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)

The post Adam Guettel’s Myths and Hymns appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Where else would you find these people all in the same show?

Jelani Alladin, Jacqueline Antaramian, Antonio Banderas, Laura Benanti, Kim Blanck, Ally Bonino, Danielle Brooks, Jenn Colella, Elvis Costello, Daniel Craig, Alysha Deslorieux, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Holly Gould, Danai Gurira, Stephanie Hsu, David Henry Hwang, Oscar Isaac, Nikki M. James, Alicia Keys, John Leguizamo, John Lithgow, Audra McDonald, Grace McLean, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mia Pak, Kelli O’Hara, Suzan-Lori Parks, David Hyde Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, Liev Schreiber, Martin Sheen, Phillipa Soo, Meryl Streep, Will Swenson, Shaina Taub, Kuhoo Verma, Ada Westfall and Kate Wetherhead.

Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon (A Raising in the Sun) is putting this all together. The music director is another Tony Award winner, Ted Sperling (The Light in the Piazza).

Why did all these people come together for Forward. Together.? Simply put, The Public Theater has supported playwrights and artists for decades. Amongst the show that began their life at The Public are A Chorus Line, Girl from the North Country, Take Me Out, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, Caroline, Or Change and Hamilton.

There is also an online auction where there are 20 items you can bid on ranging from posters from Shakespeare in the Park seasons, to a ten-year premium seat pass for those annual summer gatherings at Delacorte Theater in Central Park to virtual drinks and meals and more. To view the items and bid, you can go here.

The fundraiser premieres at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT and will remain available for viewing until October 24th at 11:59 PM EDT/8:59 PM PDT. The show can be watched on The Public Theater’s website, their YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Having watched the show I can tell you there are some very real highlights. Amongst them, Antonio Banderas and Laura Benanti singing “What I Did For Love” from A Chorus Line; Danielle Brooks singing a Burt Bacharach song as a lullaby to her young child and to us all; a song from Shaina Taub’s musical, Suffragette and Oscar Isaac singing a song from Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Photo: The Public Theatre (Photo by Joseph Augstein/Courtesy The Public Theater)

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New York’s Public Theater has given birth to some of theater’s finest accomplishments. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning That Championship Season to Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls to Caroline, Or Change and a couple musicals you might have heard of: A Chorus Line and Hamilton. They will be celebrating their history and looking passionately towards the future on Monday, June 1st with their online gala event We Are One Public.

No pun intended, but the public is invited to join The Public for this event. We Are One Public begins at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT on their website. Hosting is Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon directs and the music director is another Tony Award-winner, Ted Sperling.

If you want to see a list that defines an embarrassment of riches, the participants for Monday’s fundraiser will serve as just that:

Todd Almond, Antonio Banderas, Laura Benanti, Kim Blanck, Ally Bonino, Danielle Brooks, Troy Anthony Burton, Michael Cerveris,  Glenn Close, Jenn Colella, Elvis Costello, Daniel Craig, Claire Danes, Carla Duren, Danaya Esperanza, Jane Fonda, Nanya-Akuki Goodrich, Holly Gould, Danai Gurira, Anne Hathaway, Stephanie Hsu, David Henry Hwang, Oscar Isaac, Brian d’Arcy James, Nikki M. James, Alicia Keys, John Leguizamo, John Lithgow, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Audra McDonald, Grace McLean, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Margaret Odette, Kelli O’Hara, Sandra Oh, Mia Pak, Suzan-Lori Parks, David Hyde Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, Jay O. Sanders, Liev Schreiber, Deandre Sevon, Martin Sheen, Phillipa Soo, Meryl Streep, Trudie Styler & Sting, Will Swenson, Shaina Taub, Kuhoo Verma, Ada Westfall, Kate Wetherhead and more.

During We Are One Public, there will be two special honors awarded. The first is to benefactors Audrey & Zygi Wilf whose philanthropy has greatly benefited The Public Theatre. The second is to actor Sam Waterston.

The actor, who will be the artistic honoree, has appeared in over a dozen productions at The Public Theater. His work there began in 1963 and usually finds him performing the works of William Shakespeare – most often during The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park season. His most recent appearance was as Prospero in the 2015 production of The Tempest.

Obviously donations are encouraged before, during and after this event. There is also an on-line auction that is already open for bidding. Amongst the items available are a virtual conversation with Queen Latifah and director Lee Daniels; a decade of premium Shakespeare in the Park seats; a signed sketch of the set of Hamilton by David Korins and a Zoom chat with ballet dancers Ethan Stiefel and Gillian Murphy. There are many more items available.

We Are One Public is scheduled to run 90 minutes. There is a virtual dance party immediately following the event.

Photo from Cymbeline courtesy of the New York Public Library.

Photo of The Public Theatre Courtesy of The Public Theater

Update: This post has been updated to include the postponement of the event.

The post We Are One Public – POSTPONED appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder) has two Tony Awards for her performances in Fences (2010 and King Hedley II (2001)

Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) appeared on stage in The Heidi Chronicles in 2015 and David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow revival in 2009.

Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) won a Tony Award for his performance in Glengarry Glen Ross (2005). Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent) was also in that production.

Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie) first appeared on Broadway in There Was a Little Girl in 1960. She was nominated for her performance in 2009’s 33 Variations. She later reprised that role at the Ahmanson Theatre.

Her co-star Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie) won a Tony Award for The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1985-1986). She also performed the show at what was then called the James A. Doolittle Theatre (now the Ricardo Montalban) on Vine Street.

John Litghow (The Crown) won a Tony Award for his first Broadway role in The Changing Room (1973). He won a second for the musical The Sweet Smell of Success in 2002. He appeared in with Glenda Jackson in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1989 at the Doolittle. He most recently appeared at the Mark Taper Forum in Stories By Heart which will open next year on Broadway.

Carrie Coon (Fargo) appeared on Broadway in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 2012.

Geoffrey Rush (Genius) has only appeared on Broadway once. The show was Exit the King (2009) and he won a Tony Award.

The cast of Feud has spent quite some time on Broadway. Susan Sarandon was with Rush in Exit the King. Jessica Lange won a Tony Award for her performance in Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2016) and she appeared with Alec Baldwin (nominated for Saturday Night Live) in a 1992 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. Alfred Molina was in Red in 2010 and he also played the part at the Mark Taper Forum. Stanley Tucci was nominated for his performance in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Jackie Hoffman is on Broadway now in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (though I bet she’s missing today’s matinee!) She was also in the musicals Xanadu and Hairspray!

Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale) appeared in The Seagull (2008); Taking Sides (1996) and Candida (1993).

Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black) appeared on a revival of Godspell (2011) and also in Coram Boy (2007.)

Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us) appeared in a revival of Of Mice and Men in 2014 and was also in The Motherfucker with the Hat (2011) and Gem of the Ocean (2004.)

Television host James Corden won a Tony Award for One Man, Two Guvnors in 2012. He also appeared in The History Boys in 2006. The original cast also performed the show at the Ahmanson Theatre.

And some guy named Lin-Manuel Miranda, nominated for his guest appearance on Saturday Night Live, has a few Tony Awards on his mantle. He wrote In the Heights and some musical that’s playing now at the Pantages Theatre called Hamilton.

Good luck to all the nominees and remember, you can often catch some of your favorite actors before they become famous by going to a play or musical.

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