Matt Johnson & The New Jet Set will perform their jazz versions of many classic Disney songs at the Sierra Madre Playhouse beginning Friday, March 22nd and continuing through Sunday, March 24th. Johnson has created a multi-media show that includes stories, anecdotes from his many years as being a Cast Member at Disneyland and many of the classic songs we all know and love.

Last week I spoke with Johnson (who drums for multiple artists including Jane Lynch) about his lengthy relationship with all things Disney and the songwriters and songs that make us all light up when we hear them. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview with Johnson, please go to our YouTube channel (where you can also see an interview with Alan Menken).

Q: Duke Ellington famously sings in one of his compositions, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” What does the Disney songbook mean with and without swing? [The lyrics were by Irving Mills]

Listen, the Disney songbook doesn’t need my interpretation to stand alone in the annals of memorable music. We just happen to interpret it in our chosen vehicle. We take those memorable melodies and just put them in the jazz machine and crank them up and what comes out is usually very swinging. A lot of the music lends itself to swing. There’s lots of lullabies and happy children’s songs and some marches and some of them naturally lend themselves to swing. Then others we choose to have a little more fun with them. In one instance the beautiful ballad A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes from Cinderella. We’ll do it as a samba and play almost a double time rhythm underneath it. So sometimes the swing just happens. And other times we consciously choose to put it in a style that makes us even more happy.

Some of those films had great opportunities for swing. They did have Louis Prima as a voice in The Jungle Book, and they had Peggy Lee write songs and perform them for Lady and the Tramp. But those were exceptions. Do you think that there was a conscious decision in the history of Disney songs not to go into a swing mode? Or do you think that the films didn’t necessarily lend themselves to that style?

I know from being a long time Disney cast member that story is the most important thing. So whoever was in charge whenever a production was in the making, they thought about what would be the best way to convey the story. So conscious decision – definitely. But just crowbar in swing music? No.

By the time you get to Toy Story with someone like Randy Newman, you have a composer who has jazz in his bloodstream.

He does. You’ve Got a Friend in Me has very much a swingy bounce to it. I think it’s definitely a conscious decision to play jazz and or any other style. I’m thinking now Ratatouille – all Parisian. Michael Giacchino’s orchestration with lots of accordion and clarinet. Very Parisian, almost a gypsy jazz appropriate for the setting in the story it tells.

How do you see the Disney songbook having evolved over the years? What do you like most about the way it was, and what do you like most about the way it is today? 

I have had the wonderful experience of seeing it in the audience’s faces as we’ve performed the show a few times now. You can’t separate the music from the time when you experienced it in the movie theater. For those of us of a certain age, that means a really grand occasion. Back before you could stream a movie on your watch, it was a really big deal to go to a theater. We always looked forward to the Disney movies. Growing up in Southern California we had the opportunity to go to Disneyland. So we saw all the the tie-ins with the attractions and all the visuals. And, of course, we saw the characters. We also had the Wonderful World of Color and the Wonderful World of Disney. The music is just one of many, many emotional touchstones that are layered in us.

If there was any one team of composers or songwriters for whom the Disney catalog is best represented, it’s going to be the Sherman Brothers: Richard and Robert Sherman. What do you think makes their songs more beloved, or given them the ability to stand the test of time above perhaps any other songwriter’s songs who have appeared in Disney movies? 

First of all, we have to agree to the premise of your question are they, in fact, the greatest? And I think the reason both of us initially say yes, without a doubt, is because of the volume of work that they did when the studio was young or in their heyday. There was a period of time when Disney wasn’t making great movies, but everything before 1975 rocked. Maybe even earlier than that. Aristocats came out in 1970 and certainly everything that preceded it was just fantastic.

Walt referred to them as the boys. He’d storyboard with some of his artists and he said, let me get the boys in here, and then we’ll figure out where we’re going from here. The stories that I know, and even the documentary footage that I’ve seen, there was such a collaboration [with] the brothers. To see one at the piano and the other one scratching down something and changing and getting stuck on a word and seeing that collaboration was personally very inspiring. 

Doesn’t it feel like Alan Menken is the heir to what the Sherman Brothers were able to accomplish?

In and through the collaboration with his lyricists…Yes. All of those contemporary things from Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. I’m no different than most. I’m really affected emotionally performing this music and having the responsibility of giving a little insight through my narration. Instead of saying, “Now we’re going to play I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” I give a little background on the music and the production or something that I’ve read that’s interesting that maybe we don’t know. I have to be careful that I don’t trigger an emotional little thing in me that becomes distracting or, even worse, makes me emotional. 

Don’t you feel like this music allows us to revisit our childhood in some way, shape or form?

Every single time. My friend Charles Phoenix put it so perfectly, “Every time I go there, I feel all the ages I’ve ever been.” Because he remembers encountering the Disney magic at all these different points in his life. And also remembering the people in your life that are no longer with us. When you think about going there with your grandparents, I mean, that’s a powerful memory, you know? It’s just part of who I am. 

You can’t walk through the park without hearing music everywhere. A lot of it’s piped in now, but walk Main Street. You know better than anyone, that’s where you often hear live music.

Right. Straw Hatters are still out there. From season to season, sometimes they bring back a couple of what we call the break down groups: The Firehouse Hook and Ladder Gang. It’s been a while. The sax quintet who dressed in that Keystone Cops? We say Keystone Cops, but, the police uniforms from the previous century. The pre-recorded music there is all early, sort of parlor music. It’s not exactly ragtime yet. It predates ragtime. It’s happy family music from the turn of the century.

A lot of the music that that you and I know and that people probably have at least half a generation below us embrace as well, is stuff that kids today don’t necessarily have any relationship to unless their parents held on to old DVDs or they would catch the films on Disney Plus. What do you see in in terms of young people who come to these concerts and their response to these songs that they didn’t grow up with the same way you and I did?

There’s one thing that happens in general. I’m reminded of my friend Tony Guerrero, who says, “Even if you don’t think you’re familiar with jazz, if you witness a live performance, you can’t help but like it.” There’s just something about live musical performance that’s very powerful. Something you and I would take for granted because we sat through innumerable concerts, but young people wouldn’t necessarily. We try to have a couple of the contemporary Disney songs in there.

My indoctrination into the world of Disney took place when my aunt took me at three years old to go see Mary Poppins. That was the first time I became aware of movies. It was the first time I became aware of musicals in any way, shape or form. Obviously, the first time that I became aware of Disney in any in any measurable way. It is my understanding that you have worked with Dame Julie Andrews.

I was performing with a group called the Palm Springs Yacht Club in the early 90s. It was a musical comedy group, but we worked for maybe 3 or 4 years as a warm-up act for a handful of touring celebrities at the time, including Julie Andrews, but also the Smothers Brothers and comedian Rich Little.

We traveled one whole summer with Julie Andrews. It was my personal experience that she was wonderful and had a wonderful sense of humor. She was appreciative of the small supporting role that we played in her show. She traveled with an ensemble as well. We were traveling separately. Her band was on a standard tour bus at the time. She drove in a limousine and had a driver. This was the caravan. It wasn’t uncommon that the band, while on the road, their wives would come out sometimes and join the tour for the weekend and fly home. I overheard a conversation where she offered one of the guys the limo so he and his wife could travel from one venue to the next together to have some time together. She road on the bus. That said a lot about who she was. She was always very, very good humored and always made us feel as though our role was valued.

In Richard Sherman’s book, Pursuing Happiness, he tells a story about giving a lecture at USC. As he described it, some smartalec shouted out, “How much money did you make from Winnie the Pooh?” He goes on to tell this story about a girl in Texas who had fallen down a well. As they were trying to rescue her the girl apparently told her mother that she wanted her to sing Winnie the Pooh, because “Winnie the Pooh was in great tightness and he got out and I’m going to get out.” Richard Sherman said, “That moment made me the richest man in the world.” How does music in general, and these Disney songs in particular, make you the richest man in the world?

We just performed our show a couple nights ago. After the show a gentleman came up to me and said, “My dad has Alzheimer’s.” Out of the blue. I never met this guy before. I said I’m very sorry, not knowing where he was going with this. And he said, “He’s been living with us. When I was leaving the house, I said, I’m going to see a Disney show tonight. They’re playing Disney music.” His father, with Alzheimer’s, brightened up and said, “Do you remember when we took you to see The Aristocats?” Now, The Aristocats is not one of the most memorable movies, but it’s a fabulous movie released in 1970, and it happened to be the very last animated feature that Walt Disney would be able to approve for production in 1965. 

He went on to say that his little brother was born and stayed in the ICU for six weeks. [He continued] “When my little brother was able to finally come home my dad took my sister and I out to see The Aristocats.” This person who was suffering from Alzheimer’s was able to tap into that because of his connection to the Disney music. You can’t put a price on that; that I was part of a performance that reminded both those individuals of that story and that he chose to relate it to me.

Knowing how it affects people, how deeply connected people are to this music, it’s a great responsibility. Whether I’m playing at the park or whether I’m playing on the outside with my own band and present this music at the highest level, because I know how people relate to it. It is a gift that I cherish and I don’t take it for granted.

To watch the full interview with Matt Johnson, please go here.

Main Photo: Matt Johnson (Courtesy Matt Johnson)

The post Matt Johnson Swings Disney with The New Jet Set appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

My top pick is the world premiere of Death by Tyshawn Sorey. Los Angeles Opera is giving the work its debut through their digital shorts program. The work will begin streaming on Friday, February 19th at 11:00 AM.

Those interested in modern dance, ballet, jazz, classical music, plays and musicals will also have plenty to watch his weekend.

Here are my Best Bets: February 19th – February 21st:

DANCE: Evidence – Ronald K. Brown – The Joyce Theatre – Now – March 4th

In 1985 Ronald K. Brown formed a new company called Evidence. On the occasion of its 35 anniversary, the Joyce Theatre is streaming a program of six works for solo dancers and couples. Included in the program are For You, which served as a tribute to Stephanie Reinhart, the late co-creator of the American Dance Festival; Grace, a solo that put Brown on the map when it was performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre; March, a duet set to a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Mercy set to music by Meshell Ndegeocello; Palo y Machete, from One Shot, which was inspired by photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris and She is Here.

Tickets are $25 per household and allow for on-demand streaming through March 4th.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Soundwalk – Multiple Locations – Now Available

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid has created a musical landscape to accompany walks through many public parks and spaces in some of America’s cities. Her goal, as stated on the website, is to “inspire us and make us feel connected to something larger than ourselves. It is meant to serve as artistic nourishment – a place to recharge, reconnect, and re-energize.”

You download an app, put on your headphones and talk a walk through designated areas and listen to the music she’s created. Right now it is only available in Los Angeles and New York, but additional cities will be added throughout the year.

For Los Angeles, presented in association with CAP UCLA, The Kronos Quartet performs the music to accompany walks through Griffith Park as does the Soundwalk Ensemble. For New York, presented in association with the New York Philharmonic, musicians from the orchestra perform the music to accompany walks through Central Park. The Soundwalk Ensemble, members of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City and Poole and the Gang also perform.

There is no charge to download the app and the Soundwalk experience will remain active into 2023. Additional locations roll out beginning in April.

JAZZ: Kenny Barron – SFJAZZ – February 19th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

In this fall of 2018 concert, legendary jazz pianist Kenny Barron is joined by violinist Regina Carter, trumpeter Eddie Henderson and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. Any one of them would be compelling, having them perform with Barron will offer great music.

Barron is an 11-time Grammy Award nominee (how is it possible he’s never won one?) whose career began as a member of Dizzy Gillespie’s quartet. His recording career began in 1967 and his most recent release was 2020’s Without Deception with bassist Dave Holland.

Tickets are $5 (which allows for a one-month digital subscription) or $60 (which allows for a 12-month digital subscription). There is only the one showing on Friday.

DANCE: Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet – Ahmanson Theatre – February 19th – February 21st

Ivo Váňa-Psota was the first choreographer of a ballet of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It was set to the music by Sergei Prokofiev. The work had its world premiere in 1938.

In 2019 Matthew Bourne presented to the world his new Romeo and Juliet ballet, also set to Prokofiev’s music as interpreted by composer Terry Davies.

Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles is making the ballet available for rent this weekend only. Unlike other Bourne productions, Romeo and Juliet has never been performed in Los Angeles. Cordelia Braithwaite dances the role of Juliet and Paris Fitzpatrick dances the role of Romeo.

There are seven available performances this weekend. On Friday at 5:00 PM PST and 8:00 PM PST; Saturday at 2:00 PM PST, 5:00 PM PST and 8:00 PM PST and Sunday at 1:00 PM PST and 6:30 PM PST. Tickets are $10.

*TOP PICK* OPERA: Death – LA Opera – February 19th – May 4th

This is our third week in a row with Tyshawn Sorey on our list of best bets. This week his work Death will have its world premiere from LA Opera. Sorey sets the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar to music for solo voice and piano.

Dunbar is considered America’s first great Black poet. Sorey uses his poem of the same name from Dunbar’s 1903 collection Lyrics of Love and Laughter.

Performing Death are mezzo-soprano Amanda Lynn Bottoms and pianist Howard Watkins. Nadia Hallgren (Becoming) directed the film.

Sorey is obviously exploding with his inventive mix of jazz, classical and experimental music styles. With Save the Boys and Death, 2021 is clearly turning out to already be a remarkable year for the 40-year-old who was awarded a MacArthur “Genius Grant” in 2017.

There is no charge to watch Death, but you do need to register with LA Opera.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Michelle Cann plays Florence Price – Philadelphia Orchestra – February 19th – February 25th

June 15, 1933 was a pivotal day in the life of composer Florence Price. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed her Symphony in E Minor. This marked the first time the work of a Black woman had her composition performed by a major orchestra in America.

The other important date happened well after Price had passed away. In 2009 a couple, while renovating a house they purchased in Illinois, came across manuscripts, books and other writings by Price. More than half of the works she composed were found. The rediscovery of Price had begun.

Pianist Michelle Cann, who has made Price’s Concerto in One Movement a regular part of her repertoire, joins The Philadelphia Orchestra and music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, for a performance of the work in a film available through February 25th. They are using the original orchestration of the concerto. The website indicates this may be the first time since the 1930s that this orchestration has been performed.

Also on the program are Rossini’s Overture to La scala di seta and Schubert’s Symphony No. 4 (“Tragic”).

Tickets are $17.

DANCE: New Bach – Dance Theatre of Harlem – February 20th – February 27th

The second half of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Winter 2021 Virtual Ballet Series takes place on Saturday with New Bach which will be posted on their YouTube channel on Saturday.

Robert Garland created New Bach which had its world premiere in 2001 just after the 9/11 tragedy. Anna Kisselgoff, in her New York Times review, said of the work upon its premiere (with specific names from that performance): “Mr. Garland has used the Balanchine model in the best sense in New Bach,’ and alludes to the jazzy syncopation of the Bach-Balanchine masterpiece Concerto Barocco. Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor, (conducted here by Joseph E. Fields with Deborah Wong as the violin soloist), has impelled him into formal patterns studded with occasional pelvis swivels, limp arms descending from rotating shoulders and wiggles in plié. Nothing is overdone, however, as four couples are in frequent interplay with the leads — Donald Williams, wittily assertive in a noble style, and Tanya Wideman-Davis, eye-riveting in her robust but refined classical silhouette.”

There is no charge to watch New Bach.

OPERA: Puccini’s La Rondine – San Francisco Opera – February 20th – February 21st

Conducted by Ion Marin; starring Angela Gheorghiu, Gerard Powers, Anna Christy and Misha Didyk. This Nicolas Joël production is from the 2007-2008 season.

Puccini’s La Rondine had its world premiere in Monaco in 1917. The libretto, based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert, was written by Giuseppe Adami.

Multiple people collide in this opera about love. Magda is Rombaldo’s kept mistress. While entertaining friends, including the poet Prunier, she realizes how much she misses being in love. Prunier is in love with Lisette, who is Magda’s maid. A young man enters their group, Ruggero, who falls in love with Magda. Could he possibly provide the true love she so desperately desires? Who will end with whom and will they all live happily ever after?

This production marked Gheorghiu’s debut with San Francisco Opera. Joshua Kosman, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, said, “Gheorghiu’s company debut is long overdue, but her performance in the signature role of Magda was worth the wait. Her tone was strong but tender, with an irresistible blend of earthiness and purity, and when she lofted the high notes of “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta,” her breath control and flawless intonation seemed to make time stand still.”

JAZZ: Jason Marsalis and the K Love Experience – Snug Harbor (on Stage it) – February 21st – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

You know Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, the late Ellis Marsalis and perhaps even Delfeayo Marsalis. But do you also know drummer/vibraphonist Jason Marsalis? If not, Sunday’s performance from New Orleans’ Snug Harbor will give you a great opportunity to hear the youngest of the Marsalis brothers.

This concert will feature music with Afro-Cuban, funk, samba, reggae coursing through its veins. This won’t just be music to sit and listen to, you’ll want to get up and dance.

Tickets are $15.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Daniil Trifonov Recital – Shriver Hall – February 21st – 5:30 PM EST/2:30 PM PST

Are you tired of me constantly having a recital by pianist Daniil Trifonov on my best bets? I hope not, because there’s a reason his performances regularly appear on my list, he’s that good.

This performance, filmed at New York’s 92nd Street Y, finds Trifonov performing Szymanowski’s Sonata No. 3, Op. 36 and Debussy’s Pour le piano.

He concludes with Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5.

Tickets are $15 and allow for on-demand streaming through February 28th.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bang on a Can Marathon #5 – February 21st – 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST

Fans of contemporary classical music will not want to miss this Sunday’s Bang on a Can Marathon. All you have to do is look at the line-up:

Hour 1: Jakhongir Shukur’s Potter’s Wheel performed by Robert Black; Jennifer Walshe performing her Happiness Starts Right Now; Maria Huld Markan Sigfusdottir’s Pending, performed by Chi-chi Nwanoku and a new work by Amir Elsaffar performed by Ken Thomson

Hour 2: A new work by Gregory Spears performed by David Byrd-Marrow; a new work by Kristina Wolfe performed by Molly Barth; Gabriel Kahane’s Hollywood & Vine performed by Arlen Hlusko and a new work written and performed by Bora Yoon with video by R. Luke Dubois

Hour 3: Matthew Shipp performs his Spaceman’s Blues; Joel Thompson’s Supplication and Compensation performed by Anthony Roth Costanzo; Rohan Chander’s △ or The Tragedy of Hikkomori Loveless from FINAL//FANTASY performed by Vicky Chow and a new work written and performed by David Cossin.

HOUR 4: Eve Beglarian’s A Solemn Shyness performed by Lara Downes; a new work written and performed by Ingrid Laubrock; Molly Herron’s Canon No. 4 performed by Maya Stone and a new work by Alvin Lucier performed by Mark Stewart.

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

OPERA: Sole e Amore – Lyric Opera of Chicago – Begins February 21st – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Fans of Italian opera will want to check out Sole e Amore which will feature arias by Bellini, Donizetti, Mascagni, Puccini, Rossini and Verdi. Members of the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble will be performing.

They include baritones Leroy Davis and Ricardo José Rivera; bass Anthony Reed; bass-baritone David Weigel; mezzo-sopranos Katherine Beck, Katherine DeYoung, and Kathleen Felty; sopranos Maria Novella Malfatti and Denis Vélez; tenors Martin Luther Clark and Lunga Eric Hallam and pianist Chris Reynolds.

Enrique Mazzola, who will become the Lyric’s music director in the 2021-2022 season, curated the program and will also play piano for much of the recital.

The program is free and will be available on the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s YouTube channel.

PLAYS/MUSICALS: TruSpeak…Hear Our Voices – February 21st – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) has assembled a very impressive line-up for their gala event, TruSpeak…Hear Our Voices on Sunday.

Maggie Baird, Brendan Bradley, Brenda Braxton (Smokey Joe’s Cafe), Jim Brochu (The Big Voice: God or Merman?), Nick Cearley (one half of The Skivvies), Robert Cuccioli (Irish Rep’s A Touch of the Poet), Andrew Lynn Green, Ann Harada (Avenue Q), Dickie Hearts (Grace and Frankie), Cady Huffman (Tony Award-winner The Producers), Crystal Kellogg (School of Rock), Will Mader, Lauren Molina (the other half of The Skivvies), Jill Paice (An American in Paris), Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change), Jana Robbins (Gypsy), Dominique Sharpton, Haley Swindal, Regina Taylor (I’ll Fly Away), Crystal Tigney and Tatiana Wechsler are all participated.

The gala will feature monologues, plays and an online musical.

TRU is a non-profit that helps in the development of new theatre companies and new works.

Tickets are $55 with VIP tickets also available (this is a fundraiser after all) that will include virtual meet-and-greet opportunities.

BROADWAY/CABARET: Santino Fontana with Seth Rudetsky – February 21st: 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

One of my favorite movies of all time is Tootsie. When the musical was announced Santino Fontana was cast in the role of Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels. (If you don’t know the movie, please do yourself a favor and watch it.) I purchased a ticket to see the show only to find out Fontana was out after the birth of his daughter. I held onto my ticket in hopes that I could see Fontana’s Tony Award-winning performance, but sadly the show closed before I had a chance to do so.

Luckily we can all see how talented he is when he joins Seth Rudetsky for this weekend’s concert. He’ll share music and stories from his career that has included being Prince Topher in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella and Tony in Billy Elliot. Filmgoers will recognize him as the voice of Prince Hans in Frozen.

If you are unable to watch the live performance on Sunday, there is an encore showing of the concert on Monday, February 22nd at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST.

That is my list of my Best Bets: February 19th – February 21st. But before I go, I have a few reminders:

The Metropolitan Opera’s weeklong look at the work of Franco Zeffirelli concludes with the first-ever streaming of his 1989-1990 season production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni on Friday; the first-ever streaming of his 1996-1997 season production of Bizet’s Carmen on Saturday and concludes with the 2009-2010 revival of his 1987 staging of Puccini’s Turandot on Sunday.

Irish Repertory Theatre’s @Home Winter Festival continues this weekend. There are five different productions available for viewing. You can find out details here.

Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Icons on Inspiration with Julie Andrews, Common, Katy Perry, Yuja Wang and more is still available for free streaming (though donations are encouraged)

There you have it. The complete list of Best Bets: February 19th – February 21st. I hope you enjoy the culture, you enjoy the weekend and for those of you struggling with the aftermath of the winter storms this week, I’m sending you my best.

Main Photo: Tyshawn Sorey in a still from Death (Courtesy LA Opera)

The post Best Bets: February 19th – February 21st appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Clearly not all the fireworks are going to be taking place in Tampa. In fact, I’d be willing to wager that these are some of the best offerings on any given weekend in recent memory. Though I will admit there aren’t a lot of new offerings on Sunday, but many of these listings are for more than just one day.

Our top pick this weekend is drummer/multi-instrumentalist/composer Tyshawn Sorey at the Village Vanguard on Friday and Saturday.

So let’s get to it. Here are the Best Bets: February 5th – February 7th.

PLAYS/READINGS: Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue – Center Theatre Group – Now – April 4th

If you’ve seen the film One Night in Miami, you are familiar with the work of playwright Kemp Powers. He adapted his play for the Regina King-directed film now available on Amazon. (Earlier this week the film received two Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor – Leslie Odom, Jr. and Best Director for King). Kemp is also the co-director and co-writer of Pixar’s newest film, Soul.

Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue tells the story of twin brothers who find life treats them very differently. One brother has to battle with racism because of his dark skin and the other can pass as white. The play takes place in two different settings: New York City in the 1980s when they were just boys and a Minnesota courthouse in 2006, by which time their lives have taken very different paths.

This “produced reading” (meaning there are sets and costumes) stars Giovanni Adams, Jovan Adepo (Fences), Amaia Arana, Lorena Martinez (South Coast Rep’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Connor Paolo (Business Doing Pleasure), Adam J. Smith (Taken 3), Cory Michael Smith (1985), Larry Bates (Big Little Lies) and Justin Lawrence Barnes (InterVallum). It was directed by Jennifer Chang.

Center Theatre Group subscribers and donors can access Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue for free. There is a $10 streaming fee for all others.

MUSIC/DANCE FESTIVAL: Whistleblower – Philip Glass’ Days and Nights Festival – Now Available

In a lead-up to their tenth annual Days and Nights Festival in Big Sur, they are holding a digital celebration beginning this week. Composer Philip Glass created the festival and many of his works will be available through at least May. Ten projects have been announced so far and the festival launches with a film of the 2017 performance of Whistleblower.

Inspired by Edward Snowden’s leak of classified information, Whistleblower has music by Glass with concept and text by performance poet Jerry Quickley. Glass appears in this film. Also performing are Miranda Cuckson, Matt Haimovitz, David Harding, Tara Hugo, Lavina Meijer, Alex Weil and Alex Weston.

Also debuting this weekend are The Pattern of the Surface from Molissa Fenley Dance Company in a performance also from 2017 and Heart Strings, a musical depiction of the Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet created by Tenzin Choegyal and Glass.

Tickets to watch each performance are $5. You can buy each for $20. The Festival is also offering discounts or comps for those who don’t have the ability to pay. You can submit a request for that here.

PLAYS: All the Devils are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain – Shakespeare Theatre Company – Now – February 7th

Patrick Page may be best known for his menacing portrayals of some of the theatre’s great villains. He was Tony-nominated for his performance as Hades in Hadestown. He also appeared opposite Denzel Washington in a Broadway production of Julius Caesar, The Green Goblin in the ill-fated musical, Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark and as Scar in The Lion King.

In this 80-minute film, the first-ever online production produced by Washington, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company, Page examines the many villains William Shakespeare created in his plays and how they progressed from simple stock characters in the playwright’s early works to fully-realized villains that set a new standard for the depiction of those characters we most love to hate.

Page has played his share of Shakespeare’s characters with STC including Claudius in Hamlet, the title character in Macbeth, Iago in Othello and Prospero in The Tempest.

Page wrote the script for All the Devils are Here. I’ve seen Page in multiple shows and can assure you that this is a perfect pairing of actor and material. And his voice…if you haven’t heard it (no doubt you have, even if you aren’t aware), you’re in for a real treat with his take on Shakespeare’s bad guys.

Tickets are $25

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Jupiter String Quartet – Kranner Center for the Performing Arts – February 5th – 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST

Violinists Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel and cellist Daniel McDonough make up the classical music ensemble known as Jupiter String Quartet. It’s a family affair. Liz is Meg’s older sister and Daniel is Meg’s husband. This family, however, makes beautiful music together.

On Friday, February 5th they are releasing a new album with Jasper String Quartet that features works by Felix Mendelssohn, the world premiere recording of a work by Dan Visconti and Last Round by Osvaldo Golijov on Marquis Classics.

That same day they launch the first of four digital concerts in collaboration with the Kranner Center for the Performing Arts under the title Reflection and Renewal.

Each performance becomes available at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST and is free to stream.

This week’s first concert features Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 95, “Serioso” and Kati Agócs’ Imprimatur (her second string quartet). Imprimatur was commissioned by The Aspen Music Festival and School, Harvard Musical Association, and the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The link takes you to the full line-up which will include works by William Bolcom, Haydn, Mendelssohn and Schubert.

OPERA: Il trittico – Royal Opera House – Debuts February 5th – 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST

This weekend the Royal Opera House begins streaming (through March 7th) their 2011 production of Giacomo Puccini’s Il trittico.

Il trittico is a trilogy of one-act operas. The three operas are Il tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. The latter is the best-known of the three as it is the most commonly performed.

Jealousy and murder are on tap in Il tabarro involving the love triangle of Michele (Lucio Gallo), his wife Giorgetta (Eva-Maria Westbroek) and her lover Luigi.

Suor Angelica is the dramatic story of a nun (Ermonela Jaho) dealing with loss.

Gianni Schicchi (Gallo) depicts what happens when someone dies and the will goes missing. And you think your relatives were difficult?

Richard Jones directed this 2016 production (a revival of his 2011 production) and Antonio Pappano conducted.

Tickets are £3 which equates to roughly $4.10 (as of press time).

PLAYS/CONVERSATION: TCG Books’ First Friday with Michael R. Jackson – February 5th – 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST

This year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama went to playwright Michael R. Jackson for his musical A Strange Loop. TCG Books, a publisher who releases plays and musicals in book form, is hosting a conversation with Jackson on the occasion of their publishing A Strange Loop.

The leader character in A Strange Loop, Usher, offers perhaps the most succinct description of the show. “It’s about a black, queer man writing a musical about a black, queer man who’s writing a musical about a black queer man who’s writing a musical about a black queer man, etc.”

Jackson told the New York Times in a 2019 interview about his experience seeing Brian Dennehy in a production of Death of a Salesman. As a black, gay, young man he felt innate sadness and that Arthur Miller’s play revealed that in “America you’re worth more dead than alive.” But he also asked himself the question that would lead to A Strange Loop.

“What if I can make an old white man empathize with what it might be like to be a young, black, gay man and suffer — and not because he’s being killed by the police or destroyed in some way like that, but it’s actually an emotional journey from the inside?”

This conversation will take place on TCG’s Facebook Page. Those interested in buying the book can purchase it here.

JAZZ: Christian McBride’s New Jawn – SFJAZZ – February 5th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

When jazz bassist Christian appeared at SFJAZZ in 2016 for this concert, he was certainly working out the material that ended up on his 2018 album Christian McBride’s New Jawn. The line-up on the album and this concert are the same: trumpeter Josh Evans, saxophonist Marcus Strickland, and drummer Nasheet Waits.

By the time the album was released, McBride and his ensemble coalesced their work into a Grammy-nominated work that garnered this praise from Hilary Brown in Downbeat Magazine, “The word ‘jawn’— a fresh new phenomenon—is familiar argot to Christian McBride, a Philadelphia native. And when it comes to trailblazing new, cool jazz concepts in eponymous trios or big bands, the venerable bassist always delivers. Enter his latest jawn—a pianoless quartet, born of a New York scene that sates East Coast soul-seekers and purists alike. Christian McBride’s New Jawn faithfully salutes its forebears—Gerry Mulligan, Ornette Coleman and the like—but leave it to this next-gen assimilation of bandleaders to take musical liberties.”

Hearing these four amazing musicians work on this material live well before putting it to vinyl is going to be a great way to launch your weekend.

Tickets are $5 which allows for one month of Fridays at Five performances or $60 for a complete year of them.

TOP PICK: JAZZ: Tyshawn Sorey – Village Vanguard – February 5th and 6th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

February is a busy month of drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey. Next week Opera Philadelphia will unveil the world premiere of his Save the Boys, a composition written for and performed by countertenor John Holiday. But before that happens, he’s taking to the stage at the Village Vanguard in New York.

Sorey was recently profiled in the New York Times Magazine where writer Adam Schatz wrote, “Sorey who turned 40 over the summer, would be worth writing about for his drumming alone. The power, precision and inventiveness of his playing often draw comparisons with masters like Max Roach, Elvin Jones and Tony Williams. But Sorey refuses to play conventionally virtuosic drum solos — he prefers to play delicately and sparely, if at all — and he avoids being photographed with his sticks in the athletic poses that have defined the image of most jazz drummers. He is also a brilliant trombonist and pianist, and in the last few years he has become as arresting a figure in contemporary classical and experimental new music as he is in jazz..”

Joining Sorey for these two performances are saxophonist Joe Lovano (who just released a new album, Garden of Expression, on ECM Records last week) and guitarist Bill Frisell.

Tickets are $10 for each performance.

OPERA: Lohengrin – San Francisco Opera – February 6th – February 7th

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Brandon Jovanovich, Camilla Nylund, Petra Lang and Gerd Grochowski. This Daniel Slater production is from the 2012-2013 season.

Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin had its world premiere in 1850 in Weimar. It is one of his few romantic operas.

The setting is Antwerp in the 10th century. Elsa is accused by Friedrich von Telramund of killing her brother in an effort to prevent Telramund from assuming the dukedom. The dispute is to be resolved by combat. In an answer to her prays a mysterious knight named Lohengrin appears. He agrees to help Elsa as long as she never asks who he is or where is from. When Lohengrin defeats Telramund in battle, but spares his life, revenge is foremost on Telramund’s mind.

Director Slater updated Wagner’s opera to take place in the mid-20th century in an unnamed Eastern European country.

Joshua Kosman, writing in the SF Chronicle, said of Jovanovich, “In his debut as the mysterious, nameless knight who shows up to defend Elsa of Brabant against the baseless charge of fratricide, Jovanovich combined sweet-toned lyricism and ardent heroism in just the proportions required by this tricky role. His singing was thrillingly pure and tireless, his stage presence simultaneously tender and aloof.”

OPERA RECITAL: Anna Netrebko – Met Stars Live in Concert – February 6th – 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST

Soprano Anna Netrebko is arguably one of the biggest opera stars in the world. She will be performing a recital from Vienna’s Spanish Riding School with pianist Pavel Nebolsin on Saturday as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Stars Live in Concert Series.

The program is slated to include four works by Sergei Rachmaninoff; two by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; three by Richard Strauss; five by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky an one each by Frank Bridge, Gustave Charpentier, Claude Debussy, Antonín Dvořák, Gabriel Fauré, Ruggero Leoncavallo and Jacques Offenbach.

During the recital Mezzo-soprano Elena Maximova will join Netrebko for two duets.

Tickets are $20 and the performance will remain on demand for 14 days.

PLAYS: While Yet I Live – Play-Per-View – February 6th – February 10th

Tony Award-winner Billy Porter’s semi-autobiographical play, While Yet I Live, had its world premiere in the fall of 2014. The cast was Lillias White (The Life, Fela!), Emmy Award winner S. Epatha Merkerson(Come Back, Little Sheba), Elain Graham (Smash), Sheria Irving (Romeo & Juliet, Ethel Sings), Kevyn Morrow (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Sharon Washington (The Scottsboro Boys) and Larry Powell (The Gaze…No Homo).

They are all reuniting with director Sheryl Kaller (Next Fall, Mothers and Sons) to do a reunion reading of the play. The live reading takes place on February 6th at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST. It will be available afterwards on demand through February 10th at 11:30 PM EST/8:30 PM PST.

At the time of the production, Porter said, “This play is a love letter to my mother, my sister, and the women who raised me. Reflecting on my own life experience as a gay, black, Christian man, and survivor of abuse, I wanted to write a play that was about family, faith and the healing power of forgiveness, three things very necessary to move forward and make change in your life. Change is possible, but it takes patience.”

Tickets for the live performance range from $5 – $50 based on your ability to pay. To watch the show afterwards, the price is $15. All proceeds will benefit the Actors Fund Covid-19 Emergency Relief Fund​.

DANCE: Passage – Dance Theatre of Harlem YouTube Channel – February 6th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Dance Theatre of Harlem launches a one-month Winter Series of virtual events and performances with Passage which begins streaming on the company’s YouTube Channel on Saturday, February 6th.

Choreographer Claudia Schreier created Passage for a commission from the Virginia Arts Festival and the State of Virginia’s 2019 Commemoration. Their event recognized the 400th anniversary of the arrival of slaves from Africa to Virginia.

Schreier told the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State that Passage, “addresses themes of struggle and aspiration and reflects, in abstract, the fortitude of the human spirit and an enduring will to prevail. There are several images throughout the ballet that suggest descent or ascent, as well as the presence of water. The movement is borne out of this ebb and flow, much of which is drawn from Jessie’s sweeping score.”

The Jessie is composer Jessie Montgomery. If her name sounds familiar, the Los Angeles Philharmonic has recently included her works in their In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl series. Her music will also be performed by the orchestra in their Icons on Inspiration concert on Saturday (see immediately below for details).

On Friday, February 5th, Schreier and Montgomery will have a conversation on Dance Theatre of Harlem’s YouTube channel and Facebook page at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Icons on Inspiration – Los Angeles Philharmonic – February 6th – 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST

The Los Angeles Philharmonic has certainly figured out how to go big with their events during the pandemic. Icons on Inspiration, their gala on Saturday night is no exception. They have a starry line-up of artists and music lined-up.

Lead by Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, their special guests are long-time Board member and Oscar-winner Julie Andrews, Oscar-winner Common, 13-time Grammy nominee Katy Perry, Oscar-winner Natalie Portman, soprano Liv Redpath, Colombian singer/songwriter and 2-time Grammy Award winner Carlos Vives and classical pianist and 4-time Grammy Award-nominee Yuja Wang.

The program will include Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst; Duke Ellington’s Martin Luther King from The Three Black Kings (arranged by Terence Blanchard); Tchaikovsky’s Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato; Stravinsky’s Berceuse from The Firebird; Arturo Márquez’s Danzon No. 2; Romero’s Fuga can Pajarillo and Mahler’s Das himmlische Leben (arranged by Erwin Stein).

This event is a fundraiser, but you don’t have to make a donation to watch it (though donations are strongly encouraged).

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Schoenberg & Bach – Bard College’s The Orchestra Now – February 7th – 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST

Works by Bach, Lutoslawski, Carreño and Schoenberg are featured in Bard College’s TŌN (The Orchestra Now) first concert of their 2021 season. Leon Botstein leads the orchestra through performances of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3; Lutoslawski’s Funeral Music; Carreño’s Serenade for Strings and closes with Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night).

There is no fee to watch the concert (scheduled to run approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes); however reservations are required. Donations, of course, are accepted with a suggested donation of $15-$35.

Those are my official Best Bets: February 5th – February 7th, but you know I’ll always offer a few reminders of shows that might be ending, or only have one upcoming airdate. Here they are:

MUSICALS: This is your last weekend to catch You I Like the loving tribute to Jerry Herman from the Pasadena Playhouse. Fans of musical theatre – do not miss it! For more information about this show, check out my interview with creator Andy Einhorn here.

CLASSICAL MUSIC/POP MUSIC: For the second week in a row, there are back-to-back episodes of In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl on PBS stations nationwide. The two episodes are Fireworks and Gustavo and Friends. Check your local listings

OPERA: The first week of Black History Month at the Metropolitan Opera concludes this weekend with performances of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro from the 1985-1986 season on Friday; Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos from the 1987-1988 season on Saturday and the 1978-1979 production of Puccini’s Tosca on Sunday.

That should keep you busy this weekend. Whatever you choose to watch from amongst my Best Bets: February 5th – February 7th, I hope you enjoy yourselves!

Photo: Tyshawn Sorey (Courtesy TyshawnSorey.com)

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“I love it! Someone in the cast started it and it just went like a snowball,” he said by phone last week. “They were doing it for their own amusement and it just caught on. I was so proud of them.”

The popularity of the video only mirrors the passion people have for A Chorus Line. The timing for Avian couldn’t be better as his memoir, Dancing Man: A Broadway Choreographer’s Journey, was recently published.

It was while dancing in a production of West Side Story that Avian met the man who would become his best friend and collaborator, Michael Bennett. Together they would work on such landmark shows as Company, Follies, Promises, Promises, A Chorus Line, Ballroom and Dreamgirls. After Bennett passed away in 1987, Avian would continue working on musicals including Miss Saigon, Putting It Together, Sunset Boulevard and ultimately directing that revival of A Chorus Line.

We began our conversation by talking about that iconic choreography that opens A Chorus Line. Here are edited excerpts from the interview. Comments have been edited for clarity and length.

“I Hope I Get It” has such a distinctive style. What inspired that choreography and why do you think that opening remains as vital today as it was in 1975?

What makes it special is Marvin’s [Hamlisch] music because it’s in 6 not 8. Most dance combos you count in 8. Being in six gives it a curve that’s subliminal. The attack is different and you feel it in your gut. I think that’s the root of what makes it so special. Michael did that.

You say in the book that at the age of 10 or 11, even without training, you knew you could dance. Was there one moment that made you come to that realization? Your own “I Can Do That?”

Being home alone and putting on a record player of the things I liked best and I would start dancing around and see where it took me. Being alone you have that freedom. You didn’t know what you were going to do and you let it pour out of your soul. Luckily we had a big living room. My life was concealed because I was gay and my parents were ethnic and it was a big no no. When I put on the music and closed the door and was my myself, I could be who I was and not have any censors around me.

Follies at one point had two men in drag during “Buddy’s Blues.” In 1971 that must have been played as a stereotype. What is the process where ideas like that find their way into a show and as a gay man how did you feel about it?

When we went into the show a lot of the score hadn’t been written yet. Stephen Sondheim needs to see things first. He writes his best showstoppers when he’s out of town. Whether “I’m Still Here” or “Send in the Clowns” or “Being Alive,” it’s because he sees the show. That’s part of his process. I don’t know. It just comes and you roll with it and you do the best you can.

When you and Michael accepted the Tony Award for Best Choreography for A Chorus Line, you said, “This is the professional high point of my life.” Michael said, “Michael Bennett is Bob Avian.” What meant more to you in that moment, winning the award or Michael’s acknowledgement of the importance of your contributions?

Michael and I were so close. We were brothers, never lovers. Everything we did we did together almost 24 hours a day. We were on the phone when we weren’t in the rehearsal studio. It was his ultimate compliment to say, “I love you Bobby.” It’s so much easier and nicer to share success and failure with someone.

Both Sammy Williams (who originated the role of Paul in A Chorus Line) and Baayork Lee (who originated the role of Connie in the same show) told me stories about how cruel Michael could be.

If you are successful and you are working on a multimillion dollar musical the pressure is enormous. You have to have strong shoulders to handle this. The one fear you have is are they going to fire me.

In many cases it’s about their anger in themselves. I find myself getting so angry at a dancer or a group of dancers when I’m unhappy with myself. It’s aimed at me, but it comes out of my mouth and at them. It’s like using the wrong color on a canvas.

Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard, the London revival of Follies and many more are part of your post-Michael Bennett career. Some artists say they don’t choose the work, the work chooses them. Is that your point of view?

Well it happens to me. I had no idea what was going to happen when Michael died. He talked me into doing Follies in London on his deathbed. I didn’t want to do it again. I kept saying it’ll never be the original production. What it gave me was Cameron Mackintosh. He just took to me and globbed onto me and dictated the rest of my career.

Michael was clearly so important to you. What do you think he’d say if he could see what you’ve done with your life and career since his passing?

Our respect for each other was so honest and so real. We exposed all our inner souls to each other. I was lucky to have that relationship. I think he would say, “Well done, Bobby.”

Photo of Bob Avian and Julie Andrews courtesy of Bob Avian

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Niv Ashkenazi: Violins of Hope – The Soraya Facebook Page – April 17th – 7 PM EDT/4PM PDT

Violins of Hope is a program celebrating the recovery and restoration of over 60 stringed instruments from the Holocaust. They were restored by Amnon Weinstein, and his son, Avshalom, in Tel Aviv.

The Soraya had scheduled several events around the Violins of Hope, but those have been postponed due to the pandemic. While they have been rescheduled for early 2021, Niv Ashkenazi will give a concert on one of those violins on Friday.

Ashkenazi is the only musician in North America who has been loaned one of these precious instruments. He recently released an album entitled, appropriately enough, Niv Ashkenazi: The Violins of Hope.

For this live streaming event, Ashkenazi will perform the “Theme from Schindler’s List” by John Williams, “The Chassid” by Julius Chajes, an improvisation on Ernest Bloch’s “Baal Shem, II. Nigun” and George Perlman’s “Dance of the Rebbitzen.”

Prior to the performance, The Soraya’s Executive Director Thor Steingraber will conduct a conversation with Ashkenazi about Violins of Hope and his recording.

Celebrating 25 Magical Years of Disney on Broadway – BroadwayWorld – April 17th – 7 PM EDT/4 PM PDT

Last November, Disney celebrated a quarter century of musicals on Broadway with a concert at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York. The event was a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

That concert, which featured veteran cast members from Disney’s many shows, is being streamed as an additional fundraiser for BC/EFA, but this time for their Covid-19 Emergency Assistance Fund. There is no charge to watch the show, but they are asking for donations.

As you probably know, Disney has had many a blockbuster musical on Broadway. Their shows include Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, AIDA and Frozen.

Amongst the performers at this concert are Sierra Boggess, Norm Lewis and Sherie Renee Scott from The Little Mermaid, Christian Borle and Ashley Brown from Mary Poppins, Kerry Butler and Susan Egan from Beauty and the Beast, Merle Dandrige, Mandy Gonzalez and Adam Pascal from AIDA, James Monroe Iglehart, Adam Jacobs and Michael James Scott from Aladdin plus a reunion of cast members from Newsies.

Additional participants include Gavin Creel (Hello, Dolly!), Whoopi Goldberg (the original film version of The Lion King), Ashley Park (Mean Girls) and more.

Soft Power Listening Party – Public Theater NY YouTube Channel – April 17th – 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT

When Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang’s musical-within-a-play Soft Power played the Ahmanson Theatre in 2018 it proved to be a wholly unique way of telling a story through both a play and a musical. I loved it.

The show was reworked and opened at The Public Theater in New York and that cast recored the show. Soft Power was just made available on Ghostlight Records in the digital and streaming formats.

To celebrate the release, some of the cast and the creators of the show are holding a listening party on The Public Theater’s YouTube channel. They are also raising funds for both The Public Theater and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The Phantom of the Opera – The Show Must Go On YouTube Page – April 17th – beginning at 2 PM EDT/11 AM PDT for 48 hours

Andrew Lloyd Webber continues to make performances of his musicals available for 48 hours with this version of his blockbuster musical The Phantom of the Opera.

This production stars Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom, Sierra Boggess as Cristine Daaé and Hadley Fraser Raoul. Nick Morris and Laurence Connor directed this 25th Anniversary performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

Attaca Quartet performs Caroline Shaw’s Orange – The Greene Space YouTube Page

If you aren’t familiar with composer Caroline Shaw, this is a great opportunity to get introduced to her work. Orange, performed here by the Attaca Quartet, is one of Shaw’s highly-acclaimed works. Their recording of Orange won the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Musical/Small Ensemble Performance.

Shaw is the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Partita for 8 Voices.

This performance comes from a 2019 performance at WNYC/WQXR’s The Greene Space.

TCM Classic Film Festival: Special Home Edition – Turner Classic Movies – Now – April 20th

The annual TCM Classic Film Festival had to be canceled due to the ongoing crisis. However, they have moved the festival from Hollywood to your living room. For fans of theatre and jazz there are a few options worth checking out (whether you have never seen them or want a chance to revisit them!) Note that some are not showing at convenient times (unless you are an insomniac) so set your DVR.

Grey Gardens – April 18th 1:30 AM EDT/April 17th 10:30 PM PDT

This is the documentary that inspired the Tony Award-winning musical. The Maysles Brothers (Albert and David) made an utterly compelling film about Jackie Kennedy’s aunt, Edith Bouvier Beale (79) and cousin, Edith ‘Little Edie’ Bouvier Beale (56). They live in a completely rundown mansion on Long Island with no running water that is filled with multiple animals including numbers cats and raccoons in the attic.

The Man with the Golden Arm – April 18th 6:00 AM EDT/3:00 AM PDT

This 1955 film by Otto Preminger makes our list because Elmer Bernstein’s score is so driven by jazz. Not the first film to use jazz as the style of a film score, but certainly one of the best.

Frank Sinatra stars as an ex-junkie who returns home after half-a-year in prison. While in prison he not only got clean, but learned to play drums. Upon his return he has to face the real world and whether or not he has fully recovered from his heroin addiction.

Both Sinatra and Bernstein were Oscar-nominated for their work on this film. Another reason to check out the film is Saul Bass’s amazing title sequence.

Mame – April 19th 3:30 PM EDT/12:30 PM PDT

This is the classic Rosalind Russell film from 1958 that is truly essential viewing. Mame tells the same story as Jerry Herman’s musical (and the subsequent disaster of a film of that musical with Lucille Ball), but Russell’s performance here is superb. Fans of the musical will want to check out this film. In our troubled times perhaps we can all take some sage advice from our dear Auntie Mame.

Singin’ in the Rain – April 19th 6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT

One of Hollywood’s best musicals ever and recently on the list of best films to watch during the pandemic. Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds star. Watch this film and you’ll be singing “Good Morning” on Monday.

Victor, Victoria – April 20th 3:30 AM EDT/12:30 AM PDT

Blake Edwards’s 1982 film musical was, of course, the basis for the Broadway musical. Julie Andrews stars as a woman, pretending to be a man, pretending to be a woman, who becomes a singing sensation in Paris. But she has to maintain the disguise just as she falls in love with a gangster played by James Garner.

The film also stars a phenomenal Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren and Alex Karras.

The songs were written by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse.

The Verdi Chorus: The Force of Destiny – The Verdi Chorus Website and Facebook Page – April 18th – 10:30 PM EDT/ 7:30 PM PDT

Forced to cancel their planned April 18th concert, The Verdi Chorus is going to stream their first online concert: The Force of Destiny. This was their 2018 concert that featured selections from Verdi’s La forza del destino, Nabucco and La Traviata. It also included music from Strauss’s Die Fledermaus.

Joining the Verdi Chorus are Shana Blake Hill, soprano, Karin Mushegain, mezzo-soprano, Alex Boyer, tenor and baritone Ben Lowe.

Treasure Island – National Theatre Live’s YouTube Page – Now – April 23rd

Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel has been given a couple twists for this 2014 stage version. First of all, Jim, is played by actress Patsy Ferran. There is music and songs by Dan Jones with additional songs by John Tams.

But the reviews were extraordinary. Arthur Darvill (of Dr. Who) plays Long John Silver. Polly Findlay directed the play. Tim van Someren directed the film. Treasure Island runs 1 hour 50 minutes.

Buyer and Cellar – Broadway.Com – April 19th – 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT

Actor Michael Urie has performed Jonathan Tolin’s Buyer and Cellar countless times. It’s a perfect role for him as the man who attends to Barbra Streisand’s personal shopping mall in her Malibu home. Of course, this isn’t a true story, but what if it was?

On Sunday Urie will perform the show from his own home as a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Covid-19 Emergency Assitance Fund. The performance will stream on Broadway.Com.

This is a thoroughly entertaining show and well worth your time.

***Don’t forget there is also Madama Butterfly on April 17th, Adriana Lecouvreur on April 18th and Der Rosenkavalier on April 19th – each available for 23 hours beginning at 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT at the Metropolitan Opera’s website.

Another reminder that WNET is making five different Great Performances available. For details you can go here.

Photo: The company of Treasure Island (Photo by Johan Persson/Courtesy of National Theatre Live)

The post Culture Best Bets at Home: April 17th – 19th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Which makes her the perfect actress to play the role of the Dowager Empress in Anastasia. The character has to be convinced that a young woman may actually be her long-lost granddaughter, the only survivor of the brutal murders of the Romanov family. This is a woman who has been through a lot and has seen a lot. As has Franz.

Recently I spoke with Franz by phone about Anastasia and about her experiences working with artists who need no first names:  Sondheim, Fosse and Prince. But first, Flaherty and Ahrens (composer/lyricist of Anastasia.)

What inspires you most about the songs they have written for Anastasia?

What inspires me most, besides the gorgeous melodies, are the lyrics. They are very poignant and very current with the messages that Lynn has written. It is very inspiring for anyone: girls, boys, adults. It’s very inspiring and empowering. And, of course, Terrance McNally’s book! I just love him.

You said in an interview with the Kare Reviews podcast that Anastasia was the most perfect show you’ve ever been involved with. What makes the show more perfect than some of the legendary musicals in which you’ve appeared?

Oh dear, did I say “the most?” (She then laughs very broadly.) Actually Into the Woods is the most perfect and this is right up there with it. Not only does it talk about love and hope and family, it’s also saying never give up on your dreams. Perseverance, strength, courage, that’s what I feel is the very important message this show provides. 

Let’s talk about some of those shows. The first show you saw was also your first show: Sweet Charity. What do you remember most about your first night?

Oh my gosh. Am I going to be able to swing my leg over that? I wasn’t a dancer. Am I really going to get my leg over that dance barre? I didn’t know how to move my hips back then. I was so naïve. People apologized for swearing in front of me and now I cuss up a storm.

Fosse/Verdon depicted a not very charismatic Fosse. With your experiences in Sweet Charity and Pippin, what do yo think is most misunderstood about who Fosse was as a man?

He went through all the things he went through, with drugs and stuff. I think there’s always something that one wants to escape from their own reality. Maybe he totally didn’t accept himself as the great master that he was. I don’t know.  

He was a charmer. He was electrifying to watch and be around. Kind of like Lenny Bernstein (with whom she worked on Mass,) everyone fell in love with him. Bob was such a genius.

From Company through to Assassins, you had a front row seat and a perspective on how Sondheim evolved through his career. Why do you think revivals of some of the shows you’ve been in are being far more warmly received than the original productions?

I think the audiences have been educated and have become more aware with the sensibilities and insights that Steve has. He’s just so progressive and was just way ahead of his time in writing. I mean no one else really wrote like him with shows that depict or went into the psychology of the people that he wrote about – which was all part of him, I believe. And what he was going through in looking for love and acceptance.

Producer/director Hal Prince passed away recently. What set Prince apart and what do you think current producers can learn from him?

He could paint that stage and the way he directed he was visionary. He could paint like Picasso and coming from being a stage manager, he was one of the greats, if not the greatest.

Apart from musicals you played the role of the mother in Marsha Norman’s ‘Night Mother. That couldn’t be further from what most audiences know of you. How did that experience challenge you?

I loved doing that play. That was a really wonderful experience and challenge. The depth and the desperation to try to save her daughter. I could relate to the desperateness of wanting to save someone or one’s self from going deeper. 

Julie Andrews talked about doing tours of musicals as being “lonely, but it does give you some kind of spine, I think it does give you some kind of grit.” At this point in your life and career, what does touring give you?

She’s quite right because sometimes it really is lonely. But to know that I can do this, that I can take care of myself. Although our company manager, Denny, he takes care of all of us, but I can make do with almost any situation. I can survive on my own.

Did you know you had those skills?

I would think so. Coming from Kansas City, Missouri and going to New York City with only 500 dollars. But I knew that was where I was supposed to be.

Anastasia is currently playing at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa through November 17th.

Main Photo: Victoria Bingham and Joy Franz in Anastasia (Photo by Evan Zimmerman – MurphyMade)

Archive Broadway photos by Martha Swope/Courtesy of the New York Public Library Archives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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If you are expecting to hear “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo” and other songs from the Disney animated film, you’d be mistaken. This show began its life as a television special starring Julie Andrews. It aired in 1957. It was a huge success seen by more than 100 million people.

It was remade in 1965 with Lesley Ann Warren and then again in 1997 with Brandy Norwood. Among the best known songs from this musical are “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible” and “Ten Minutes Ago.”

Tatyana Lubov plays “Ella” with Louis Griffin as “Topher” (aka The Prince.) Douglas Carter Beane, whose plays include Little Dog Laughed and As Bees In Honey Drown, updated the book. Mark Brokaw is the director.

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