New In Music This Week: April 21^st has some outstanding releases for you to explore. 

My top pick is:

JAZZ: SILENT, LISTENING – Fred Hersch  – ECM Records

I’ve been listening to pianist/composer Hersch’s album for about two months now. I can’t stop listening to it. For nearly 51 minutes, I get to do exactly what Hersch implores us to do with his title:  be silent and listen.

Of course, he’s being relatively silent and is listening as well. Listening to his deepest thoughts and expressing them through what seems a largely improvised series of recordings.

He opens with the Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington composition Star-Crossed Lovers. He follows that with six exquisite originals before performing Russ Freeman’s The Wind. The album’s last three tracks are another Hersch original and songs written by  Oscar Hammerstein II and Sigmund Romberg (Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise) and Alec Wilder and Ben Ross Berenberg’s Winter of My Discontent.

There’s no discontent to be found here. This is a truly beautiful solo piano recording.

The rest of my selections for New In Music This Week: April 21^st are:

CLASSICAL: ALL THESE LIGHTED THINGS – Elim Chan, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra – Alpha Classics

The title of this album comes from a three-movement work by Elizabeth Ogonek that is sandwiched between Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2.

All These Lighted Things was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra were Ogonek was Composer-in-Residence. It was there that she had her violin concerto In*Silence given its first performance under the baton of Elim Chan.

I really like All These Lighted Things. The nearly 15-minute work has three very different movements, but they coalesce nicely into a potent composition and recording.

Chan makes some interesting choices with Romeo and Juliet and her Daphnis et Chloé is equally convincing. But the highlight remains Ogonek’s work.

CLASSICAL: CHOPIN: ÉTUDES, Opp. 10 & 25 – Yunchan Lim – Decca Classics

South Korean pianist Lim plays these 24 works by Chopin with such dexterity that it seems impossible that he’s so young. Though it shouldn’t. In 2022 was the youngest person to win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Études Op. 10 were published in 1833.  Chopin was only a few years older than Lim so perhaps these works, amongst the most challenging in the classical repertoire, are being performed by someone so young – though much older musicians still find these works challenging. It is worth noting that some of these études were composed when Chopin was a teenager. Two years later Études Op. 25 were composed. Each set has 12 études.

Lim has been widely praised for his seemingly effortless skills. This album is only going to further that reputation.

CLASSICAL: DELIUS: HASSAN – COMPLETE INCIDENTAL MUSIC – Britten Sinfonia, Britten Sinfonia Voices, Jamie Phillips, Zeb Soanes – Chandos

This work was a discovery for me. Frederick Delius composed incidental music for a play by poet James Elroy Flecker. The work, whose full title is The Story of Hassan of Bagdad and How He Came to Make the Golden Journey to Samarkand, had its world premiere in 1923.

This recording, featuring narration by Soanes, has every note of music written by Delius and runs 80 minutes. In an interview published in the Christian Science Monitor in October 1923, Delius said, “At present my music is bound up with the drama for me that I cannot think of it apart from it.”

This recording would certainly have changed his mind. The narration (by Meurig Bowen) is never intrusive, but I found myself longing to get straight to the music. 

CLASSICAL: SORABJI: TOCCATA TERZA – Abel Sánchez-Aguilera – Brilliant Classics

Composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji is not a household name. yet his deeply challenging compositions are clearly catnip for pianist Sánchez-Aguilera whose previous album was 2020’s Toccata Seconda per Pianoforteby Sorabji. 

Both works are lengthy (each over two hours) and require a level of playing that both works require. The Toccata Terza was composed in 1955 and was rediscovered in 2019 after it had gone missing.

I wasn’t familiar with Sorabji but the playing on this album and the compositions themselves mean I will be listening to more of his works. In the hands of Sánchez-Aguilera compositions that can seem dense and lengthy turn into fascinating explorations of the keyboard and all it can do.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: MAGNOLIA – Aleksander Dębicz – Warner Classics

Polish composer and pianist Dębicz first came to my attention with his 2015 album Cinematic Piano. Film music and Bach have been hugely influential to Debicz and his albums leading up to Magnolia have reflected that.

This album is the first album of solely his music. He is joined on Magnolia by horn player Konrad Gołda, guitarist Łukasz Kuropaczewski, countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, folk flutist Michał Żak and cellist Marcin Zdunik,

Magnolia feels like a soundtrack to a film. But perhaps that was the point, to encourage us to create that movie in our own hearts and minds.  To sit with this beautiful music and let our imaginations run free.

If so, this is beautiful music to do just that.

JAZZ: ORCHESTRAS – Bill Frisell – Blue Note Records

Guitarist/composer Frisell has long accomplished so much with his choiceful consideration of musical partners. For this album his finest choice proves to by arranger Michael Gibbs who has partnered with Frisell to create concerts with two different ensembles that achieve huge success.

The first is with the Brussells Philharmonic led by Alexander Hanson. Frisell is joined by bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston for a performance that includes four songs written by Frisell, two by Gibbs and Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life.

The second album and concert is with the much smaller Umbria Jazz Orchestra. Two songs, Ron Carter’s Doom and Frisell’s Electricity are performed with both ensembles. It’s fascinating to hear the differences and the similarities in both performances.

Either way, this is a richly satisfying album that is a must-have for Frisell fans. Blue Note has also released a 3LP set that includes material note included from the concerts.

JAZZ: PERPETUAL VOID – Marta Sánchez Trio – Intakt Records

Drummer Savannah Harris and bassist Chris Tordini join pianist/composer Sánchez for a massively impressive album. The album tells you with the first track what to expect. I Don’t Wanna Live the Wrong Life and Then Die. 

Okay. We’re not taking things easy here. And they don’t, but the music is utterly compelling. Other titles include Prelude to Grief, The End of that Period and This Is The Last One About You might make you think this is all darkness. 

Sánchez is smarter than that and her musicians go along with the story here. This is Sánchez’s first trio album (having worked a lot in the quintet format). I hope there are more trio albums in her future. I wouldn’t mind be trapped in this perpetual void waiting for another trio album, but I hope I don’t have to.

OPERA: THE HOURS – KEVIN PUTS/GREG PIERCE – Renée Felming, Kelli O’Hara, Joyce DiDonato, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Yannick Nézet-Séguin  – Erato

I’ve written a few times about this wonderful opera based on Michael Cunningham’s novel. Now you can hear exactly what’s so special about it in this recording made live during a performance at the Metropolitan Opera.

DiDonato, Fleming and O’Hara a terrific in this story of three women in different times within the 20^th century. The whole cast is in fine form in this powerful opera. Fans of Virginia Woolf, the novel or the feature film will find this story being told in a unique and powerful way.

That’s all for New In Music This Week: April 21^st.

I hope you enjoy the music!

The post NEW IN MUSIC THIS WEEK: APRIL 21st appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

My top pick is:

MUSICALS:  DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES – Original Cast Recording – Nonesuch Records

In 2005 I first saw the Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas musical The Light in the Piazza. Guettel’s music and lyrics for this show are, I believe, the most romantic since West Side Story.

Romance takes a darker turn in their new musical which is based on the same 1958 television movie that inspired the 1962 film starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick.

This musical finds Kelli O’Hara in the Remick role and Brian d’Arcy James in the Lemmon role as two people who fall not just in love, but into a downward spiral courtesy of the copious amounts of alcohol they consume.

I haven’t seen this musical, but one listen to this album makes me want to book a ticket to New York to see it on Broadway (it opens in late January at Studio 54). Just to hear new music from Guettel is reason enough to see any show and more than reason enough to make this recording my Top Pick.

Here are my other choices for New In Music This Week: December 15^th

CLASSICAL:  MENDELSSOHN: LIEDER OHNE WORTE – Igor Levit – Sony Classical

Pianist Levit offers up selections from Mendelssohn’s 8 book Songs Without Words in this solo recording. Levit was inspired to record these pieces (along with Charles-Valentin Alkan’s Prélude Op. 31: no 8 “La chanson de la folle au bord de la mer”) as a response to the October 7^th attacks in Israel.

The choices he made reflect his realization that the best way to raise his voice was through his musicianship. The recording, which is beautiful, is to raise money for two organizations battling Anti-Semitism.

As he says in the press release announcing this release, “It is my artistic reaction, as a person, as a musician, as a Jew, to what I have felt in the last few weeks and months. Or to put it more precisely, it is one of many reactions that came to mind.”

CLASSICAL:  SINTA QUARTET PLAYS BEETHOVEN – Sinta Quartet – Bright Shiny Things

If you like your Beethoven in the non-traditional style, this album is for you. Actually, this album is for anyone who enjoys Beethoven at all.

Sinta Quartet is a saxophone quartet. They perform three of Beethoven’s string quartets on this imaginative and ear-opening recording:  String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 95; String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132and String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131.

Their performances give a richness and depth that is uniquely satisfying by virtue of this being all woodwind instruments instead of string instruments.

Give it a try. I’d bet money you’ll be impressed!

JAZZ:  OWL SONG – Ambrose Akinmusire – Nonesuch Records

The title of trumpeter/composer Akinmusire’s album indicates that this is going to be a quiet record. After all, owls don’t make loud noises. I bet, however, they wish they made music as beautiful as this album.

Akinmusire is joined by guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley on this album which is rightly finding its place on many Best of 2023 albums. The 8 tracks totaling 42 minutes make up an album that is exactly what we need at the end of a chaotic year. Owl Song is the music we need most right now that gives us time and space to do the things we need most: think, feel, relax.

JAZZ:  A WORLD OF PIANO! – Phineas Newborn, Jr. – Craft Recordings

This album was recorded in late 1961 and released in 1962. It is a masterclass in jazz piano of the era. Newborn isn’t as well-known as some of his contemporaries, but he should be and this album makes the case for it.

There are eight tracks on the album including Charlie Parker’s Cheryl; Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life; Clifford Brown’s Daahoud and Sonny Rollins’ Oleo.

Newborn is joined by Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums for the first four tracks. The last four tracks find him playing with Louis Hayes on drums and Sam jones on bass.

This is a 180-gram vinyl release and hi-res digital.

MUSICALS:  DIARY OF A WIMPY KID THE MUSICAL – Cast Album – Ghostlight Records

For a musical that hasn’t been widely seen (it premiered in 2016 at The Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis), this show has some high-profile fans participating in this recording.  They include Norbert Leo Butz, Kevin Del Aguila, Sutton Foster and Jessie Mueller.

The musical has a book by Del Aguila and music and lyrics by Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler. The musical is, of course, based on Jeff Kinney’s books.

I enjoyed this album and look forward to the time when we all might get a chance to see it performed.

MUSICALS:  GODSPELL EL MUSICAL – Spanish Cast Recording – Concord Theatricals Recordings

I’ve always found it fascinating to hear musicals in other languages. One of my favorites is the Spanish-language version of A Chorus Line which was directed by Antonio Banderas.  This recording is also affiliated with Banders who produced the 2022 show in Malaga, Spain.

Godspell was composed by Stephen Schwartz who also wrote the lyrics. The book was written by John-Michael Tebelak. Roser Batalla did the Spanish lyric and book translations.

Godspell opened on Broadway in June, 1976 and ran for 527 performances. This Spanish production ran from November 3, 2022 to January 8, 2023.

This recording is only available digitally in al territories. CDs are available in Spain only right now. Those wanting a CD can pre-order it. 

That’s all for New In Music This Week: December 15^th.

Enjoy your weekend.

Enjoy the music.

Happy Holidays!

Main Photo: Art from the album cover of Days of Wine and Roses (Courtesy Nonesuch Records)

The post New In Music This Week: December 15th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

This interview originally ran in March when the Philadelphia Orchestra was giving a concert performance of The Hours. We have updated this story with more details about the Met Opera production, clips from the production and additional comments from composer Puts. We have also posted the complete interview up on our YouTube channel.

The Met Opera production stars Joyce DiDonato as Virginia Woolf, Renée Fleming as Clarissa Vaughan and Kelli O’Hara as Laura Brown. These were the characters played by Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore in the 2002 film. Both the movie and the opera are based on Michael Cunningham’s 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

If you read the book or saw the film you’ll remember The Hours is about three women from different time periods who all have a connection to Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway.

Also appearing in the opera are Kathleen Kim, Denyce Graves, John Holiday, Sean Panikkar and more. Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct all but the last Met Opera performance on December 15th. Kensho Watanabe will conduct that performance. The production is by Phelim McDermott (Akhnaten).

“The idea came to me from Renée Fleming,” says composer Puts. “She was thinking about it and she thought how interesting to have an opera that takes place in three different time periods all at the same time. It was on her mind because she had just had lunch with Julianne Moore..” That’s how The Hours began its life as an opera written by Puts.

Earlier this year I spoke via Zoom with Puts who won the Pulitzer Prize for his first opera, Silent Night. What follows are excerpts from that conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

Virginia Woolf once asked, “Why are women so much more interesting to men than men are to women?” Your opera of The Hours is based on a novel written by a man who was inspired by Woolf and is being created and directed by three men. What would you say to Woolf if given the opportunity to address her question?

I can’t answer why, but I would say for me women are more interesting as characters. I don’t know why. I love operas like Billy Budd, but these characters are fascinating and I like writing for the female voice very much.

Just before speaking with you I had the television on and I was flipping channels around and the movie Aliens was on. It’s the same thing, [director] James Cameron is fascinated with female heroines in his story. I don’t know exactly why.

My first opera was basically almost all men and now I’m starting to get my musical mind around having melodies that are essentially around middle “c” on the piano. That is a different kind of thing because then the harmony has to be in a different place, et cetera. I don’t like to get too technical, but it’s very natural for me to write for women’s voices. But that is a very Virginia Woolf thing to say and probably true as well.

You mentioned that, like the novel, your opera takes place in three different time periods. Musically how are those time periods reflected and is that necessary for an audience to stay on course with the story you are telling?

The piece has a very kind of otherworldly and kind of mystical feel to it. But definitely we want the audience to know what’s going on.

I didn’t have a real premeditated idea that there would be three different types of music, which would be extremely different and would signify the different characters. But I think it just happened naturally.

Virginia Woolf feels trapped in Richmond and she wants the wildness of the city. So there’ s a musical language and certain elements of that language which describe that for me. Then there’s her sort of manic desire for London. So there’s that kind of dichotomy in her music.

Laura Brown, the middle period character, was living outside of Los Angeles after World War II. WIth her husband and her three-year-old son, she feels trapped in sort of an alien domestic world that is not natural for her. So there’s a way of describing the world that she can’t fit into, which has its own language.

Clarissa, Renée Fleming’s character, has a kind of musical language that is characterized by Clarissa’s eternal optimism and radiance. She thinks everything will be fine if we just have the perfect party and we get the flowers exactly right.

I really do think of them as musical environments. They’re not leitmotifs, but they’re languages that I think are associated with the different characters and their situations.

This opera has been in the works for quite some time with Fleming, O’Hara and DiDonato attached. Did that allow you to write specifically for their voices?

It was very much written for the three of them because we hadn’t started writing yet. So I knew who we were writing for. I knew Renee’s voice very well having done a couple of projects with her. And I knew Kelli O’Hara’s voice from musical theater. I was talking to her a lot and finding out that she actually has an incredible range and she can sing the lyric soprano roles. And, of course, I knew Joyce DiDonato’s voice. The piece will continue to be written for the three of them over the next several months.

I really think that’s crucial for an opera to make sure that the principles really feel like they can deliver with their parts. It’s funny how minute the changes can be and sometimes that makes a big difference to them. It’s easy for me and actually really satisfying for me to develop these roles within the parts of their voice that work given the situation.

How did Greg Pierce become the writer you wanted to adapt Cunningham’s novel and create the libretto?

Greg had only done one opera, Fellow Travelers, which is a really successful opera with Gregory Spears. I read the libretto and I really liked it. I also liked the fact that he hadn’t done a lot of operas. He had done work in other areas: screenplays, et cetera. He showed me some poems that he wrote. I knew there would be a poetic element to the language. It’s what inspires me. I think that there has to be some poetry in the libretto. His enthusiasm for The Hours was clear. He had been thinking about it for years as a possibility as an opera. In our first conversation I felt like we were already writing it. It just felt natural once I met him.

In the spring of 2021 you had a workshop of the music with Cincinnati Opera. What did you and Greg learn from that session and how did it inform the subsequent work you’ve done on The Hours?

My score was marked in red. I just went to work immediately. Once you figure out what you need to do you just want to forget the past like it never happened.

I think that one of the really crucial scenes in the opera was entirely re-written. It’s a complicated scene actually. A couple of scenes between Clarissa and Richard. I need to work really hard at dialogue. I feel like it should all feel like part of a seamless musical flow and there should be real singing in the dialogue. It should flow naturally like a conversation that kind of ebbs and flows. So those scenes, in some ways, require the most work.

How did that work in the middle of the pandemic?

That was a heroic thing that they did. We were all in a massive ballroom and there were twelve singers – all of the masked in little separate booths with microphones. The pianist and the conductor were in the middle of the room and none of us could approach each other. But we got through the entire opera and we learned a ton from it.

Given that Mrs. Dalloway is so revered, as is the language of Virginia Woolf and that The Hours is revered both as a book and a movie for the language that Cunningham and screenwriter David Hare used, what challenges do you face in continuing with a successful telling of this story?

I think it always is the case when you’re working with a property that’s really known. It’s inevitable. They’re going to be reactions like “well, it’s not like this. And I love the book and it’s too bad that it’s not this way and that way.” It was certainly true of The Manchurian Candidate, my second opera. It was the same kind of challenge.

But I felt like when I began composing that I was doing things on my own terms. It just feels different – just the nature of the piece. I feel like it’s its own thing and it’s not going to feel like the book. It’s not going to feel like the film. The music has its own personality, I hope. But yeah, that’s definitely a challenge. I hope that people will listen to it on its own terms.

The nice thing is the book and the film will still exist independent of the opera.

As soon as Renée mentioned the book I started thinking about the possibilities that can happen on an opera stage that cannot happen in a film. You can’t split the screen in three ways. These stories can begin to intermingle and overlap and they can sing duets that transcend time. That was what was really exciting about it for me because with the language of music and harmony it’s possible to do that. So that’s why I wanted to do it.

I think about that all the time. What’s the point? But I think with this I really thought there was a point.

Michael Cunningham said in an interview when the novel was released that he felt that he entered into some kind of maturity with The Hours and that it was something only he could have written. I’m wondering if you could compare your own thoughts about your perspective of having written this opera at this point in your life and whether you’ve reached a certain kind of maturity and if only you could have written this.

I don’t feel that I’m the only composer who could have written this. But I do think that the way I like to approach opera is well suited to this story. The emotional situations; I live for these these things as a composer. I live for the moments when I can let these situations wash over me and let music come out. This is why I do it.

I think as far as maturity, I feel like now I understand how to not only how to write for voice and how to set the English language and the way I want to that really extracts all the musicality that’s possible out of it. i really love to set English as a language. But also I feel like I’ve kind of tempered my, what is often described in Silent Night, as a kind of a poly-stylistic approach. I’ve tempered that in a way that feels like it’s more cohesive and more kind of all me, even though there are references to different stylistic things that occur in the piece. So yeah, I feel like it was a good time for me to write this opera.

To see the full conversation with Kevin Puts, please go here.

Main Photo: Composer Kevin Puts (Photo by David White)

The post UPDATED: Composer Kevin Puts Discusses “The Hours” appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Also on tap are two great (and very different ballets); two great jazz concerts; a contemporary classical music festival; a celebration of playwrights and a reading of a rare comedy from the 17th century that seems as topical as ever.

Here are our Top Ten Best Bets: June 11th – June 14th

*TOP PICK* MUSICAL REVUE: Show of Titles – Broadway’s Best Shows – June 13th – 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT

What exactly is a Show of Titles? Simply put, a show featuring title songs from some of Broadway’s biggest musicals. For instance, Oklahoma has a well-known title song. Dear Evan Hansen does not. The Light in the Piazza does. Gypsy does not.

The cast of Broadway stars performing in this show, directed by Lonny Price, includes Annaleigh Ashford, Stephanie J. Block, Kerry Butler, Len Cariou, Glenn Close, Gavin Creel, Darren Criss, Dame Edna, Santino Fontana, Kelsey Grammar, David Alan Grier, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Henry, Isabelle Huppert, Norm Lewis, Patti LuPone, Rob McClure, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Melba Moore, Jessie Mueller, Eva Noblezada, Kelli O’Hara, Laura Osnes, Steven Pasquale, Michael Rupert, Ernie Sabella, Lea Salonga, Phillipa Soo, Will Swenson, Aaron Tveit, Leslie Uggams, Vanessa Williams and Patrick Wilson.

There will also be special appearances by Debbie Allen, Broadway Inspirational Voices, Candice Bergen, Danny Burstein, Bryan Cranston, Tony Goldwyn, Adam Guettel, John Kander, Angela Lansbury, John Leguizamo, John Lithgow, Lindsay Mendez, Phylicia Rashad, Chita Rivera, Ben Stiller, Charles Strouse, Richard Thomas, Blair Underwood, BD Wong, and Florian Zeller.

The link to this event goes to Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles. There are two options for tickets: a $29 ticket allows purchasers to view Show of Titles on demand for 96 hours. (An appropriate number with the film adaptation of In the Heights opening this weekend. A show that not only has a title number, but also a song called 96,000).

A $39 ticket will include a ticket to stream Sarah Ruhl‘s Dear Elizabeth which begins on June 17th and reunites Kevin Kline with Meryl Streep (they appeared on screen together in Sophie’s Choice and Rikki and the Flash). That ticket also allows you to stream it for, you guessed it, 96 hours.

JAZZ: Coltrane: A Love Supreme – Jazz at Lincoln Center – Now – June 16th

Many many years ago I attended the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. One of the concerts I went to – not on the fairgrounds – was a performance by Wynton Marsalis and his band. They were the last of several performers and concluded their main set around midnight. As an encore he announced they would be performing A Love Supreme.

I’m well-acquainted with John Coltrane’s masterpiece and assumed he meant they would perform one of the tracks (they all include A Love Supreme as part of their title). I was wrong. They performed the entire album from start to finish. It was exhilarating and one of the best concerts I’ve ever attended.

Marsalis will once again perform A Love Supreme with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as the final concert of their virtual season.

This performance will be feature big band arrangements with saxophonist Camille Thurman serving as guest soloist. Sherman Irby will lead the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Tickets are $20 and allow for streaming through June 16th. Tickets can be purchased here.

BALLET: Giselle of Loneliness – Ballez/The Joyce Theater – Now – June 23rd

Perfectly timed for Pride Month is this presentation of Giselle of Loneliness by Ballez. The decade-old dance company is comprised of queer, transgender, non-binary and gender non-confirming artists.

As you might imagine from the title, Giselle of Loneliness uses a key moment from that classic ballet as its inspiration.

The dancers in this work, choreographed and directed by Katy Pyle (founder of Ballez), are all auditioning to win the title role of Giselle. To do so, they have to come up with their own version of the insanely challenging mad scene from that ballet.

In what seems to be a bit of a nod to and a twist on A Chorus Line, the dancers have to come face-to-face in this work with their desire to perform within an industry that doesn’t welcome them. It begs the question, how much personal degradation and rejection of your identity will you undergo to continue to do what you love.

The dancers performing in Giselle of Loneliness are Charles Gowin, Meg Harper, Maxfield Haynes, Matthias Kodat, Deborah Lohse, MJ Markovitz, Janet Panetta, Ash Phan, Alexandra Waterbury, and Nat Wilson.

Tickets are $25 and allow for viewing through June 23rd at 11:59 PM ET/8:59 PT.

BALLET: Balanchine and Robbins – Royal Opera House – Debuts June 11th – 2:30 PM ET/11:30 AM PT

The Royal Ballet will live stream their June 11th performance of a trio of works under the title Balanchine and Robbins. Which means, of course, that the works were either choreographed by George Balanchine or Jerome Robbins.

The evening begins with a performance of Apollo by Balanchine set to the music of Igor Stravinsky.

Four dancers are featured in this work which had its world debut in 1928. In this performance the ballet will be danced by Matthew Ball, Claire Calvert, Melissa Hamilton and Fumi Kaneko.

Next up is another work by Balanchine entitled Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. No need to tell you who wrote the music. This short work had its world premiere in 1960. For this performance the dancers are Vadim Muntagirov and Marianela Nuñez.

The performance concludes with Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering. This hour-long work, set to the piano music of Frederic Chopin, had its world premiere at New York City Ballet in 1969. Reece Clarke, Teo Dubreuil, Benjamin Ella, James Hay, Fumi Kaneko, Mayara Magri, Yasmine Naghdi, Anna Rose O’Sullivan and Romany Pajdak are the dancers.

Tickets are $18.50. The performance will remain available for streaming through July 11th.

JAZZ: Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band – SFJAZZ – June 11th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

This week’s Fridays at Five concert from SFJAZZ features a 2016 performance by Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band.

Drummer Blade formed this band in 1997 with pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Chris Thomas, saxophonists Myron Walden and Melvin Butler, guitarist Jeff Parker and pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley.

All but Easley join him for this show that features a five-song set featuring two traditional songs arranged by Blade and three original compositions by Cowherd.

Those songs are Landmarks found on the album of the same name from 2014; Duality from their 2017 album Body and Shadow and Return of the Prodigal Song from their 2008 album Season of Changes.

There is an encore showing of this concert on Saturday, June 12th at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT. Tickets for either show require either a monthly digital membership ($5) or an annual membership ($50).

If you join to watch this Brian Blade concert you will also have access to a special matinee broadcast on Sunday featuring Marcus Shelby and His Orchestra in a tribute to Duke Ellington. That concert will stream at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT. You can find details about that show here.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Kronos Festival – June 11th – 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT

The renowned Kronos Quartet launches a virtual festival this year on Friday with a 45-minute concert. Included in this program are several world premieres and one classic work closely associated with Kronos.

Works by Nicole Lizée (Are You From Here Or Just Visiting?), Soo Yeon Lyuh (Tattoo), Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté (Wawani) and Mahsa Vahdat (Vaya, Vaya) are given their debut performances.

Stacy Garrop’s Glorious Mahalia; Clint Mansell’s Lux Aeterna; Jlin’s Little Black Book and Pete Seeger’s Where Have All the Flowers Gone? are also being performed.

There is no charge to watch this, or any, performance. There is also a kids concert on Sunday, June 13th at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT.

The festival will continue with performances on Wednesday, June 16th at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT and Friday, June 18th at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT. The evening concerts are 45 minutes and the kids concert is 30 minutes.

All performances will remain available for viewing online through August 31st.

PLAY/FUNDRAISER: Connections – Ojai Playwrights Conference – June 12th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

The works of playwrights Luis Alfaro, Jon Robin Baitz, Father Greg Boyle, Bill Cain, Culture Clash, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Danai Gurira, Samuel D. Hunter, David Henry Hwang, Julia Izumi, James Morrison (with his son Seamus), Jeanine Tesori and Charlayne Woodard will be performed in this 90-minute celebration from the Ojai Playwrights Conference.

Liza Powel O’Brien is also contributing a piece.

Performing their work will be a mix of the playwrights themselves and some well-known actors: Brian Cox, Culture Clash, Eileen Galindo, Danai Gurira, Francis Jue, James and Seamus Morrison, Tony Okunghowa, Rose Portillo, Samantha Quan, John C. Reilly, Israel López Reyes, Nikkole Salter, Samantha Sloyan, Jimmy Smits, Phillipa Soo, A. Zell Williams and Charlayne Woodard.

The theme of the show, as the title would suggest, is human connections moving forward in a post-pandemic world.

This is a one-time only event. There is a requested donation of $20 to watch Connections.

Looking forward the Ojai Playwrights Conference New Works Festival will take place August 5th – August 15th.

PLAY: 1 Hour Photo – East West Players – June 12th – 11:00 PM ET/8:00 PM PT

Tetsuro Shigematsu’s 1 Hour Photo had its world premiere in 2017 at Vancouver’s The Cultch. The ostensibly one-man play tells the story of Mas Yamomoto, a man who owned and operated multiple Japan Camera stores which promised processing of film in one hour. (Remember those? Remember film?)

His conversations with Mas, a much older man, covered a lot of territory of personal and racial history of the 20th century. What starts as a humorous catch-up to outdated 1970s technology riff turns into a very personal and emotional story.

To help tell the story Shigematsu incorporates models, miniatures and some very interesting effects.

Shigematsu has now created a 75-minute film version of 1 Hour Photo and East West Players in Los Angeles will offer five virtual screenings of the film beginning on Saturday, June 12th. (Additional shows are on Sunday, June 13th; Friday, June 18th; Saturday June 19th and Sunday June 20th – times vary). Tickets are $34.99.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Matthew Morrison – Seth Concert Series – June 13th – 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

I’ve seen Matthew Morrison in three Broadway musicals: Hairspray, The Light in the Piazza and South Pacific. Perhaps the only thing they have in common is that he appeared in all three.

For many people Morrison may be best known for his role as Mr. Schuester on Glee.

All four projects allowed him to showcase one thing he does very well: sing. As will this weekend’s Seth Concert Series with Seth Rudetsky.

Yes there will be some conversation sprinkled amongst the performances, but it will mostly be about the music.

If you are unable to see the live stream on Sunday at 3:00 PM ET, there is an encore showing at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT the same day. Tickets for either are $25.

PLAY READING: Volpone, or The Fox – Red Bull Theater – Debuts June 14th – 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT

17th-century playwright Ben Johnson may not be the best-known writer today, nor are his works commonly performed, but time hasn’t dulled his quick wit and ability to skewer the foibles of human behavior.

Take for example Volpone, or the Fox. The title character loves nothing more than gold. And he will stop at nothing to get as much of it as he can. With the assistance of his servant Mosca, the men of Venice who should know better inevitable fall for his schemes and his charm. It seems as nothing can outwit Volpone.

André De Shields (who won the Tony Award for his performance in Hadestown) plays Volpone. He’s joined by Jordan Boatman, Sofia Cheyenne, Franchelle Stewart Dorn, Clifton Duncan, Amy Jo Jackson, Peter Francis James, Hamish Linklater, Roberta Maxwell, Sam Morales, Kristine Nielsen and Mary Testa for this reading.

Jesse Burger, the Founder and Artistic Director of Red Bull directs. He and Jeffrey Hatcher have made some tweaks to Johnson’s play. (The press release calls them “emendations & elaborations.”)

After the live performance on Monday, June 14th, the show will be available for streaming through June 18th at 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT. There is a suggested donation of $25.

A small bit of trivia: Larry Gelbart, who co-wrote Tootsie and was instrumental in the long-running television show M*A*S*H, wrote an updated version of Volpone that went by the name Sly Fox. It had its Broadway debut in 1976 with George C. Scot in the title role.

That concludes our official Top Ten Best Bets: June 11th – June 14th. But a few reminders before we go:

The film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights is now in theaters and streaming on HBO MAX.

Los Angeles Opera’s Signature Recital Series has now unveiled all five recitals for streaming with Russell Thomas, Susan Graham, Christine Goerke, Julia Bullock and J’Nai Bridges. They will remain available through July 1st. You can find details here.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic has added a newly-announced episode for the second season of Sound/Stage. Debuting on June 11th is a performance by the LA Phil with the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles and the band Weezer. They will be performing songs from their album OK Human. Rob Mathes leads the LA Phil and did the orchestrations.

This weekend’s offerings from the Metropolitan Opera are the 2012-2013 season production of Thomas Adés’ The Tempest on Friday; Verdi’s Falstaff from the 2013-2014 season on Saturday and the 2017-2018 season production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte on Sunday.

Monday the Met begins a week of operas to celebrate Father’s Day. The first production being streamed is Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra from the 1994-1995 season. We’ll have the full schedule and clips on Monday.

What inevitably follows another opening is another closing. Here ends this weekend’s Best Bets: June 11th – June 14th.

Update: This post has been updated to include newly announced participants in Connections

Photo: Jake Gyllenhaal in Sunday in the Park with George (Photo by Matthew Murphy/Courtesy IBDB.com)

The post Top Ten Best Bets: June 11th – June 14th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

I might argue that just a little bit. Thomas Adés’ The Tempest, while many might consider it a modern classic opera, is not traditionally considered a classic opera. Perhaps the definitions have been stretched to include a modern opera based on a classic play that has inspired multiple operatic interpretations.

Since the Met is re-running productions as the bulk of their weekly streaming schedule, I’m going to mix in interviews with the performers and creators in place of clips to avoid the redundancy of showing the same few clips available. Let me know your thoughts!

All productions become available at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST and remain available for 23 hours. Schedules and timings may be subject to change.

The Met is heavily promoting their Met Stars Live in Concert series and the planned resumption of performances in the 2021-2022 season, so you’ll have to go past those announcements and promos to find the streaming productions on the Metropolitan Opera website. 

If you read this column early enough on June 7th, you’ll still have time to see the 2019-2020 season production of Glass’s The Akhnaten that was part of The Operas Behind the Podcast week.

Here is the full line-up for Week 65 at the Met:

Monday, June 7 – Verdi’s Rigoletto – 4th Showing

Conducted by Michele Mariotti; starring Diana Damrau, Oksana Volkova, Piotr Beczała, Željko Lučić and Štefan Kocán. This Michael Mayer production is from the 2012-2013 season. 

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

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

Michael Mayer won a Tony Award for his direction of the original production of Spring Awakening. He came up with the idea of a “Rat Pack Rigoletto” and moved the action to Las Vegas in the early 1960s.

While reviews were mixed for the production, Mayer was prepared for whatever reaction was going to come his way for his production as he told the New York Times prior to the first performance. “I’ve been warned, but some people have said if you get booed at the Met or at La Scala, you know you’re doing something right. In any case, to employ a pun: hopefully the booze I will have ingested prior to that moment will make the boos I hear a little dimmer.” 

Tuesday, June 8 – Gounod’s Faust – 5th Showing

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; starring Marina Poplavskaya, Jonas Kaufmann, Russell Braun and René Pape. This Des McAnuff production is from the 2011-2012 season. 

Charles Gounod’s Faust had its world premiere in Paris in 1859. The libretto was written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré who used both Carré’s play Faust et Marguerite and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust, Part One as inspiration.

This oft-told story is about a man who sacrifices his soul to the devil, Méphistophélès, in order to maintain his youth and the love of Marguerite. 

But you know what happens when you make a deal with the devil…it’s not going to end well.

McAnuff made his Metropolitan Opera debut with this production. He is best known as the director of Jersey Boys and Ain’t Too Proud on Broadway. In his Faust he chose to set this production before and after the dropping of atom bombs in Japan in World War II.

Critics may have been divided over Des McAnuff’s approach, but they were unanimous in their praise of tenor Jonas Kaufmann. Audiences were too. His performance generated a lot of emotion from audiences attending this production.

Wednesday, June 9 – Bellini’s La Sonnambula – 3rd Showing

Conducted by Evelino Pidò; starring Natalie Dessay, Juan Diego Flórez and Michele Pertusi. This Mary Zimmerman production is from the 2008-2009 season. 

Bellini’s opera had its world premiere in 1831 in Milan. The libretto was written by Felice Romani who also collaborated with the composer on Norma. 

The original story was set in a 19th century Swiss village where the orphan Amina is engaged to be married to Elvino. Their plans are complicated by the arrival of Rodolfo who believes Amina to be a long-lost love from younger days. The village, however, is haunted by the appearance of a ghost. This turns out to be Amina walking in her sleep. Elvino becomes suspicious about his fiancé’s activities and begins to fall in love with another woman in the village. Can love conquer all including sleepwalking?

This was the first production of La Sonnambula at the Met since 1972. Zimmerman set the story in a New York rehearsal room where the performers are rehearsing a production of the opera set in a Swiss village.

Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times wasn’t a fan of this concept, but he did enjoy the singing.

“It must be said that Ms. Zimmerman has elicited wonderfully sung and mostly affecting performances from her leads, the riveting French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay as Amina, and the charismatic Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez as Elvino.”

Thursday, June 10 – Handel’s Agrippina – 5th Showing

Conducted by Harry Bicket; starring Brenda Rae, Joyce DiDonato, Kate Lindsey, Iestyn Davies, Duncan Rock and Matthew Rose. This David McVicar production is from the 2019-2020 season.

George Frideric Handel’s Agrippina has a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. The opera had its world premiere in 1709 in Venice at the Teatro S Giovanni Grisostomo which was owned by Grimani.

Agrippina is the Roman empress who is fixated on the idea of having her highly unqualified son, Nerone, take over the throne. To do that, she will stop at nothing to get her husband, Claudio, to cede it to him.

Though McVicar’s production was first staged in Brussels in 2000, this marked the first ever Metropolitan Opera production of Agrippina. Conductor Harry Bicket lead from the harpsichord and audiences and critics were enthralled.

Zachary Woolfe, in his review for the New York Times said, “Three centuries on, Agrippina remains bracing in its bitterness, with few glimmers of hope or virtue in the cynical darkness. But it’s irresistible in its intelligence — and in the shamelessness it depicts with such clear yet understanding eyes.”

Friday, June 11 – Thomas Adès’s The Tempest – 4th Showing

Conducted by Thomas Adès; starring Audrey Luna, Isabel Leonard, Alek Shrader, Alan Oke and Simon Keenlyside. This Robert Lepage production is from the 2012-2013 season.

The Tempest by Thomas Adés had its world premiere in London in 2004. The libretto, by Meredith Oakes, is inspired by William Shakespeare’s play, but is not slave to it. There are differences.

The Duke of Milan, Prospero, has been exiled and with his daughter, Miranda, they have been set to sea. They ultimately land on an island filled with spirits. Amongst those spirits are Ariel and the monster, Caliban. Prospero, who has magical powers, causes a ship carrying the King of Naples and his son Ferdinand to wreck during a storm Prospero created. Relations both personal and professional collide leaving each of the participants changed and one of the characters alone in the island.

Between its London premiere and its debut at the Met in 2012, there had already been four other productions of The Tempest. Few contemporary operas get that many productions in so short a period of time.

Alex Ross, writing for The New Yorker, said of Adés’ opera (one of at least fifty operas based on Shakespeare’s play), “The Tempest is the opposite of a disappointment; it is a masterpiece of airy beauty and eerie power. As if on schedule, Adès, at thirty-two, is now the major artist that his earliest works promised he would become.”

Saturday, June 12 – Verdi’s Falstaff – 5th Showing

Conducted by James Levine; starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Paolo Fanale, Ambrogio Maestri and Franco Vassallo. This Robert Carsen production is from the 2013-2014 season. 

Two of Shakespeare’s play served as the inspiration for Verdi’s Falstaff: The Merry Wives of Windsor and sections from Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. Arrigo Boito adapted the plays to create the libretto. Falstaff had its world premiere in 1893 at La Scala in Milan. This was Verdi’s final opera and only his second comedic opera.

Simply put, Sir John Falstaff tries everything he can to woo two married woman so he can assume their husband’s vast fortunes. He’s rather bumbling in his efforts and the machinations in place to thwart his endeavors leave him with nothing short of a major comeuppance.

In Carsen’s production the story has been updated to England in the 1950s. His approach to Verdi’s opera was much lighter than is commonly done and, as a result, yielded overwhelmingly great reviews. 

On opening night Maestri performed the role of Falstaff for his 200th time. Anthony Tommasini, in his review for the New York Times, raved about him:

“A splendid cast is led by the powerhouse Italian baritone Ambrogio Maestri, who simply owns the role of Falstaff…At 6 foot 5 with his Falstaffian physique, Mr. Maestri certainly looks the part. A natural onstage, and surprisingly light on his feet, he makes Falstaff a charming rapscallion and sings with consummate Italianate style.”

Sunday, June 13 – Mozart’s Così fan tutte

Conducted by David Robertson; starring Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Kelli O’Hara, Ben Bliss, Adam Plachetka and Christopher Maltman. This Phelim McDermott is from the 2017-2018 season.

Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte had its world premiere in Vienna in 1790. Lorenzo Da Ponte, who wrote the libertti for The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, wrote the libretto.

Ferrando and Guglielmo are vacationing with their fiancées, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. They are sisters. Don Alfonso challenges the men to a bet revolving around the women and their ability to be faithful. Using disguise, deception and a wicked sense of humor, Mozart’s opera ends happily ever after for one and all.

This production transports the original Naples setting in the 18th century to Brooklyn in the 20th century. Specifically, McDermott places the opera at an amusement park filled with the attractions you’d expect to set at the side show: sword swallowers, a bearded lady, a fire eater, a strongman and a contortionist.

Anthony Tommasini seemed a bit torn about the effectiveness of this setting. In his New York Times review he said:

“I have never seen a production that completely cracks the code of Così, and for all its charms and insights, this production also comes up short. Mr. McDermott’s concept doesn’t explore the unsettling elements as much as some productions I’ve seen. But one thing it gets right is the role of sexual desire as a motivator for these lovers. To that end, moving the story to the 1950s, when proper young people refrained from premarital sex, and setting it in an amusement park, where the couples are on vacation, work well.”

That’s the full line-up for Week 65 at the Met. We don’t have any idea what the schedule has for Week 66. Since Nelson Riddle never did an opera that we’re aware of, I guess we won’t be hearing the theme for Route 66 during Week 66.

Enjoy your week! Enjoy the operas!

Photo: Piotr Beczała in Rigoletto (Photo by Ken Howard/Courtesy Metropolitan Opera)

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Our top pick this weekend is the voice of playwright Adrienne Kennedy whose play Ohio State Murders stars one of the greatest voices of our time: Audra McDonald.

The music of Adam Guettel, new experiments with voice, the voice of jazz’s future, the history-making voices of male ballerinas, Broadway stars galore and more are all available for your enjoyment.

So let’s get to it. Here are the Top Ten Best Bets: June 4th – June 7th:

*TOP PICK* PLAY READING: Ohio State Murders – Spotlight on Plays – Now – June 7th

Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders is this week’s offering from the Spotlight on Plays series from Broadway’s Best Shows.

The play is set at Ohio State University where Suzanne Alexander, an African-American writer, was a student in 1949. She returns to discuss the themes of violence in her writing.

The stories she tells and the violence she’s examining take viewers down a shocking path as the mystery slow reveals itself.

This reading will star six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Warner Miller, Lizan Mitchell and Ben Rappaport. Kenny Leon, who directed the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun, directs this reading. Of note, both he and McDonald won Tony Awards for work on that production.

Ohio State Murders had its world premiere in 1992 at the Great Lakes Theater Festival. In 2007 the play opened off-Broadway at The Duke on 42nd Street.

Charles Isherwood, writing for the New York Times, said of the play:

“Like all truly scary horror stories, the tale told in Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders leaves a lasting chill in the bones. Hours after seeing this short, sharp, quietly hypnotic play about an infanticide that ruptures a Midwestern winter in the 1950s, you might find yourself looking anxiously over your shoulder or starting awake with an unsettling thought or image in your head.”

Tickets are $19 with proceeds benefitting The Actors Fund. Tickets allow for on-demand streaming through Monday, June 7th at 6:00 PM ET/3:00 PM PT.

CHORAL/VOCAL: Myths and Hymns: Chapter 4: FAITH – Now – June 30th

The fourth and final chapter of Adam Guettel’s Myths and Hymns from MasterVoices is now streaming.

In this last part of the series, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Jennifer Holliday, Mikael Kilgore, Theresa McCarthy, Miles Mykkanen, Kelli O’Hara, Larry Owens and Nicholas Phan give voice to the final five songs in this song cycle.

Costanzo also directed The Great Highway (which also features O’Hara and Phan). Ted Sperling, the artistic director of MasterVoices directed two of the segments and Tony Award nominated director Trip Cullman directed the final segment, Saturn Returns: The Return.

Joining them are, of course, the MasterVoices singers.

This episode and the entire series are available for viewing on MasterVoices’ YouTube Channel. I love all four chapters of this series. You will, too. Take a look.

There’s no charge to watch Myths and Hymns. Donations are encouraged.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Victoria Clark – Broadway Stories & Songs with Ted Sperling – June 4th – June 5th

As long as we’re on the subject of Ted Sperling, his guest for this weekend’s Broadway Stories & Songs is the Tony Award-winning Victoria Clark. She was named Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Margaret Johnson in Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza.

Her performance in that musical was extraordinary.

Clark’s additional Broadway credits include the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls, the 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Titanic, Urinetown, Sister Act, Cinderella and more.

She and Sperling have been friends since college. Their personal and professional familiarity will make this a show that’s a must-see for all fans of Broadway.

Victoria Clark will be live on June 4th at 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT. Tickets are $25 and allow for a second viewing (or a first viewing if you can’t watch the show live on June 4th) on Saturday, June 5th at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Tchaikovsky Serenade – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – Debuts June 4th – 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT

The wildly ambitious and very successful series Close Quarters concludes what I hope will just be its first season with this final episode. Throughout all 14 episodes, James Darrah and LACO have redefined how classical music can be presented.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, composed in 1880, is being performed in this film.

Grant Gershon, Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, leads LACO in the performance. There are four movements in Tchaikovsky’s composition and in this particular film/performance, the running time is 30 minutes.

Darrah told me recently that this final episode reflects a summation of the entire series and a look at how Los Angeles weathered the pandemic.

You probably don’t need to have watched all previous thirteen episodes. But I can assure you if you just watch this one, you’ll be likely to want to watch all fourteen.

DANCE DOCUMENTARY: Ballerina Boys – American Masters on PBS – June 4th (check local listings)

This fascinating, amusing and moving documentary takes a look at Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (The Trocks). They are an ensemble of male ballet dancers who take their dance seriously and present it with whopping doses of humor.

As the British might say, they take the piss out of the art form. But they do it with a absolute respect for the work.

Filmmakers Chana Gazit and Martha Barylick take a look at the 45-year history of The Trocks. Ballerina Boys features interviews with founding members and also current members as it charts its way through over four decades of entertaining audiences. And as their trailer says, “Changing the world one pirouette at a time.”

I’ve seen this film and it is wildly entertaining and, at times, deeply moving.

JAZZ: Immanuel Wilkins Quartet – Vermont Jazz Center – June 5th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

I’ve written several times about Immanuel Wilkins and how amazing he is. This Saturday is the best chance for you to see precisely what critics have been talking about.

Wilkins will be joined by Daryl Johns on bass; Kweku Sumbry on drums and Micah Thomas on piano.

This Tiny Desk concert for NPR should give you a good idea.

When I interviewed Wilkins last August as his album Omega was about to be released, he told me that he wrestled with releasing an album during the pandemic and not being able to tour behind it. Amongst the things he told me was:

“People need to hear it live. The band is a live band. It’s definitely something that should be played live and it would have been nice to have a proper release concert.”

Saturday’s concert will be a big step forward for Wilkins and for all of us to hear how dynamic this music is live.

There’s no charge to watch the concert; however, donations are encouraged.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bang on a Can Marathon of Song – June 6th – 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT

Fans of contemporary classical music, particularly those works that showcase the human voice, will be keenly interested in this Sunday’s Bang on a Can Marathon of Song. Expect multiple uses of the human voice to be employed here.

There are eleven world premieres scheduled.

This streaming marathon runs for four hours. Here is the line-up:

1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT

Arlen Hulsko performs the world premiere of and there was by Mary Kouyoumdjian. Composer Peni Candra Rini gives the world premiere of her new work. Ken Thomson gives the world premiere performance of Zero at the Bone by Anna Clyne. Composer Albert Kuvezin gives the world premiere of Eremchick (The Spider).

2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT

Julian Otis performs Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan D’Arc by Julius Eastman. Composer Fred Frith gives the world premiere performance of his new work. Kyle Brenn’s Still/Exist will be performed. Taja Cheek, performing as L’Rain will perform. David Cossin will give the world premiere performance of RYB by Florent Ghys.

3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

This hour opens with the world premiere of witness by Matana Roberts. Mark Stewart will perform the world premiere of a new work by Trevor Watson. Composer Eddy Kwan gives the world premiere of his new work. The final performance is by Allison Russell.

4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT

Vicky Chow gives the world premiere of a new work by Sophie Cash. Robert Black gives the world premiere of Audible Autopsy by Charles Amirkhanian.

There is no charge to watch the marathon. Donations are encouraged.

CABARET: Alex Newell – The Seth Concert Series – June 6th – 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

You might know Alex Newell from Glee. You might have seen Newell in the 2017 Broadway production of Once on This Island.

Or you might have seen as Mo on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. (If you haven’t watched this NBC series, you’ll definitely need to make up for lost time.)

However you know Newell, there’s one thing you know for sure, he can sing!

Newell and Rudetsky will of course share plenty of music along with the kind of stories that only Broadway insiders know and fans of musical theater will want to hear. As June is Pride Month, what better way to spend some time this weekend than with Alex Newell and Seth Rudetsky.

If you are unable to watch the show at 3:00 PM ET, there is an encore showing at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. Tickets for either show are $25.

TRIBUTE TO BROADWAY: Curtain Up, Light the Lights – Roundabout Theatre Company – June 7th – 7:45 PM ET/4:45 PM PT

If you live in New York, you can join this 2021 Roundabout Theatre Company Gala live in Central Park. Luckily for those who don’t you can stream it live. Either way, here’s what you’ll get:

Tony Winner Jane Krakowski will perform live from Rumsey Playfield with the New York Pops.

Joining her for part of the concert will be Tituss Burgess (her co-star from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). Just for good measure there are a few special guests: Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), EGOT Whoopi Goldberg, Oscar winner Emma Stone (La La Land), Grammy and Emmy Award winner Blair Underwood and Tony Award-nominee Vanessa Williams. Those are the announced special guests. There is word of even more stars to be participating.

As the ghost lights will soon be relieved of 24-hour a day duty and the marquees of Broadway relit in anticipation of theaters re-opening, Curtain Up, Light the Lights will be a great way to welcome the return of Broadway.

Virtual tickets start at $25.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Pajama Cast Party – June 7th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

If I only said Kristin Chenoweth would that be enough? Certainly she’s popular enough. And maybe she’ll be wearing pajamas.

Yes, the three-time Tony Award nominee (and winner for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and star of Wicked is joining Jim Caruso on Monday for the 61st episode of Pajama Cast Party.

In addition to singing, she’ll be sharing some of the young talented performers who are participating in Broadway Bootcamp of which she is one of the directors.

Also joining is Ryan Silverman who appeared in the 2013 Classic Stage Company production of Passion and appeared on Broadway in the 2014 revival of Side Show.

There is no charge to watch the show. Donations are encouraged with a portion of the proceeds going to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors Fund.

Those are our Top Ten Best Bets: June 4th – June 7th. Just a few reminders and on other note before we finish.

A few weeks ago we highlighted We Have to Hurry by Dorothy Lyman. It’s a moving play about two neighbors at a retirement community who fear time is not on their side during a quarantine. The play was so popular that a second live performance of the play is taking place this weekend with the playwright as Margaret and the enormously talented Alfred Molina as Gil. They have two performances (one Saturday and one on Sunday.) You can find details here.

Metropolitan Opera’s programming this weekend features the 2019-2020 season production of Porgy and Bess on Friday (highly recommended); the 2014-2015 season production of Macbeth on Saturday and the 2019-2020 season production of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten on Sunday (also highly recommended).

On Monday the Met presents classic operas told in new ways. Monday’s offering is the 2012-2013 production of Rigoletto. We’ll have full details in Monday’s preview of the entire week.

That officially concludes all the offerings I have for you in our Top Ten Best Bets: June 4th – June 7th. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the performing arts!

Main Photo: Audra McDonald (Courtesy her website)

The post Top Ten Best Bets: June 4th – June 7th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

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.

When Broadway star Rebecca Luker passed away last December of complications from A.L.S. (commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), colleagues and journalists struggled to find enough superlatives to describe her incredible talent.

The New York Times hailed her “crystal clear operatic soprano.” Playbill recalled her “innate warmth, infectious joy, and gorgeous voice.” Broadway’s Laura Benanti called her “humble, loving and kind. So much so that you would sometimes forget her otherworldly talent, until she would sing, and her golden voice would wrap you in peace.” And Kristin Chenoweth, who called Luker an inspiration described her voice as “soprano heaven. I love you, Rebecca.”

On Tuesday, May 4th, Becca, a streaming show of music and stories from her three-decade career will take place at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT. The event is a fundraiser for Target ALS with all proceeds going to ALS research.

Participating in the concert will be Benanti, Sierra Boggess, Michael Cerveris, Chenoweth, Victoria Clark , Santino Fontana (they appeared in Cinderella together), Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin, Norm Lewis, Kelli O’Hara, Tam Mutu and Sally Wilfert.

Wilfert and Luker recorded All the Girls, an album of songs about women and their friends, that was released late last year.

Luker originated the role of “Lily” in the musical The Secret Garden.

The show’s composer, Lucy Simon, is acting as honorary producer for this event. Frank DiLella, who hosts On Stage for Spectrum News in New York, will serve as the host. Mary-Mitchell Campbell and Joseph Thalken serve as co-music directors.

Luker was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Actress in a Musical for her roles as “Magnolia” in the 1994 revival of Show Boat and as “Marian Paroo” in the 2000 revival of The Music Man and for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins.

Her other Broadway credits included The Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music, Nine and Fun Home.

She was married to Danny Burstein who is a Tony nominee this year for his role as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge The Musical.

I was only lucky enough to see Luker in one show: The Music Man. She was glorious. She truly sang like an angel.

It’s tragic that she was taken from her family, friends and colleagues at such a young age (she was 59).

Becca will be filled with joy, beautiful music and certainly a few tears. But could anyone help you feel better are such a tragic loss than Rebecca Luker herself?

Tickets for Becca begin at $20 and go higher based on your ability to pay.

All photos courtesy Rebeccaluker.com

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My top pick this week celebrates International Jazz Day. Another significant jazz event this weekend is a concert by Christian Sands. SFJAZZ offers a 2019 concert by Orquesta Akokán on Friday with a re-stream on Saturday.

If jazz isn’t your thing, we’ve got plenty of other options. There are several play readings, a very ambitious new film from the Colburn School in Los Angeles, a couple cabaret performances and a very unique fundraiser that realizes the first three letters in that word are FUN.

Here are my Best Bets: April 30th – May 3rd:

*TOP PICK* JAZZ: 2021 Global All-Star Concert for International Jazz Day – April 30th – 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT

Yesterday we started revealing our Top Pick for the weekend in a sneak peek of the weekend’s Best Bets. So I won’t rehash everything from that column. You can read the full preview here.

Simply put, there aren’t many places where you’ll find performances by Dee Dee Bridgewater, Cyrus Chestnut, Gerald Clayton, Herbie Hancock, Stefon Harris, Angélique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves, Antonio Sánchez, Ben Williams and many more from around the world.

The concert is free and can be found on the event’s website, their YouTube channel, Facebook page and more. International Jazz Day’s concert will remain available for viewing for 30 days.

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/DANCE: The Way Forward – Colburn School – Now – May 13th

Few projects would offer the opportunity to see and hear music and performances by Kris Bowers, Johannes Brahms, Aaron Copland, Gabriel Fauré, George Frideric Handel, Thelonious Monk, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Christoph Waltz, Eric Whitacre and thousands of singers, dancers and musicians.

The pandemic-era project was filmed in Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Spain and at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

This one-of-a-kind film and it will be available for free streaming. You do have to register on the Colburn School website. The Way Forward will only be available for two weeks.

For those in Los Angeles, there will be one in-person screening of the one-hour film. That screening will take place on Saturday, May 1st at 8:00 PM PT at Thayer Hall at Colburn. Capacity will be limited to 25%. Tickets for this screening are $25 and can be purchased here.

PLAY READING: The Baltimore Waltz – Spotlight on Plays on Broadway’s Best Shows – Now – May 3rd

When playwright Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz opened off-Broadway in 1992, it was immediately acclaimed as a unique way of addressing the AIDS crisis. The play went on to win three Obie Awards for Best New American Play, Best Director and Best Performance (Cherry Jones).

Vogel’s play depicts a real-life situation between a school teacher and her brother.

How the sister chooses to address that he is dying of a terminal disease is at the heart of The Baltimore Waltz. Vogel uses fantasy to take her characters on a journey that is both fanciful and heartbreaking in its inevitable return to reality.

For this reading the cast features Mary-Louise Parker, Eric McCormack and Brandon Burton. Lileana Blain-Cruz directs.

Tickets are $15 with proceeds going to The Actors Fund.

VIRTUAL MUSICAL: Working: A Musical – CATCO – Now – May 9th

When I was a much younger man I remember seeing Working on the PBS series American Playhouse. I was immediately taken in by this collage of interviews and songs. Based on Studs Terkel’s 1974 book  Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, the musical features songs by Stephen Schwartz, Mary Rodgers, James Taylor and more.

The musical received six Tony Award nominations when it opened on Broadway in 1978. It’s run, however, was short. There were only 12 previews and 24 performances.

CATCO in Columbus, OH is presenting a streaming version of the updated 2012 version of the musical that includes contributions from Lin-Manuel Miranda.

This is a perfect musical for the virtual format. I will be interested to see how the show holds up and how Miranda’s revisions help the show.

Working streams only Thursday – Sunday through May 9th. Tickets are $20.

PLAY READING: The Line – Public Theater – Now – June 21st

Great timing for this encore presentation of the Public Theater’s Zoom reading of Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s The Line. Their play was constructed by doing interviews with frontline medical workers in New York at the outset of the pandemic.

As restrictions start to loosen around the country, this is a great reminder of the heroism that was required (and still is) to get us through this crisis.

The Line also reflects the personal toll their actions took on their lives. This should be a wake-up call that there is still work to be done by all of us.

Thankfully The Line is thoroughly engrossing. Assisting the storytelling is music by Aimee Mann and Jonathan Coulter (which was produced by Michael Penn).

If you’ve ever experienced The Exonerated by Blank and Jensen you know what powerful storytellers they are.

There is no charge to stream The Line, but registration is required.

PLAY READING: Home – The Refocus Project at Roundabout Theatre Company – April 30th – May 3rd

New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company debuts the first of five readings of little-known plays from the twentieth century by Black playwrights. The first to be streamed is Samm-Art Williams’ Home.

The Negro Ensemble Company first performed the work in 1979. It was critically-acclaimed and it transferred to Broadway in 1980 and earned two Tony Award nominations including Best Play.

The central character, Cephus, tells two women stories from his life. He loves the idea of just staying…home. But circumstances require he travel from his country home to the big city.

The play is a fable that dabbles in elements of realism – like war and racism. Though there are only three actors (Rob Demery, Brittany Inge and Tony nominee Joaquina Kalukango), Williams has his cast perform dozens of characters.

Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon directs.

Mel Gussow, writing for the New York Times, raved about Williams’ writing:

“The play itself is a freshet of good will, a celebration of the indomitability of man, a call to return to the earth. In all respects — writing, direction and performance — this is one of the happiest theatrical events of the, season.”

He went on to say, “More often, with his gift for local language, Mr. Williams seems closer to the spirit of Mark Twain. If Twain were black and from North Carolina, he might have written like Samm‐Art Williams.”

There is no charge to stream Home, but RSVP/registration is required.

CUBAN JAZZ: Orquesta Akokán – SFJAZZ – April 30th – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

Orquesta Akokán began as a one-time-only recording band to become a touring and live celebration of mambo. So for those who do not want to go gentle into their weekends, this show is for you.

Their performance at SFJAZZ is from June 2019. This big band will have you shaking your groove thing and burning down the house.

Pianist and arranger Michael Ekroth, vocalist José “Pepito” Gómez are joined by members of legendary Cuban bands Irakere and Los Van Van and more as they take to the stage for this show.

Tickets are $5 which allows for a one-month digital membership. If you’re unable to see the show on Friday, there will be an encore streaming on Saturday, May 1st at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. The show will then be available on demand from May 1st – June 30th.

JAZZ: The Christian Sands Trio – Just Jazz – April 30th – 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT

LeRoy Downs, host of Just Jazz on KCRW in Los Angeles, is celebrating International Jazz Day with an intimate concert by pianist Christian Sands, drummer Jonathan Pinson and bassist Ben Williams. The concert will be streaming live from Mr. MusicHead Gallery in Los Angeles.

The trio will be joined by special guest trumpeter Theo Croker.

Sands is one of the most exciting young musicians on the jazz scene. This is a concert you won’t want to miss.

If you’d like more information on Downs and his take on jazz in 2021, check out my interview with him here.

Tickets are $20.

CABARET: Chester Gregory: Celebrating the Motown Era – The Wallis Sorting Room Sessions – April 30th – May 2nd

Chester Gregory has been seen on Broadway in the musicals Hairspray!, Tarzan, Cry-Baby, Sister Act and Motown: The Musical where he portrayed Berry Gordy.

That last credit no doubt awakened Gregory’s appreciation for all things that Gordoy accomplished.

He’ll be Celebrating the Motown Era in this weekend’s first of The Wallis Sorting Room Sessions.

The show becomes available at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT and will remain available through Sunday, May 2nd. Tickets are $20 and allow for 48 hours of streaming.

PLAY: The Importance of Being Earnest – L.A. Theatre Works – May 1st – May 31st

Residents of Los Angeles know that in addition to their fine radio play performances, LATW coordinates with HD Live to offer in person viewings of filmed productions from theater companies from around the world.

For the month of May they are making the 2011 Broadway revival of Oscar Wilde’s throughly delightful play available for streaming.

Certainly you know this very funny play about identity and marriage. And why a man would play a woman in it – as is done here.

This production was directed by and starred Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell. Dana Ivey, Paxton Whitehead and Santino Fontana are also in this production which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.

Tickets are $15 and allow for viewing anytime within two weeks of purchase.

PLAY READING: We Have to Hurry – Broadway on Demand – May 1st – May 2nd

Elliot Gould and Kathleen Chalfant will perform this new play by Dorothy Lyman. We Have to Hurry is set in a retirement complex in Florida. Gil and Margaret cannot see each other because they and all the residents at the complex are forced to quarantine. They only communicate with each other from their respective balconies.

Gil has fallen in love with Margaret and realizes time is not on their side. Will they have a chance to get together and take a walk on the beach? Unsure of what the future holds for them, time is of the essence.

There are two ways to watch this show. The first is with a general ticket priced at $15. For $25 they have created a virtual stage door where ticket holders can submit questions in advance for Chalfant, Gould and Lyman. Those who purchase that ticket will get a separate Zoom link.

There is one performance on May 1st 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. A second performance takes place on May 2nd at 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT. The link above in the title takes you to purchase tickets for the May 1st performance. For tickets to the May 2nd performance, please go here.

PLAY: Shoot Me When… – San Francisco Playhouse – May 1st – May 22nd

I love the premise of Ruben Grijalva’s play. As the two daughters of a woman suffering from dementia, what do you do when you want to honor your mother’s wishes for end of life plans, but she forgets what she agreed to because of her condition?

Susi Damilano directs cast members Blythe de Oliviera Foster, Dan Hiatt, Lorri Holt and Melissa Ortiz.

Tickets are $15 – $100 based on your ability to pay and contribute to the San Francisco Playhouse.

OPERA: Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie – Nationaltheater Mannheim on OperaVision – May 1st – July 31st

Conducted by Bernhard Force; starring Amelia Scicolone, Sophie Rennert, Marie-Belle Sandis, Estelle Kruger and Charles Sy. This Lorenzo Fioroni production was filmed on April 21st and 24th of this year.

Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera had its world premiere in Paris in 1733. The libretto is by Simon-Joseph Pellegrin and is based on Jean Racine’s Phèdre.

Gods and humans are involved in this story of Hippolyte, son of Thésée, the King of Athens and Hippolyte (not Thésée’s wife, that’s Phèdre). Hippolyte falls in love with the wrong woman, Aricie, who is the daughter of his father’s enemy, Pallas. You just know this isn’t going to end well.

I’ve included this production because I do not believe it has previously been available in other productions so far. Frankly it also looks quite interesting!

CABARET: Julian Ovenden: Can’t Help Singing – May 2nd – May 9th

Fans of Bridgerton will want to check out Sir Henry Granville singing. Okay, well it won’t actually be Granville, but it will be actor Julian Ovenden who plays him on the smash series. (Of course if you’re more of a Downton Abbey fan he played Charles Blake. And if you like The Crown, he played Bobby Kennedy in one episode.)

This concert will find Ovenden singing songs by composers and artists he loves including George Gershwin, Michel Legrand and Tom Waits.

Tickets are £12 which at press time equals approximately $17.

CABARET: Andrea McArdle – Seth Concert Series – May 2nd – 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

Seth Rudetsky’s guest on this weekend’s Concert Series is the actress who originated the roles of Ashley in the US production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Starlight Express and Margy Frake in the 1993 musical State Fair. She’s also appeared in Les Misérables and Beauty and the Beast.

Of course, she’s best known for introducing the song Tomorrow to us through her Tony-nominated performance as the title character in the musical Annie. Her nomination made her the youngest nominee for Lead Actress in a Musical. (She lost to co-star Dorothy Loudon.)

Tickets are $25 for either this live stream or the replay at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Caroline Shaw and Attacca Quartet – The Phillips Collection – May 2nd – 4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw teams up with the Attacca Quartet for this performance from The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

Their collaboration on the album Orange led to a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Recording.

This concert will feature the world premiere of Imago by composer inti figgis-vizueta. The work was commissioned by The Phillips Collection.

A selection of Shaw’s own compositions (both songs and works for quartet) will also be performed.

There’s no charge for this concert, but you do have to register to be able to see it. The event will remain available for seven days.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Calidore Quartet – Shriver Hall Concert Series – May 2nd – May 9th

Violist Jeremy Berry, cellist Estelle Choi and violinists Ryan Meehan and Jeffrey Myers make up Calidore Quartet. They were founded in 2010 at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

For this concert from Baltimore’s Shriver Hall, they will be performing the world premiere performance of Hannah Lash’s new quartet.

Also on the program is Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 15 in G Major and Antonin Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, nicknamed the American Quartet.

Tickets are $15. There is a Q&A after the performance.

BROADWAY FUNDRAISER: Broadway Acts for Women – A Is For – May 2nd – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

This fundraiser puts the fun front and center. This is the realization of a karaoke fantasy for all fans of Broadway.

Ticket holders get to bid on the songs the performers will sing. Martha Plimpton serves as the host.

Who are the performers in this year’s event?

Sara Bareilles, Elizabeth Banks, Annette Bening, Reed Birney, Ashley Nicole Black, Kathryn Brody, Danny Burstein, Ever Carradine, Ariana DeBose, Garret Dillahunt, Eden Espinosa, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Montego Glover, Kelli O’Hara, Josh Hamilton, Michelle Hurd, Jason Isaacs, Amy Landecker, Jenn Lyon, Lesli Margherita, Howard McGillin, Patton Oswalt, Mandy Patinkin, Harold Perrineau, Carrie Preston, Judy Reyes, Annabella Sciorra, Cecily Strong, Jessica Vosk, Steven Weber, Shannon Woodward, BD Wong and Karen Ziemba.

And if you’ve got deep pockets you can also bid on unique auction items that include a voice lesson with O’Hara, cooking class with Ferguson and a private zoom concert with Bareilles.

Broadway Acts for Women will be live streamed from 54 Below in New York. Tickets start at $75 and go up to $300 with different perks along the way.

A is For is a non-profit working to eliminate the stigma of abortion.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Taiwan Philharmonic – Los Angeles County Museum of Art – May 2nd – 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT

Works of four Taiwanese composers will be performed in this free streaming concert on Sunday. They are Tyson Hsiao, Yu-Shian Deng, Ching-Mei Lin and I-Uen Wang Hwang.

The concert will be performed by the Taiwan Philharmonic.

Within Taiwan they are as the National Symphony Orchestra. Music Director Shao-Chia Lü will lead the orchestra in this performance.

How often do you get to hear this music? There’s no charge to watch the concert, but you do need to RSVP on the website.

CABARET: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – Cast Party Network – May 3rd – 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT

This week’s Pajama Cast Party guest list features Anjali Bhimani (Bombay Dreams); James Gish (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical); Alyssa May Gold (the upcoming revival of How I Learned to Drive); singer/bandleader John Malino (with family) and cabaret singer Sue Matsuki.

There is no charge to watch this always delightful show.

However, should you be so inclined, Jim Caruso and Pajama Cast Party accepts donations and makes weekly donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors Fund.

That’s the official list of Best Bets: April 30th – May 3rd, but there are a few reminders:

Covenant by York Walker concludes its run this weekend as part of South Coast Repertory’s Pacific Playwrights Festival. For details on the show and the full schedule of plays, please go here.

Two-time Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster’s Bring Me to Light continues from New York City Center. Amongst her guests are Raúl Esparza and Kelli O’Hara. For full details, please go here.

Carnegie Hall’s Voices of Hope Festival officially ends on Friday, April 30th, but many of the programs will be available for viewing through May 31st. Take a look at my recommendations to see if something might appeal to you.

Sound/Stage from the Los Angeles Philharmonic debuts a new episode on April 30th. The orchestra will perform Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony with Gustavo Dudamel conducting.

This weekend’s offerings from the Metropolitan Opera are the 1980-1981 season production of Verdi’s La Traviata on Friday; the 2018-2019 season production of Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur on Saturday and the 2008-2009 season production of Puccini’s La Rondine on Sunday.

Next week’s theme at the Met is Happy Mother’s Day and will start with the 2015-2016 production of Strauss’ Elektra. Not my idea of a happy mother, but this production is staggering. Do not miss it!

Do you have enough options for your weekend? Hopefully you have more choices than you have time to watch everything on this week’s Best Bets: April 30th – May 3rd.

Enjoy your weekend!

Photo: Gerald Clayton, who is performing at the 2021 Global All-Star Concert for International Jazz Day (courtesy GeraldClayton.com)

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