On tap (no pun intended) is a wonderful tap performance from New York’s Joyce Theater by Ayodele Casel; a musical where popular princesses from animated films imagine a different definition of “Happily Ever After;” the return of Tony Award-winner Lena Hall with some new “Obsessions;” a live performance from The Royal Opera House of work by Brecht and Weill; a concert performance of one of Verdi’s least-performed operas and the first of a two-part live performance of a play adapted from Milton’s Paradise Lost.

My top pick this weekend comes from San Francisco Opera. Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher inspired an unfinished opera by Claude Debussy and a newer work by Gordon Getty. Both operas are being streamed this weekend and their rarity easily makes this the most interesting option for the weekend.

I’ll begin with my top pick for the week and the balance of my Best Bets: April 9th – April 12th are listed in the order in which they are available.

Here are my Best Bets: April 9th – April 12th:

*TOP PICK* OPERA: House of Usher – San Francisco Opera – April 10th – April 11th

Conducted by Lawrence Foster; starring Brian Mullian, Jason Bridges, Antony Reed, Jamielyn Duggan, Jacqueline Piccolino, Edward Nelson and Joel Sorensen. This David Poutney production is from the 2014-2015 season.

You know Cultural Attaché covers operas on a very regular basis. So it’s exciting to let you know about two one-act operas that are rarely performed and have not, to my knowledge, been streamed before this offering from San Francisco Opera.

Composers Claude Debussy and Gordon Getty each wrote operas inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. Poe tells the story of Roderick Usher through the eyes of his friend and reveals what may or may not have happened to Usher’s sister Madeline.

Debussy’s work, La chute de la maison Usher, is an unfinished opera that he worked on from 1908-1917. The opera was completed and orchestrated, based on the composer’s draft, by Robert Orledge in 2004. The premiere of the completed opera was in 2014 paired with Getty’s version at the Welsh National Opera. It is this production that came to San Francisco Opera with different casting.

Philip Glass also composed a work inspired by The Fall of the House of Usher. A film, directed by James Darrah, is available for streaming from Boston Lyric Opera for $10. These two one-act operas, our top pick for the weekend, are available for free but only through Sunday, April 11th.

BALLET: Concerto – Royal Ballet – Now – April 25th

This work by legendary choreographer Kenneth MacMillan was one of two pieces that premiered at the first performance after he was named Director of Berlin’s Deutsche Opera Ballet in 1966. For Concerto he used Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Concert No. 2 in F as his inspiration.

This new post came after his wildly successful years at Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet where he created nine new ballets.

This Royal Ballet performance is from 2019 and features soloists James Hay, Mayara Magri and Anna Rose O’Sullivan. They are joined by principals Ryoichi Hirano and Yasmine Naghdi.

Sarah Crompton, writing in The Guardian, said of this production: “…a plotless piece of sharp geometric angles and airy leaps, danced to Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No 2. Set by Jürgen Rose against a perfect pale lemon backdrop, with the dancers in orange, russet and yellow, it has a breezy sophistication, with a delicate cross work of steps for soloists and a large corps de ballet. It seems simple but is devilishly complicated.”

The performance is available now for streaming. The price is £3 which equals $3.47.

PLAY READING: Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous – Broadway’s Best Shows – Now – April 12th

Sisters Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad star in the reading of Pearl Cleage’s 2019 play Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous which is being read as part of the Spotlight on Plays series from Broadway’s Best Shows.

After their production of scenes from August Wilson’s Fences ignited a major controversy actress Anna Campbell and director Betty Samson fled to Amsterdam for what they thought would be short-term assignment. 25 years later they are invited back to the United States where their version, nicknamed Naked Wilson, is going to open a women’s theater festival. But the festival wants to work with a much younger actress than Campbell. You don’t think that’s going to go over well, do you?

Also participating in the reading are Heather Alicia Simms and Alicia Stith. Camille A. Brown directs.

Tickets are $15 with proceeds going to the Actors Fund. The show will remain available through Monday, April 12th.

DANCE: Chasing Magic – The Joyce Theater Foundation – Now – April 21st

Fans of tap dance will definitely want to check out Chasing Magic by Ayodele Casel streaming now from The Joyce Theater in New York. I saw the film and it’s simply amazing.

For this world premiere, Casel has collaborated with director Torya Beard, dancer/choreographer Ronald K. Brown, singer/songwriter Crystal Monee Hall, composer/musician Arturo O’Farrill, percussionist Sent Stoney and composer Annastasia Victory.

Viewers can expect both traditional tap and also a contemporary style of tap – both of which will put a smile on your face, just as it does the dancers performing.

Tickets are $25/household.

BALLET: Carmen – State Street Ballet – Now – April 14th

Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen serves as the inspiration for this work by William Soleau (Co-Artistic Director of State Street Ballet). The work had its premiere in 2014 and this is a film from a performance at The Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara from that year.

For those unfamiliar with the opera, here is the synopsis:

Set in Seville, Spain, Carmen is a gypsy who has caught everyone’s eye. A soldier, Don José, plays coy and gives her no attention. Her flirtation causes troubles for both when Don José’s girlfriend, Micaëla arrives. Tensions escalate between the two women and after a knight fight, José must arrest Carmen. When she seduces him it sets off a series of events that will not end well for the gypsy woman.

Leila Drake dances the title role. Ryan Camou dances the role of Don José. Randy Herrera dances the role of the Toreador Escamillo and Cecily Stewart MacDougall dances the role of Micaëla.

There is no charge to watch the performance which will remain available through midnight on April 14th.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Simone Porter and Hsin-I Huang – Soka Performing Arts Center – Now – June 30th

As part of their Signature Encore Series, the Soka Performing Arts Center is making this 2019 concert by violinist Simone Porter and pianist Hsin-I Huang available through June 30th.

Their performance features works by Mozart (Sonata No. 24 in F Major, K. 376); Leoš Janáček (Violin Sonata, JW VII/7); Esa-Pekka Salonen (Lachen Verlent); Ernest Bloch (“Ningun” from Baal Shem); Maurice Ravel (Tzigane) and Sergei Prokofiev (3 pieces from Romeo & Juliet, Op. 64).

This concert is free to watch on both the Soka website and also their YouTube channel.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: The Heart of the Matter – St. Louis Symphony Orchestra – Now – May 8th

Three of the four pieces being performed in this concert by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra are very well known to classical music fans.

Edward Elgar’s Serenade for Strings; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Andante cantabile and Giacomo Puccini’s I crisantemi (The Chrysanthemums). The last work was written originally for string quartet, but is rarely heard in that version.

Less known is the first piece on the program: Within Her Arms by composer Anna Clyne.

This work has been compared to Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings for the depth of its emotion. It’s a composition that inspired violinist Jennifer Koh to tell the New York Times, “Sometimes things reach you and it’s colorful or intricate or structured in an interesting way or the orchestration is wonderful. But the extraordinary thing about Anna’s music is that it is incredibly moving. And I hadn’t had that reaction for a long time.”

Stéphane Denève leads the SLSO in this performance. Tickets are $15.

MUSICAL: Disenchanted – Stream.Theatre – April 9th – April 11th

Cinderella, The Little mermaid, Pocahontas, The Princess Who Kissed the Frog and Snow White are just some of the princesses who are changing the definition of happily ever after in this musical with book, lyrics and music by Dennis T. Giacino.

Disnenchanted opened off-Broadway in 2014 and was the recipient of numerous nominations including Best New Musical. The production that is streaming this weekend is from England.

The cast or women playing the princesses are Courtney Bowman, Natalie Chua, Allie Daniel, Shanay Holmes, Sophie Isaacs, Aisha Jawando, Grace Mouat, Millie O’Connell, Jenny O’Leary, and Jodie Steele. Tom Jackson Greaves directs.

There are only three performances. The show will be streamed at 2:30 PM EDT/11:30 AM PDT on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are £18 (including service charges) which equals almost $25.

OPERA/DANCE: The Seven Deadly Sins and Mahagonny Songspiel – Royal Opera House – April 9th – 2:30 PM EDT/11:30 AM PDT

The Royal Opera House offers its first live broadcast of the year with this double bill of works by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.

The Seven Deadly Sins is called a ballet chanté. That means it is a sung ballet. The work had its world premiere in Paris in 1933. As you might imagine from the title, each of the seven deadly sins (envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth and wrath) is explored through the story of two sisters: Anna I and Anna II. The first Anna (Stephanie Wake-Edwards) is a singer and the second a dancer (Jonadette Carpio).

Also in the company are Tenors Filipe Manu and Egor Zhuravskii; baritone Dominic Sedgwick, and bass Blaise Malaba who are joined by dancer Thomasin Gülgeç.    

This is satire at its best and it was also the last significant collaboration between Brecht and Weill.

Mahagonny Sonspiel premiered in 1927 in Baden-Baden, Germany. A perfect companion piece to The Seven Deadly Sins, Brecht and Weill were offering their opinion on the pursuit of pleasure. Amongst the songs in this work is The Alabama Song which many will know from the version recorded by Jim Morrison and The Doors.

For this performance, mezzo-soprano Kseniia Nkolaieva will sing the role of Bessie.

Choreographer Julia Cheng has kept the streaming experience in mind while creating this production.

Tickets are $11.53. The performance will be available for streaming through May 9th.

COCKTAILS AND CONVERSATION: Virtual Halston – Cast Party Network on YouTube – April 9th – 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT

I adore Julia Halston and her Friday soirees have been a staple of my winding down and getting ready for the weekend. So I’m sad that this weekend, her 40th episode, will be her last for the time being.

However, I’m thrilled that she’s going on a hiatus to work on a new theater project.

For this episode Halston will welcome producers Ruby Locknar and Jim Caruso for a look back on those 40 episodes that have featured everyone from Charles Busch to Jane Monheit to Michael Urie and so many more.

The show is free to watch but donations to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation are encouraged.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Lena Hall: Obsessed – April 9th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

When Tony Award winner Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) launched her Obsessed series of EPs in 2018, she offered her versions of both well-known songs and deep-tracks of such artists as Beck, David Bowie, Nirvana, Pink, Radiohead, Jack White and more.

Given her voice, it was probably a surprise she didn’t also record the music of Heart – the duo best known for songs like Baracuda, Crazy on You and Magic Man.

But she’s going to be singing their songs in a live concert on Friday night. This video, from a Broadway Sessions performance at the Laurie Beechman Theatre gives you a taste of what she can do with this music (it does contain some profanity):

Does this foreshadow a second Obsessed series? This is a one-time only concert. There will be no streaming if you can’t see it as it happens. And you should. Lena Hall rocks!

Tickets are $20 and $50. The higher-priced VIP tickets allows for interaction with Hall during the concert.

JAZZ: Claudia Villela: The Music of Jobim – SFJAZZ – April 9th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

There are certain artists who can use just one name and you know immediately who it is. Brazilian composer Jobim is one of them. (For the record his full name is Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim).

Amongst his best-known songs are Corcovado, Desafinado and The Girl from Ipanema.

Singer Claudia Villela will pay tribute to Jobim in this concert from 2019. She is joined by special guest guitarist Chico Pinheiro. Her band includes Celso Alberti on drums and percussion; Gary Brown on bass; Gary Meek on saxophone and flute and Jasnam Daya Singh on piano and keys.

There will be an encore presentation Saturday, April 10th at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT.

This concert is available to digital members of SFJAZZ. Membership is $5 for one month of programs or $60 for one year.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Beethoven Serioso – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – Debuts April 9th – 9:30 PM EDT/6:30 PM PDT

As they did with their most recent episode of Close Quarters, the camera moves in and amongst the musicians in this performance of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 nicknamed Serioso. The orchestration is by Gustav Mahler. Margaret Batjer leads LACO in this performance.

Given the significance the camera plays in this film, I want to give attention to cinematographer Michael Thomas whose deft work breathes new life into ensemble performance. Visual artist Ken Honjo also contributed to this episode.

If you haven’t checked out this terrific series, all previous videos are available for streaming. There’s no charge to watch Beethoven Serioso or any of the other videos.

DANCE: Awakening – Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company – April 10th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

For over 30 years, New Jersey’s Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has been at the forefront of creating works that express through contemporary dance that long history of the Chinese American cultural tradition.

This program will find the company offering two world premieres (Luminescence and Shadow Force) along with two works from 2019 (Truth Bound and Introspection). The works are united in their exploration of ideas we have all probably faced during the pandemic: identity, information, optimism, outside forces that complicate our lives, truth and more.

Tickets are $10 to watch the performance. If you are a member of the South Orange Performing Arts Center, you can watch for free.

THEATER: From Number to Name – East West Players – April 10th – April 11th

Wednesday afternoon I published an interview with the provocative performance artist Kristina Wong who is helming From Number to Name.

Through a series of interviews and over the course of six-and-a-half weeks, Wong and her collaborators have put together this dramatic show that explores the impact of incarceration on the Asian/Pacific Islander community in America. It is a story filled with shame, regret and finds those who are released from prison rarely having a familial support system to reintegrate into society.

There are two performances of From Number to Name. The first is on Saturday at 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT. The second is on Sunday at 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT.

Tickets begin at $5 and go up in price based on your ability to include a donation to East West Players.

CHORAL: Amore della Vita, Love of Life – The Verdi Chorus – April 11th – 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT

For those clamoring for all things Italian, this weekend’s virtual concert by The Fox Singers from the Verdi Chorus will delight. They will be performing a program of Italian art songs.

Amongst the composers are Ruggero Leoncavallo (best known for his one-act opera Pagliacci), Pietro Mascagni (best known for Cavalleria rusticana), Gioachino Rossini (best known for the theme song to The Lone Ranger*) and Paolo Tosti (best known for his over 50 art songs).

Featured performers in this concert are sopranos Tiffany Ho, Megan Lindsey McDonald and Sarah Salazar; mezzo-soprano Ariana Stultz; and tenors Elias Berezin and Joseph Gárate. Anne Marie Ketchum leads the ensemble with Laraine Ann Madden accompanying.

If this concert (and perhaps Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy) makes you hungry, The Verdi Chorus is publishing The Verdi Chorus Pandemic Cookbook. How many of the recipes are Italian, I couldn’t tell you. But if they can cook like they sing…. The book is available for pre-order here.

CABARET: Ali Stroker – Seth Concert Series – April 11th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Ali Stroker won a Tony Award for her performance as Ado Annie in the 2019 revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma! She became the first performer in a wheelchair to win a Tony Award. (She was paralyzed in an automobile accident when she was two years old.)

This wasn’t her first Broadway performance. She appeared in the 2015 revival of Spring Awakening. This was the Deaf West Theatre production that was first performed at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

She is Seth Rudetsky‘s guest for this weekend’s concert and conversation.

I saw Stroker in both shows and she is simply amazing. This will be well worth watching.

In addition to the live concert on Sunday afternoon there will be an encore showing Sunday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT. Tickets for either showing are $25.

OPERA: Atilla Highlights in Concert – Lyric Opera of Chicago – April 11th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Giuseppe Verdi’s Atilla had its world premiere in Venice in 1846. The opera tells the story of Atilla the Hun (how many other Atillas do you know?) and his ill-fated relationship with Odabella, a prisoner whose father died at the hands of Atilla. Foresto and Ezio, having their own reasons for wanting revenge on Atilla, defer to Odabella who will stop at nothing to see Atilla die.

Atilla is not amongst Verdi’s most popular nor the most commonly-performed. In fact, the Metropolitan Opera only staged Atilla for the first time in 2010. The Lyric Opera of Chicago staged their first production ten years earlier.

On Sunday they will premiere a concert of excerpts from Atilla that will feature bass-baritone Christian Van Horn singing the role of Attila, soprano Tamara Wilson singing Odabella, tenor Matthew Polenzani singing Foresto, and baritone Quinn Kelsey singing Ezio. Pianist William C. Billingham and Jerad Mosbey accompany the singers.

Enrique Mazzola leads the concert which will be available on the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: A Tour of Iran – New West Symphony – April 11th – 6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT

Michael Christie leads the New West Symphony in a performance of work exploring the influence of Iranian poetry and music on the West. Joining the performance are mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and two Iranian instrumentalists: Pejman Hadadi (tombak and dad) and Masoud Rezaei (setar).

The program features a mix of classical works by Mozart (The Magic Flute Overture), Rameau (Suite from Zoroastre), Handel (“Ombra mai fu” from Xerxes) and Gounod(selections from Faust) with works by Iranian composers Khayam (Seven Valleys of Love for Strings), Ranjbaran (Enchanted Garden: Joy) and excerpts from Rezaei’s album Nothingness.

Tickets to stream the concert are $25 per household and will include a post-performance reception with Christie and the guest artists.

CLASSICAL MUSIC/CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Jennifer Koh Solo Recital – Shriver Hall Concert Series – April 11th – 5:30 PM EDT/2:30 PM PDT

Violinist Jennifer Koh appears in this very intriguing concert which finds her playing two compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and peppering the concert with twelve new compositions that she commissioned in 2020 for her Alone Together project.

Bach’s Partita No. 3 and the Sonata No. 3 are sharing space with works by Kati Agócs, Katherine Beach, Hanna Benn, Patrick Castillo, Vijay Iyer, Angelica Negrón, Andrew Norman, Ellen Reid, Darian Donovan Thomas with electronics by Layale Chaker, Ian Chang, George Lewis and Cassie Wieland.

Tickets are $15. The recital will remain available through April 18th.

PLAY: Smokefall – Goodman Theatre – April 12th – April 25th

Critics found themselves searching for superlatives when Noah Haidle’s Smokefall opened in 2013. From the writing to the performances and the production, the acclaim was universal.

In Haidle’s play, Violet is pregnant with twins and anticipating a major shift in her life. What she doesn’t know is that her husband is getting ready to leave her.

Adding to her worries is that her daughter has chosen not to speak and her father is suffering from senility. Just what an expectant mother wants in her life as she’s about to give birth to twins.

Starring in Smokefall are Catherine Combs, Anne Fogarty, Katherine Keberlein, Guy Massey, Mike Nussbaum, Eric Slater. (In case you are wondering, two of the actors play Fetus One and Fetus Two). Directing is Anne Kaufmann.

There’s no charge to stream Smokefall, but you do need to reserve your streaming opportunity.

PLAY READING: Paradise Lost – Red Bull Theater – April 12th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

John Milton’s Paradise Lost, an epic poem about temptation and the fall of man seen through the eyes of Adam & Eve and Satan, was probably something you read in college.

It has proven to be catnip for playwrights who want to find a way of putting this extraordinary work on stage.

Enter Michael Barakiva who offered up a 13-hour adaptation in 2013 with Upstart Creatures.

New York’s Red Bull Theater is offering a live reading of the play with the first part on Monday. (I’m betting that the play has been edited since its first presentation eight years ago). The second part will be performed live on Monday, April 26th.

Starring as Satan is Jason Butler Harner. Said Arrika Ekulona is God. The cast includes Stephen Bel Davies, Sheldon Best, Gisela Chípe, Robert Cuccioli, Carol Halstead, Gregory Linington, Daniel José Molina, Sam Morales, Howard Overshown and Cherie Corinne Rice. Barakiva directs.

Tickets are pay what you can. After the initial live performance, the livestream will remain available until 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST the Friday immediately following the live performance.

CABARET AND CONVERSATION: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – April 12th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Joining Jim Caruso for this Monday’s Pajama Cast Party are up-and-coming musical theater performer D’Marreon Alexander, Jackie Burns (Wicked), singer Jacob Daniel Cummings and country singers Chase McDaniel and Emily West.

The show is free to watch and if you can’t make it Monday night, the show (and Virtual Halston for that matter) will remain available for streaming on the Cast Party Network on YouTube.

That’s my official list of Best Bets: April 9th – April 12th. But you know I always have a few reminders:

The Metropolitan Opera continues its From Page to Stage series with their 2013-2014 season production of Shostakovich’s The Nose on Friday; their 2007-2008 season production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette on Saturday and their 2017-2018 season production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller on Sunday.

Monday the Metropolitan Opera begins a series of operas based on fairy tales called Once Upon a Time. They start with the 2017-2018 of Massenet’s Cendrillon. I’ll have the full line-up for you on Monday.

This is your last weekend to watch Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike free on Broadway on Demand. The Lincoln Center Theater production stars Billy Magnussen, Kristine Nielsen, David Hyde Pierce and Sigourney Weaver. If you need a good laugh this weekend, this play will offer you many of them. (Use code VANYAFREE on the BOD website)

Also be sure to check with previous Best Bets to find other options that might still be available. As you can see from this week’s list, there are always shows you can watch well after this weekend is over.

That’s officially a wrap on this week’s Best Bets: April 9th – April 12th. Enjoy your weekend!

Photo: An image from House of Usher (Photo by Cory Weaver/Courtesy San Francisco Opera)

*You don’t think I’m serious do you?

The post Best Bets: April 9th – April 12th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

My top pick this weekend is Boston Lyric Opera’s new film, directed by James Darrah, of The Fall of the House of Usher. This is a mixed-media film set to the Philip Glass/Arthur Yorinks opera. By the way, you’ll see Darrah’s name several times in these listings.

We have jazz, dance, classical music, new classical music, family-friendly theatre, very mature subject matter and some show tunes.

So let’s get to it. Here are the Best Bets: January 29th – January 31st:

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Hélène Grimaud with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra – Debuts January 29th – 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST – Available through May 31st

Pianist Hélène Grimaud joins conductor Nicholas McGegan and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466. The concert also includes a performance of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550.

Grimaud released her album The Messenger last year which features her performing this concerto with Camerata Salzburg. As she’s one of our finest pianists performing and recording today, this is a concert certain to please all fans of Mozart and classical piano.

The cost to stream this concert is $10, but does allow for streaming through May 31, 2021.

TOP PICK: OPERA: The Fall of the House of Usher – Boston Lyric Opera – Debuts January 29th

When I recently spoke with director/designer James Darrah he made it clear how he wanted to bring new ideas to opera and classical music. This film he directed of Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher is definitely an example of him doing just that.

Darrah combines hand-drawn animation, stop-motion film, and archival footage to tell this Edgar Allan Poe story.

Collaborating with Glass, as his librettist, was Arthur Yorinks.

This 93-minute film opens with the line, “Not what you expected?” If a traditional performance film is what you expected, perhaps this isn’t for you. Screenwriter Raúl Santos sets a young immigrant girl detained at the United States border within the opera. There is also a warning at the start of the film that certain images and scenes might be too intense for younger viewers.

The Fall of the House of Usher features Chelsea Basler, Jorgeandrés Camargo, Christon Carney, Jesse Darden, Daniel Belcher with David Angus conducting the score.

The design team includes Production Designer Yuki Izumihara; Director of Photography Pablo Santiago; Costume and Doll Designer Camille Assaf; Art Director/Lead Designer Yee Eun Nam; Lead Animator Will Kim; Associate Animator Jian Lee and Lead Illustrator Rodrigo Muñoz.

The rental cost to stream the film is $10 and allows for streaming for a period of seven days. I had a chance to see The Fall of the House of Usher and can tell you it is well worth the money. And for those who don’t think they like opera, give this a chance. This film with surprise you. That’s why it is our Top Pick this week.

MUSICALS: RW Quarantunes – Center Theatre Group – January 29th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

You never know who will show up in this celebration of Broadway. Father and daughter Richard and Demi Weitz have been doing Zoom parties for their celebrity friends (he’s a partner at WME). Amongst those who have participated in previous RWQuarantunes have been Boy George, Josh Groban, Nathan Lane, John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Randy Newman, Bernadette Peters, Rod Stewart and Rufus Wainwright.

Whoever the guests are for this Center Theatre Group Fundraiser, they are going to be performing songs from The Book of Mormon, Jersey Boys, Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera and more. Given CTG’s history and reputation, I’d expect some pretty high-caliber participants.

There is no charge to view the show, but you must register for it. As this is a fundraiser, donations are strongly encouraged.

PLAY: The James Baldwin Project – Broadway on Demand – Now – January 31st

Hub Theatre Group from Lubbock, Texas created a project celebrating writer James Baldwin called The James Baldwin Project. Their show, The Dream Unrealized, part of that project, is streaming through the end of this weekend as part of Broadway on Demand’s Martin Luther King, Jr. programming.

This film features actors Alex Hairston (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Tayler Harris, Jenny Laroche and Judine Somerville (Hairspray) reciting Baldwin’s words and adding their own stories to them. This combination yields a powerful message about how little change there has been since Baldwin was alive.

There is a $5 fee to stream The James Baldwin Project.

FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT: Grimmz Fairy Tales – Broadway on Demand – Now – March 30th

Hip-hop meets Snow White, Rapunzel, Hansel & Gretel and Cinderella is this show from the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte. Creators Ron Lee McGill and Rahsheem Shabazz take on the persona of Jay and Will Grimmz in this family-friendly 71-minute show currently available through Broadway on Demand.

McGill, in an interview last year with the The Charlotte Post, said of the songs they created for Grimmz Fairy Tales, “We want to make this for everyone, not just for kids, but something that everybody—the family—can collectively come together and enjoy this.”

Streaming the show costs $23.54 and allows for 72 hours of viewing.

OPERA: Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier – Royal Opera House – Now – February 6th

Conducted by Antonio Pappano; starring Jonas Kaufmann, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Željko Lučić and Denyce Graves. This David McVicar production is from the 2014-2015 season.

Giordano’s opera had its world premiere in Milan in 1896. It features a libretto by Luigi Illica and is inspired by the life of the poet André Chénier who was executed during the French Revolution.

A love triangle is ultimately at the center of this opera. Chénier says one too many things in the presence of Maddalena, Countess di Coigny’s daughter, about the imbalance between the French government and the poverty that has trapped so many of his countrymen. This is just prior to the French Revolution.

Half a decade later, Carlo Gérard, who was a footman to the now executed King Louis XVI and was influenced by Chénier’s talk, is now a leading political figure. The poet, however, is not in their good graces. This interrupts his plans to meet a young woman with whom he has been corresponding. That turns out to be Maddalena. Though she and Chénier are in love, Gérard also has his eyes on her. Politics and passion collide leading to the poet’s execution.

Tim Ashley, in his review for The Guardian, raved about Kaufmann. “Kaufmann is performing the title role for the first time, and it’s hard to imagine him bettered. His striking looks make him very much the Romantic and romanticised outsider of Giordano’s vision. His voice, with its dark, liquid tone, soars through the music with refined ease and intensity: all those grand declarations of passion, whether political or erotic, hit home with terrific immediacy. His acting is superb, too…”

Tickets to stream the opera are £3 or approximately $4.15 (at press time)

JAZZ: Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Pedrito Martinez – SFJAZZ – January 29th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

If you like your jazz on the Cuban side, you won’t want to miss seeing pianist/composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba and conguero Pedrito Martinez in this SFJAZZ concert from 2017.

This concert, part of the weekly Fridays at Five series, will definitely not leave you sitting still. This is a great way to start the weekend.

You’ll need either a monthly membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view this concert. But given how much great music you’ll get for your investment, it’s well worth the money.

OPERA: Lumee’s Dream – LA Opera – January 29th – February 11th

p r i s m, the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera by composer Ellen Reid and librettist Roxie Perkins, is the inspiration for this new film by the opera’s direct James Darrah. (He’s obviously been busy.) Here he takes a small moment from the opera and turns it into a long-form sensory experience.

There is no charge to watch Lumee’s Dream. You will need to register at LA Opera.

While you’re there, you can still catch Darrah’s film of p r i s m. That’s also free and will remain available through February 8th.

BALLET: La Fille mal gardée – The Royal Ballet – January 29th – February 27th

A love story between Lise and a young farmer, Colas, is the centerpiece of this ballet choreographed by Frederick Ashton. This ballet had its world premiere in 1960.

The translation of the title is The Wayward Daughter. Clearly her parents aren’t too keen on her taste in men. Or in this case, her widowed mother.

Ashton based this work on a 1789 ballet by Jean Dauberval. The music was adapted by John Lanchberry from an 1828 score by Ferdinand Hérold.

This production is from 2015 with Barry Wordsworth conducting members of the Royal Opera Orchestra. Natalia Osipova dances the role of Lise. Steven McRae dances the role of Colas. The role of Lise’s mother is danced by Philip Mosley.

Tickets to stream the opera are £3 or approximately $4.15 (at press time)

NEW CLASSICAL MUSIC: Mother of Bravery – Close Quarters #7 – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – January 29th – Debuts at 9:30 PM EST/6:30 PM PST

Composer Derrick Spiva Jr. is both the curator of this edition of LACO’s Close Quarters episode and also the composer of both works being given their world premiere performances.

Mother of Bravery was commissioned by LACO. The other work is Mind the Rhythm (For Amplified Violin and Electronics). Each work is 10-11 minutes.

As with other Close Quarters films, this will not be a traditional performance video. James Darrah (I told you he was busy) is the director/designer of the accompanying film.

Spiva is a fascinating composer and this series has proven essential. I wouldn’t miss this (and you don’t have to watch it just at the premiere time – it will remain available.) There’s no charge to watch the film.

OPERA: La Traviata – San Francisco Opera – January 30th – January 31st

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Nicole Cabell and Stephen Costello. This John Copley production is from the 2013-2014 season.

Alexandre Dumas fils (the son of the author of The Three Musketeers) wrote the play, La Dame aux camélias on which Verdi’s opera is based. Francesco Maria Piave wrote the libretto for La Traviata which had its world premiere in Venice in 1853.

In the opera, Violetta, who is in declining health, throws an opulent party. At this party she is introduced to Alfredo by her lover, Baron Douphol. When signs of failing health get noticed by Alfredo, he encourages her to give up her lavish lifestyle. He also admits his great love for Violetta. A love triangle is now in play. From there the opera tells the story of a woman who sacrifices everything to live life on the edge.

DANCE: Search(light) – Kinesis Project dance theatre – January 30th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST and 8:30 PM EST/5:30 PM PST

Two sets of dancers will be performing this work…twice. One set will be at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York and the other set will be at the Kay White Hall at Vashon Center for the Arts on Vashon Island, Washington. This will be a pair of live performances with the dancers being accompanied by music by Sandbox Percussion and violinist Kristin Lee.

Kinesis Project’s main focus has been on site-specific productions. Search(light), utilizing two different sites, was inspired by Melissa Riker’s experience watching fisherman in Seattle. Riker is the artistic director of Kinesis Project dance theatre.

The New York cast includes Claudia-Lynn Rightmire, Therese Ronco, Jeimin Yang, Sumaya Mulla-Carrillo, and Nicole Truzzi. The Seattle cast includes Lorraine Lau, Kimberly Holloway, Hendri Walujo, Robert Moore, Margaret Behm, Madeline Morser. 

Rather than responding through a website, interested viewers should e-mail: Kinesis_RSVP@icloud.com.

The event is free, but donations are encouraged with a suggested donation of $15.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Holocaust Remembrance – New West Symphony – January 31st – 6:00 PM EST/3:00 PM PST

This concert, part of a worldwide series of events for Holocaust Remembrance Week honoring the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust, features music that will be very familiar and some selections less so.

Michael Christie leads the Jerusalem String Quartet and pianist Daniel Vnukowski as guest artists.

New West Symphony members violinist/Concertmaster Alyssa Park; violist Phillip Triggs and clarinetist Joshua Ranz also perform.

The program features John Williams’ Theme from Schindler’s List; Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words, Op. 67, No. 2; Brahms’ String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major, Op. 67; Schulhoff’s Five pieces for String Quartet; Kovács’ Sholem-alekhim, rov Feldman!; Szpilman’s Mazurka; Weinberg’s Sonata No. 1 fur Viola Solo, Adagio; Ryterband’s Suite Polonaise – Oberek and concludes with Williams’ Remembrance from Schindler’s List.

Tickets to stream the concert are $25.

PLAY: Hi, Are You Single? – Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in association with IAMA Theatre Company – January 31st – February 28th

Even with technology making everything seemingly readily available, finding someone to hook up with isn’t always as easy as you might think. Consider having an above-average sex drive, being gay and having cerebral palsy. That just increased the degree of difficultly exponentially.

Ryan J. Haddad stars in this one-man show that he also wrote. It allows him to explore the challenges faced not just in getting laid, but in perhaps finding the right person with whom to fall in love. This isn’t a work of fiction, it is an autobiographical show.

As you might imagine, I wouldn’t recommend this as family fare. This is adult material. But it should be enlightening, entertaining and perhaps uplifting.

Tickets are $15 to stream the show, but only if purchased by January 31st prior to the first show at 9:01 PM PST. After that tickets will be $20. Tickets will allow for 48 hours of streaming the show.

That concludes the official list of Best Bets: January 29th – January 31st. But, I do have a few reminders:

In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl on PBS has two episodes on Friday, January 29th: Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl and Musicals and the Movies. Check your local listings for exact start times.

If you live in the Los Angeles area, the 20th annual Dance Camera West festival is taking place in Santa Monica. You can get the details in our preview here.

Metropolitan Opera closes out their Antiheroes Week with performances of Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer on Friday; Verdi’s Rigoletto on Saturday and Verdi’s Macbeth on Sunday.

This concludes my Best Bets: January 29th – January 31st. That’s a busy and exciting way to close out the first month of 2021. Enjoy your weekend.

Main Photo: An image from The Fall of the House of Usher (Courtesy Boston Lyric Opera)

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That experience and insight will come in handy on Friday night when Mauceri takes to the podium with the New West Symphony at the Valley Performing Arts Center in a program entitled Bernstein on Stage. The concert will focus on Bernstein’s music for such musicals as West Side Story, Wonderful Town, Candide, and On the Town. Mauceri, who was the Director of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra from 1991-2006, spent 18 years working with the man his friends called “Lenny.”

“When you were with Leonard Bernstein,” Mauceri recalls, “that’s just where you wanted to be because he was a life force. He was fun and interesting and funny. He was one of the funniest people I ever knew. He would spend time as if you were equals. He made that clear when we first met in 1971-1972. He would ask my opinions as if we were equals. That unlocks your sense of security, that you are worthy of having those conversations.”

Much like his lyricist for West Side Story, Stephen Sondheim, Bernstein thrived on collaboration. “One of the reasons why Lenny generally enjoyed and flourished in musical theatre was because it was collaborative,” Mauceri says. “Most people don’t think about it but being a composer is a very solitary job. Lenny had a harder time being alone with himself and being alone from the very public world of conducting. When he wrote with Betty [Comden] & Adolph [Green] (Wonderful Town, On the Town) or with Jerry [Robbins], Arthur [Laurents] and Steve [Sondheim], this was a happy time.”

One show of Bernstein’s that failed spectacularly was the musical 1600 Pennyslvania Avenue. The show only ran for seven performances. Mauceri remembers a conversation just before Bernstein died about wanting to rework it. “He asked me to be the original music director and I was unable to do it. It was one of the rare times I had to say ‘no’ to him. The Thursday night before he passed away he talked about fixing 1600. I have a very personal commitment to it. It does contain some of the best music he ever wrote and some of the best and most interesting lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner.” [Music from this show will be performed at Friday’s concert.]

For all the positivity Mauceri referenced about his mentor, I had to ask about Hershey Felder’s depiction of Bernstein in Maestro as bitterly disappointed that he’d primarily be remembered for the melody to “Somewhere” in West Side Story.

“It’s just part of historical fiction,” Mauceri says. “I didn’t see the show. I never heard Leonard Bernstein say anything like that. I don’t think he was disappointed. He made choices that eliminated other aspects of his time. When he decided to become the New York Philharmonic Music Director just as West Side Story was opening, he made a decision that he would otherwise give to time writing his own music. He became committed to championing other people’s music. For a conductor it is our fundamental job. Part of our service as conductors is to support and perform music of other composers. His influence was a great, if not greater, because of his years with the NY Phil. I don’t think he was bitter about any of them.”

Bernstein once said “The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another…and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world.” What feeling does Bernstein’s music leave Mauceri with after all these years of up close and intimate contact and familiarity with it?

“The underlying goal that Leonard Bernstein had was uplift. It was very much inspired by his love for Beethoven whom he considered the greatest composer of all time. Every work ultimately is about that. Whether it is joyful and simple or complex, its goal is to unite the audience to make a better place. In any piece he may be arguing with God or politics, but all those arguments are lovers’ quarrels. They are not negativity for negativity’s sake. They are about ultimately uplifting an audience.”

Photo Courtesy of Columbia Artists Management Inc. (CAMI)

UPDATE:  Hershey Felder responded to my question about his depiction of Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro.” Here is the response he e-mailed:

My office has the habit of sending me articles that pop up on google alert that could be interesting to me, and I just received your article. Most wonderfully, I had the opportunity to see and then read many more of your wonderful articles, that are beautifully and thoughtfully written. Of course I write because of your mention of MAESTRO in which I suggest, not exactly that Bernstein was disappointed by people only remembering him for “Somewhere,” but really suggesting that he was extremely bitter  that he believed he would only be remembered for West Side Story, with “Somewhere” as an example. As Mr. Mauceri says, there is great importance in recognizing the “uplift” of Maestro Bernstein because of what you write about – what he stood for, and what he instigated and made possible for American musicians, music, and all musicians in general. I must say, I don’t know if the stories I was told about the Maestro’s bitterness at the end were fictional or not, despite having come from sources who claimed to have witnessed such outbursts. I was not present myself, and cannot confirm myself. But I can safely say this idea is not “historical fiction,” but in fact the way a good number of people close to the Maestro report how it was. It may not have been Mr. Mauceri’s experience, but that does not make it a “cultural historical fiction.” – Hershey Felder – November 15, 2017

The post John Mauceri Celebrates Leonard Bernstein’s Centenary appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

No doubt Mauceri will be following Bernstein’s own advice:  “I’m not interested in having the orchestra sound like itself. I want it to sound like the composer.”

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