of filmmakers who have included it in such movies as Bonnie and Clyde, The Heartbreak Kid and Torch Song Trilogy.

Some might think of her only from her relationship with composer George Gershwin. Obviously there was much more to Swift than just one affair (and it was an affair). After Gershwin’s death she was regularly asked to offer her advice and knowledge about his works.

Sean Hartley will host an episode of Broadway Close Up from Kaufman Music Center looking at Swift’s life and career.

Joining for performances are Nikki Renée Daniels (the upcoming revival of Company), Jeff Kready (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder), Sally Wilfert (Assassins) and Klea Blackhurst (The Nutty Professor). Serving as music director is composer Georgia Stitt.

Tickets are $15. There will be a live Q&A with Hartley immediately following the show.

CABARET/CONVERSATION: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – April 19th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Joining Jim Caruso for this Monday’s Pajama Cast Party are Sally Mayes and George Dvorsky (whose musical Pete ‘n’ Keely is being made into a film), Jackie Cox (from season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race), cabaret artist Meg Flather and singer/actor Jacob Daniel Cummings.

You have probably already assumed that the Keely in the title of the musical is Keely Smith who was married to and performed with Louis Prima. But alas, you’d be incorrect.

This is Keely Stevens and he is Pete Bartel. They were once headliners in Vegas and a staple of television talk shows. They are reuniting for a live television appearance and it’s the first time they’ve done so since a very public break-up.

The timing for Jackie Cox to appear is quite good indeed. Next week RuPaul’s Drag Race will name the season 13 winner. Who will it be? (If you don’t know who is in the running they are Gottmik, Kandy Muse, Rosé and Symone. I’m personally rooting for Symone.) Jackie Cox will be spilling all the T with JC!

Caruso knows the most minute details about all his guests. This will be another fabulous way to start your week!

Those are my Best Bets: April 16th – April 19th, but you know I always have a few reminders.

Be sure to check out my preview for Carnegie Hall’s Voices of Hope festival as there are numerous offerings available this weekend including performances by pianist Emanuele Arciuli, The Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Dutch National Opera, singer/songwriter Ute Lemper, Movement Art Is and Third Coast Percussion.

Los Angeles Opera’s Signature Recital Series has begun and the first offering is a performance by tenor Russell Thomas. Go here to read my preview of the series.

Classic Stage Company’s in-depth look at the Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical Assassins will remain available through Monday. For details go here to read my preview.

Los Angeles Philharmonic’s second season of Sound/Stage continues this week with a new episode focused on John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music. I’ve seen this work performed live, you’re in for a treat.

This weekend’s offerings from the Metropolitan Opera are their 2016-2017 season production of Dvořák’s Rusalka on Friday; Saturday they will stream their 1986-1987 production of Puccini’s Turandot for the first time and on Sunday they are streaming their 2013-2014 season production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola.

And in a preview of next week’s streaming productions, the Met will stream Wagner’s Lohengrin from the 1985-1986 season as part of their Moral Authority week.

That does it. That’s the complete list of Best Bets April 16th – April 19th.

Have a terrific weekend! Enjoy the performing arts!

Photo: Dove Cameron in Myths and Hymns Chapter 3: How Can I Lose You” (Courtesy MasterVoices)

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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)

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Enter MasterVoices, a choral group originally founded as an interfaith, interracial ensemble in 1941. Ted Sperling, the organization’s Artistic Director, has taken the group to new levels of success and with that, has lead MasterVoices into more adventurous projects.

Few organizations have been able to perform as full ensembles during the pandemic. The 150 singers of MasterVoices were no exception. So rather than just do a simple zoom call performance, Sperling had the idea of creating a series of films for the 23 songs that make up Myths and Hymns. The songs are broken up into four themes: Flight, Work, Love and Faith.

Guettel was inspired by Greek mythology and uses those stories and his own take on them for Myths and Hymns.

If Adam Guetell’s name sounds familiar, he’s the composer of the Tony Award-winning musical The Light in the Piazza (in which O’Hara starred and Sperling was co-orchestrator and Music Director). He also wrote the musical Floyd Collins and there are indications a first-ever Broadway production may happen in the next couple years. The show has been performed regionally for quite some time.

Sperling was also the Music Director when this work first debuted with the title Saturn Returns. The cast featured Vivian Cherry, Lawrence Clayton, Annie Golden, José Llana, Theresa McCarthy and Bob Stillman. Tina Landau directed the show.

Stephen Holden, writing for the New York Times, said of the work upon its debut:

“Broadly speaking, the songs evoke a kind of human yearning that is as piercing as it is unappeasable: yearning for immortality, true love and God, and yearning to win the game of life. The lyrics are shadowed by intimations of failure and disconnection symbolized by the astrological return of Saturn from its nearly-three-decade cycle around the sun.”

Both Golden and Llana are participating in these films. Joining them are Anderson & Roe, Shoshana Bean, Daniel Breaker, Julia Bullock, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Renée Fleming, Adam Guettel, Joshua Henry, Cheyenne Jackson, Capathia Jenkins, Mykal Kilgore, Norm Lewis, John Lithgow, Michael McElroy, Kelli O’Hara, Ailyn Pérez, Nicholas Phan, Elizabeth Stanley and Take 6.

I’ve long been a fan of Myths and Hymns. I’ve also seen the first two parts of the MasterVoices series and strongly recommend this series. I can’t wait for the other two.

Flight and Work are available on their YouTube channel. Love will debut on April 14th at 6:30 PM EDT/3:30 PM PDT. Faith will debut on May 26th at 6:30 PM EDT/3:30 PM PDT. All four pieces will remain available for viewing through June 30th.

Photo: Joshua Henry in a scene from Myths and Hymns (Courtesy MasterVoices)

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The goal of Broadway Smashes Covid! is to raise money for an independent medical clinic in Boston to help women and families during the pandemic.

Here are some details about the show and its illustrious line-up:

Chris Mann (Phantom of the Opera) will serve as the host for the show. Benanti won a Tony Award for her performance in the 2008 revival of Gypsy. In addition to her famed opera career, Fleming was a Tony-nominee for her performance in the 2018 revival of Carousel. In addition to appearing in Avenue Q, Foa is best known for his role on NCIS: LA. Headley won a Tony Award for her performance in Aida. Jackson is a two-time Drama Desk nominee for his performances in Xanadu and the 2009 revival of Finian’s Rainbow. Orfeh was a Tony Award-nominee for Legally Blonde. Pascal, in addition to co-starring in Aida with Headley was a Tony Award nominee for originating the role of Roger in Rent. Porter appeared in the 2006 revival of A Chorus Line. Ushkowitz, though probably best known for her role on Glee, is a Tony Award-winning producer for the 2017 revival of Once on This Island and is a nominee this year for The Inheritance. Young won a Tony Award for originating the role of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys.

Joining them as music director is Willy Beaman.

Tickets range from $25 (for students under the age of 25) all the way up to $20,000 for you big rollers. (General admission tickets are $50). Ticketholders will have the ability to watch the show for 30 days.

Photo: Heather Headley (Courtesy Lyric Opera of Chicago)

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So if you love musicals, Broadway vocalists and cabaret shows, this list is for you! First up are those with specific dates, followed by programming that is already available and has a specific end date.

Here are my Musicals/Cabaret Best Bets for the Holidays:

A Catalina Christmas – December 24th – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST

Los Angeles’ Catalina Jazz Club is holding a holiday concert to help raise money to keep the club alive. In addition to their many jazz concerts, the venue features many stars of stage and screen performing their cabaret acts.

This concert will feature Rogelio Douglas, Jr., Chad Doreck, Anthony Fedorov, Joely Fisher, Jason Graae, David Hernandez, Niki Haris, Aaron Lazar, Jennifer Paz, Alisan Porter, Joan Ryan, Jake Simpson, Tyrone Mr. SuperFantastic, plus Thelma Houston and many more! Bruce Vilanch serves as host.

There is no charge to watch the concert on Catalina Jazz Club’s Facebook Page. Donations to its Go Fund Me campaign are encouraged.

Two by Two: The 50th Anniversary Virtual Concert – December 25th – December 28th

While we’re all familiar with the story of Noah and his ark, fewer of us are familiar with this 1970 musical from Richard Rodgers (Pal Joey), Martin Charnin (Annie) and Peter Stone (1776). The musical was not only based on the biblical story, but on a play called The Flowering Peach by Clifford Odets.

Celebrating this Golden anniversary are Karen Ziemba (Contact); Nikita Burshteyn (Mark Saltzman’s Romeo & Bernadette); Frank Calamaro (Man of La Mancha); Marcy DeGonge Manfredi (Phantom of the Opera), N’Kenge (Motown the Musical); Michael Notardonato (Mark Saltzman’s Romeo & Bernadette), and Sophia Tzougros.

Walter Willison, who played Japeth in the original production, plays Noah and also directs the virtual reading.

There’s no charge to watch Two by Two, however donations to The Actors Fund are strongly encouraged.

Sondheim Unplugged – Feinstein’s/54 Below – December 26th – January 9th

A popular series at New York’s Feinstein’s/54 Below is Sondheim Unplugged. It’s a series that examines Stephen Sondheim’s work through stories, anecdotes and performance.

The series returns online beginning at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST on December 26th. The cast for this inaugural virtual version features Darius de Haas (Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All that Followed), cabaret singer Natalie Douglas, Telly Leung (Aladdin), T. Oliver Reid (Once on This Island), Nicholas Rodriguez (The Sound of Music) and Lucia Spina (South Pacific). Creator Phil Geoffrey Bond is the host and Joe Goodrich is the Music Director.

The show will remain on demand through January 9th. Tickets are $25.

A Very Weimar Christmas – Club Cumming Presents – December 30th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Alan Cumming and his New York City Club Cumming are presenting a different holiday show.

Australian Kim David Smith is the star and creator of A Very Weimar Christmas, a show he first performed at Club Cumming last December.

Imagine Cabaret meets Christmas meets Ute Lemper meets the Scissor Sisters. Or perhaps David Bowie’s German recording era as a filter for a 1930s Christmas show.

It should be quite entertaining and provocative.

Tickets are $10. There is one-time only showing. No additional re-streaming.

John Lloyd Young NYE Show – Feinstein’s at Vitello’s – December 31st – 11:00 PM EST/8:00 PM PST

Tony Award-winner John Lloyd Young (Jersey Boys) performs live from Los Angeles’ Feinstein’s at Vitello’s in this New Year’s Eve concert.

While he’s best known for his performance as Frankie Valli, I always think of him for his sublime performance of A Multitude of Amys, a song by Stephen Sondheim cut from the musical Company.

Tickets are $36.75 (which includes service charges). The show will be available on demand for 24 hours. Ticket buyers will have the ability to watch the show for seven days after purchase.

An Evening with Audra McDonald – New York City Center – Now – January 3rd

New York City Center’s Gala Concert earlier this month with Tony Award winner Audra McDonald has been extended through January 3rd. This 75-minute concert features McDonald with accompanist/music director Andy Einhorn.

Beautifully filmed and recorded you’ll hear songs that have been part of McDonald’s repertoire for quite some time and others that might surprise you.

Tickets are $35.

If you haven’t seen McDonald in her Tony Award-winning performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, that is available to stream on HBO.

Broadway Close-Up – Kaufman Music Center – Now – January 15th

For $40 you can stream three concert/lectures about significant figures in musical theatre: Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields and Stephen Schwartz.

Hammerstein is the book writer/lyricist best known for his collaborations with Richard Rodgers that yielded the musicals South Pacific, The King and I, Oklahoma! and The Sound of MUsic.

Fields is the book writer/lyricist who collaborated on the musicals Annie Get Your Gun, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Redhead and Sweet Charity.

Schwartz is the composer behind the juggernaut musical Wicked as well as the shows Pippin, Godspell and Rags.

Performing their songs in this three-part series are Broadway stars Clifton Duncan (The Play That Goes Wrong) and Nikki Renée Daniels (Company, Hamilton, Porgy and Bess) and jazz vocalist Gabrielle Stravelli.

Each show is one hour and is hosted by Sean Hartley. Videos will be available through January 15th.

Lyrics and Lyricists: Preludes – 92nd Street Y – Now – December 31st

All five episodes of the 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists: Preludes series are available for streaming. Each show is $15 or you can get all five for $60.

The five episodes celebrate the work of George Gershwin; Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt; Richard Rodgers, Mary Rodgers and Adam Guettel; Jule Styne and finally Music from Films.

The cast for this series includes Farah Alvin, Allison Blackwell, Nikki Renée Daniels, Katherine Henley, Jeff Kready, James T. Lane, Telly Leung, Kara Lindsay, Julia Murney, Zachary Noah Pisner, Zachary Prince, Pearl Sun and Mariand Torres. The narrator is Beth Malone.

Each show, written and music directed by Paul Masse, runs one hour. This series is available through December 31st.

Meet Me in St. Louis – Irish Rep – Now – January 2nd

I’ve previously written about this revised stage adaption of the classic 1944 film that starred Judy Garland. This version, from Irish Rep, stars Melissa Errico and Max von Essen. Not only do you get some classic songs like The Boy Next Door and The Trolley Song, you get the holiday season standard, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Tickets are Pay What You Can with a suggested donation of $25.

American Utopia – HBO

If you have HBO and have yet to experience David Byrne’s American Utopia, you should stop reading and start watching. This exciting, thought-provoking, energetic and unique concert/Broadway show.

Spike Lee directed the film and huge acknowledgement must go to Director of Photography Ellen Kuras. She makes American Utopia feel like both a Broadway show and an intimate experience.

Encores! Archives Project YouTube Channel

Have you ever gone digging through New York City Center’s YouTube channel? It’s a treasure trove of clips from dozens of their Encores! productions of musicals with some of Broadway’s finest talent. These aren’t full shows, but there’s so much to enjoy.

What can you find? Jerry Herman’s Mack & Mabel; Renée Elise Goldsberry in a 2013 production of I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road; 2015’s production of Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party; Laura Benanti in The Most Happy Fella from 2014; Kelli O’Hara in the 2010 production of Bells Are Ringing; Jake Gyllenhaal in Sunday in the Park with George; Lin Manuel-Miranda, Colin Donnell, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Betsy Wolfe in Merrily We Roll Along from 2012; Idina Menzel in Hair and so much more.

Once you get started you’ll be surprised how much time has passed. And it’s all free to view.

The Prom – Netflix

This musical didn’t last long on Broadway, but it had legions of passionate followers.

The Prom began life at Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Written by Matthew Sklar with lyrics by Chad Beguelin and a book by Bob Martin and Beguelin, the musical tells the story of a group of Broadway stars facing the closure of their musical on opening night trying to find somewhere to direct their energy.

They zero in on a high school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom, but the school won’t let her. Enter the Broadway stars to rescue the girl and their egos.

Ryan Murphy directed the film which stars James Corden, Ariana DeBose, Keegan-Michael Key, Nicole Kidman, Jo Ellen Pellman, Andrew Rannells, Meryl Streep and Kerry Washington.

Seth Rudetsky Concert Series – Now – January 3rd

Seth Rudetsky is making available for streaming many of this fall’s concerts with Braodway’s biggest stars. The line-up features Liz Callaway, La Chanze, Melissa Errico, Cheyenne Jackson, Rachel Bay Jones, Judy Kuhn, Beth Leavel, Beth Malone, Audra McDonald, Jessie Mueller, Karen Olivo, Orfeh and Andy Karl, Keala Settle and Lillias White.

These shows feature Rudetsky on keyboards at his home while the performers are in their own homes singing. There’s plenty of storytelling and conversation mixed in with the music.

Tickets are $20 for each concert or $15/each if you purchase all of them.

If you want to watch new live performances, Kerry Butler is joining Rudetsky live on December 27th at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST (with a re-run on December 28th at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST). On January 3rd, Alex Brightman performs live with a re-run on January 4th (same times). These tickets are $25.

Those are my Musicals/Cabaret Best Bets for the Holidays. I have additional recommendations for Classical, Dance and Jazz if you want even more choices.

Enjoy the holidays!

Photo: Music Center Holidays (Photo by Craig L. Byrd)

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We have links in the title for most of the events we have listed here. That will make it easy for you to find your way directly to these exciting performances.

So let’s get to it. Here are your Best Bets at Home: September 11th – September 13th:

This Is a Man’s World – Latino Theater Company – Now – September 17th

In Los Angeles-based Latino Theater Company’s ongoing series of streaming archived performances, this week they have added Sal Lopez’s one-person show This Is a Man’s World.

The play opened in 2015 and takes a look at masculinity. Lopez combines monologue and music to relay the important events in his life. These include the Watts Riots, falling in love and the birth of his son.

This Is a Man’s World was directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela

Table of Silence Project 9/11 – Buglisi Dance Theatre and Lincoln Center – September 11th – 7:55 AM EDT/4:55 AM PDT

For the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy in 2011, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Artistic Director of Buglisi Dance Theatre, created Table of Silence Project 9/11. The work found over 150 dancers gradually making their way to Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza. The plaintive call of a conch shell brings them together as music from a flute, bass drums, a trumpet, bells and the sounds of a chorus fill the space.

Three of her collaborators – Composer/Music Director Daniel Bernard Roumain, spoken-word poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Buglisi Dance Theatre Co-Founder/Principal Dancer Terese Capucilli – have re-worked Table of Silence Project 9/11 for 2020.

There will be a new Prologue which will feature dancers from Buglisi Dance Theatre, Ailey II, Alison Cook Beatty Dance, Ballet Hispánico’s BHdos, The Juilliard School, Limón Dance Company, Martha Graham Dance Company. In addition to other dancers from the NYC community, violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain and poet Joseph will be joining this year’s performance.

The entire event will be streamed live with the following program:

A Prologue, performed live from Lincoln Center; welcome remarks from industry leaders; an excerpt from Buglisi’s Requiem, (choreographed in 2001 as an immediate response to the events of 9/11); the World Premiere of Études, a new three-minute film featuring more than 100 dancers from around the world who have been inspired by the Table of Silence Project 9/11 to create and submit small scale works recorded during the month of August and, finally, the full presentation of the 2019 Table of Silence Project 9/11.

If you cannot watch the event live, it will be available on-demand after its premiere.

Amanda Green AF in Q – Birdland – September 11th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

If you don’t know Amanda Green by name, you might be familiar with some of her work. She wrote the lyrics for the musical High Fidelity; lyrics with Lin-Manuel Miranda for Bring It On: The Musical; music with Trey Anastasio and lyrics for Hands on a Hardbody; additional material for the 2019 revival of Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate and additional lyrics for the 2015 revival of On the Twentieth Century.

Green has a distinct connection to the last musical. Her father, the late Adolph Green, co-wrote the music and lyrics for On the Twentieth Century with his long-time writing partner Betty Comden. In the interest of being fair to both parents, her mother was the late Phyllis Newman, a Tony Award winner for her performance in the musical Subways Are For Sleeping.

In one of the Radio Free Birdland! concerts filmed at the venue without an audience, Green performs along with her guests singer Natalie Douglas, singer/songwriter Curtis Moore and drummer Sean McDaniel. The music director is James Sampliner.

She’s working on a couple new musicals – including one with Jason Robert Brown and Billy Crystal. Perhaps there will be previews of the new material.

Tickets are $23.50.

The Royal Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet – Great Performances PBS – September 11th (Check local listings)

In 1965 legendary choreographer Kenneth MacMillan debuted his new ballet, Romeo and Juliet, with the Royal Ballet. It’s Shakespeare’s classic tale danced to the music of composer Sergei Prokofiev. It received phenomenal reviews and the company, which featured Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, gave 43 curtain calls during the 40-minute standing ovation at the ballet’s completion.

For this film airing on Great Performances, the ballet leaves the stage and takes place in and around multiple locations and sets in Budapest, Hungary.

Dancing the role of Juliet is Francesca Hayward, William Bracewell dances Romeo and Matthew Ball dances the role of Tybalt. BalletBoyz Michael Nunn and Wiliam Trevitt directed the film.

As with all PBS airings, best to check your local listings for exact dates and times.

SHE – Latino Theater Company – September 11th – September 20th

Latino Theater Company also continues new readings of plays and this week it is SHE written by Marlow Wyatt. This is a sneak peak at a production that has been rescheduled for next year.

In the play the title character is a 13-year-old. She’s growing up in a small town where poverty is all-too-present. SHE uses her imagination to escape the trappings of her world by creating poetry. When she gets the chance to go to Vanguard Academy, a prestigious school, she comes face-to-face with the harsh realities of the real world. Her dreams have a price. But support comes from the most unlikely of places.

This reading is directed by IMANI.

Joyce DiDonato in Bochum, Germany – Metropolitan Opera – September 12th – 1:30 PM EDT/10:30 AM PDT

If you are a regular reader of Cultural Attaché (particularly the weekly listings of Metropolitan Opera nightly streams), you’ll immediately recognize the name of mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. She has appeared in their streamed productions of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Le Comte Ory, La Donna del Lago and La Cenerentola; Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda; Massenet’s Cendrillon and Handel’s Agrippina.

This Saturday she joins the Met Opera Stars Live in Concert series with a recital of her own from Bochum, Germany. Joining DiDonato for the performance will be pianist Carrie-Ann Matheson and chamber ensemble Il Pomo D’Oro.

Her program is scheduled to include works by Claudio Monteverdi, Hector Berlioz, Gustav Mahler, George Frideric Handel, Antonio Cesti, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Alberto Evaristo Ginastera, Louiguy and Rodgers and Hammerstein. There will also be the world premiere of a new work by Kenyatta Hughes with text by Langston Hughes.

Tickets are $20.

Moonlight Sonata Gala – Pasadena Symphony & Pops – September 12th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

Like many a gala in 2020, the Pasadena Symphony and Pops have gone on-line. Their Moonlight Sonata Gala will be free to watch, but you’ll have to register to do so. The registration does require you add credit card details. Your card will only be charged if you choose to bid on and win items in their auction.

The event will feature performances by Michael Feinstein, singer Catherine Russell, Broadway’s Cheyenne Jackson and others. Patti Austin will appear as will Pops conductor Larry Blank. Music Director David Lockington serves as host. After the event is over there is an after-party with Michael Cavanaugh who appeared on Broadway in the musical Movin’ Out.

Love in Action: A Telethon To Support the LGBTQ Community – KTLA TV – September 12th – 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT

So what makes a telethon something to consider at Cultural Attaché? Well, any telethon that has a line-up like this one is bound to appeal to fans of culture:

Tony Award winners Cynthia Erivo, Cyndi Lauper, Leslie Odom Jr., Billy Porter and Lily Tomlin

Tony Award nominee Andrew Rannells

Drama Desk Award-winner Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Drama Desk nominee Anthony Rapp

Singers Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, Sia and the vocal ensemble Tonality

Actors Alexandra Billings, Wilson Cruz, Armie Hammer, Alec Mapa, Peter Paige, Pauley Perrette and Brian Michael Smith

Comedians Margaret Cho, Ilana Glazer, Jay Leno and Bruce Vilanch

Drag icons RuPaul, Miss Coco Peru and Shangela.

And a certain Oscar winner named Cher is also joining the fun.

Jane Lynch is hosting the two-hour event along with KTLA News anchor Cher Calvin. You know what they say, Cher and Cher alike.

For the Love of Lyric Concert – Lyric Opera of Chicago – September 13th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Established in 1954, the Lyric Opera of Chicago has been a prominent part of the performing arts in Chicago. Like many an institution struggling to navigate the pandemic, they have chosen to go on-line with their gala this year. For the Love of Lyric Concert is this year’s program.

Soprano Renée Fleming, who has served as Creative Consultant to the Lyric Opera since 2010, will headline the event.

Joining her will be Ryan Opera Center alumna mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, Heather Headley (Tony Award-winner for Aida); bass Soloman Howard and soprano Ailyn Pérez. Doug Peck is the music director.

The program is set to include music from opera, Broadway, popular songs and “some surprising sources.” I’m not quite sure what that means. I guess that is why it will be a surprise.

The event will stream for free on the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Facebook page a day after it virtually runs for sponsors.

Miscast20 – MCC YouTube Page – September 13th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

New York’s MCC Theater (Manhattan Class Company) annually holds an event that is one of the most popular and most-anticipated events every year. It is called Miscast. The concept is rather simple: actors perform songs from musicals that are performed by characters they would never get cast to play.

Take for example this video of Hamilton‘s Jonathan Groff performing Reno Sweeney’s title song from the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes:

I have no idea what songs are going to be performed and by whom during Sunday’s event. But, I can tell you who will be performing:

Tony Award winners Norbert Leo Butz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Heather Headley (Aida) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton)

Tony Award nominees Robert Fairchild (An American In Paris), Joshua Henry (Carousel), Rob McClure (Mrs. Doubtfire), Lauren Ridloff (Children of a Lesser God), Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) and Adrienne Warren (Tina)

Also joining are Beanie Feldstein (Hello, Dolly!), Ingrid Michaelson (Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812), Isaac Powell (Once on This Island) and Nicolette Robinson (Waitress).

There will also be a reunion of the original company of Hairspray including Laura Bell Bundy, Kerry Butler, Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, Jean Gambatese, Jackie Hoffman, Kamilah Marshall, Matthew Morrison, Tony Award nominee Corey Reynolds, Judine Somerville, Shayna Steele and Tony Award winner Marissa Jaret Winokur.

Presenters include Jocelyn Bioh, Raúl Esparza, Judith Light, Julianna Margulies, Piper Perabo and Thomas Sadoski.

If you enjoy Broadway musicals, this is truly a must-see event.

Jeremy Jordan with Seth Rudetsky – September 13th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

On June 14th, Jeremy Jordan was one of Seth Rudetsky’s first guests in his online concert series. He’s back with a new show as Rudetsky’s guest on Sunday.

In addition to his well-known roles in Broadway’s Bonnie & Clyde and Newsies, Jordan has also appeared in West Side Story, Rock of Ages and Waitress. He was a series regular on Smash and appeared with Anna Kendrick in the film adaptation of The Last Five Years.

Tickets for the show are $25. If you can’t see the show live on Sunday, there is an encore presentation on Monday, September 14th at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT.

Kritzerland 10th Anniversary Show – September 13th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Fans of rare recordings of Broadway musicals and new recordings of lost musicals are well acquainted with Kritzerland Records. They have released recordings of the musicals Anya, Ilya Darling, The Grass Harp and restored recordings of the 1971 production of Follies, House of Flowers and more.

They will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of their live shows with an on-line concert. The show promises to include rarities, well-known material and a few songs that have never been heard before.

The cast includes Daniel Thomas Bellusci, Jason Graae (Wicked tour), Peyton Kirkner, Beth Malone (the 2018 revival of Angels in America), Pamela Myers (original cast of Company), Kerry O’Malley (Billy Elliot: The Musical), Hartley Powers, Sami Straitman, Adrienne Stiefel and Robert Yacko (Mark Taper Forum production of Parade).

They also have one very special guest: Petula Clark. In addition to having hit songs with Downtown and I Know a Place, she has appeared on stage in The Sound of Music, Sunset Boulevard and on Broadway in Blood Brothers.

This concert is free, but donations that will go to The Actors Fund are encouraged. Donations can be made here.

Those are my selections of your Best Bets at Home: September 11th – September 13th. I also have some reminders for you:

Los Angeles area residents can catch this week’s In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl on PBS SoCal on Friday, September 11th at 8:00 PM. This week’s theme is Musicals and the Movies and includes performances by Kristin Chenoweth, Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Here are reminders from this week’s Jazz Stream:

Red Baraat are featured in this week’s Fridays at Five from SFJazz on September 11th.

John Scofield Trio will perform from New York’s Blue Note on September 11th.

Bill Charlap Trio performs September 11th and 12th from the Village Vanguard in New York.

Pasquale Grasso Quartet performs September 13th from Smalls.

Here are reminders of this weekend’s schedule at the Metropolitan Opera:

Georges Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles on Friday; Hector Berlioz’s Les Troyens on Saturday and Jules Massenet’s Werther on Sunday.

Will that suffice? Do you have enough options to keep you entertained this weekend? I hope so and I hope you have enjoyed Best Bets at Home: September 11th – September 13th.

Montage of Miscast performers courtesy of MCC Theater

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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

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Berlin wrote more than 1,000 songs. Amongst his best-known works are “White Christmas,” “Always,” “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “Blue Skies,” “How Deep Is the Ocean” and “I Love a Piano.”

He was also the composer of the musicals Annie Get Your Gun and Call Me Madam.

Feinstein is America’s finest advocate for the Great American Songbook which makes him the perfect person to host this show.

Cheyenne Jackson appeared on Broadway in Finian’s Rainbow, Xanadu and All Shook Up. Television audiences might known him from American Horror Story, 30 Rock and Watchmen.

Kelli O’Hara won a Tony Award for her performance in the 2015 revival of The King and I. She also received Tony nominations for her performances in The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game, South Pacific, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Bridges of Madison County and Kiss Me Kate!

Tony Yazbeck received a Tony nomination for his performance in the 2015 revival of On the Town. He also appeared on Broadway in the revival of A Chorus Line, the 2008 revival of Gypsy and will open in the new show Flying Over Sunset next season. He also appeared in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas on Broadway in 2009.

If you are unable to watch Live with Carnegie Hall Irving Berlin as it is streamed live on Tuesday, the video will be archived for later viewing on Carnegie Hall’s website.

Photo: Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin during rehearsal for Call Me Madam in 1950 (Photo by Vandamm Studio/Courtesy of the New York Public Library Archives)

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