Our personal favorite nominations are those going to the shows Caroline, Or Change, Company and A Strange Loop in the musicals category. In the plays we’re thrilled to see Dana H., For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf and The Lehman Trilogy amongst the nominees.

We’ve had conversations with many of this year’s nominees and you might want to take another look at what they shared with us. They include:

Simon Russell Beale who is nominated for his performance in The Lehman Trilogy.

“I’m a slightly stocky, middle-aged Englishman with a beard and I’m now pretending to be all sorts of different things just because I say so, rather than with any other help. And that’s quite fun. It’s not about emotional expression or effort. It’s about just keeping the mind focused. If you make a mistake, and I don’t think we’ve ever done a perfect performance actually, but if you make a mistake, you just have to forget it and move very quickly on.”

A side note: Beale is nominated as are his on-stage colleagues Adam Godley and Adrian Lester. Separating one performance from another is a fool’s game. They should have been nominated as a trio in the same way in which the three boys who originated the role of “Billy Elliot” in the musical of the same name were.

Shoshana Bean who is nominated for her performance in the Jason Robert Brown musical Mr. Saturday Night.

“I think that I’m a culmination of all the things I’ve soaked up in my life. I’m very Streisand, there’s Frank Sinatra, Chrissie Hyde, John Mayer, Aretha Franklin…while it may seem original, we’re all using the same ingredients. What matters are your proportions. I go left when people think I’m going right. I don’t look at it as strategic decisions, it’s what I’m lead to do. It’s literally been what felt like it needed to happen.”

Dale Franzen who is a co-producer of nominees Caroline, Or Change and For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.

“I would say I am much more leaning into stories like that that I feel have such a harder time of being told. Let’s be honest, men aren’t telling those stories. They keep telling the stories that they want to see and I think that women have been shortchanged. I want to be part of changing that. That is not to say that if I’m sent something that I feel is really extraordinary and it happens to be written by a man or it’s a male story that doesn’t mean I won’t get involved. But I would say right now what I feel drawn to moving our stories forward.”

Matt Doyle who is nominated for his brilliantly comedic performance in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company.

“I have a lot of experience in being incredibly anxious over general anxiety disorder and panic disorder. And I know the feeling very well of the surprise and the fear that Jamie experiences during that song. Also the staging is so smart and so brilliant. I think half of what you’re seeing on stage is me turning that kind of delight and excitement and thrill of what I get to do and what the audience gets to see every night into something that is coming off as surprise.”

Deirdre O’Connell who is nominated for her breath-taking performance in Dana H.

“It does feel like there is an infinite number of discoveries to be found. As a ride it’s pretty endless. I feel like it would be interesting to try to do a long run of it. It think you’d have to build breaks into it. the way the fatigue manifests itself is more like it sounds echo-y to me or I’m having a hard time hearing it right now. I could be wrong. It could be easier in terms of the doing it.”

Jayne Houdyshell who is nominated for her performance in the revival of The Music Man.

“I really am a creature of theatre. I came up in the theatre. I chose the life of an actress because of my love of the theatre. It’s always been foremost home for me. I’ve had a few small opportunities to do television and film work. While I appreciate it very much, I don’t feel like the real trajectory of my career is about that or will probably ever be about that. I just am most a home in the theatre.“

To read the full interviews with each artist, please click on the link built into their name.

Once again, congratulations to all 2022 Tony nominees!

Main Photo: Opening Night of “Company” (Photo by Rebecca J. Michelson)

The post Congratulations 2022 Tony Nominees appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Topping this week’s list is AMPLIFY a gala fundraiser event by and for Maestra, an organization that supports and helps develop women composers, writers and musicians working in musical theatre. This is a great organization and they have an excellent event planned.

So here are my Four Days of Best Bets: March 26th – March 29th:

*TOP PICK* BROADWAY VOCALS: Amplify 2021 – Maestra – March 29th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Maestra is an organization founded by songwriter/composer Georgia Stitt. On Monday night they are having a gala featuring Ashley Park, Nikki M. James, Brandon Victor Dixon, Tanya Birl, Kenita Miller, Shelley Thomas, Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney, along with appearances from Anaïs Mitchell (Tony Award-winning creator of Hadestown), Kirsten Childs (OBIE Award-winning creator of Bubbly Black Girl), Helen Park (Lortel Award-winning creator of KPOP), Rona Siddiqui (Larson Award-winning creator of Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan), Britt Bonney, Kristy Norter, Dionne McClain-Freeney, Meg Zervoulis, Kat Sherrell, Nicole Rebolledo, Stitt, and a special appearance by Bernadette Peters. Shoshana Bean will sing an original song with music, lyrics and orchestrations by Maestra member Lynne Shankel (Allegiance) for the finale of the event.

The event will be hosted by Brooks Ashmanskas (The Prom) and Andrea Burns (In the Heights). The event is produced and directed by Kate Baldwin (Hello, Dolly!). Baldwin appears on Stitt’s 2020 album A Quiet Revolution. You should check out her song, The Water Is Wide, and the entire album.

Tickets range from free to $500. Those who are able to pay for the higher-priced tickets will have access to post-show events with Gavin Creel & Celia Keenan-Bolger; “Chers” Stephanie J. Block, Teal Wicks & Micaela Diamond; Chaplin co-stars Jenn Colella & Rob McClure; Book of Mormon original stars Nikki M. James & Michael James Scott; Mean Girls Ashley Park & Erika Henningsen; and The Prom stars Caitlin Kinnunen & Isabelle McCalla. If you are interested in purchasing one of those tickets, you must do so by 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT on Sunday, March 28th.

MUSICAL: BKLYN – The Musical – Stream.theatre – Now – April 4th

Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson collaborated on this musical based on his own experiences as a street musician. From personal experience to Broadway where Brooklyn opened in the fall of 2004.

The musical depicts a group of homeless musicians performing a show about a girl from Paris searching for her father. She gets discovered when performing with the group under the Brooklyn Bridge and becomes a big star, but one still trying to find her dad. It’s actually structured as a play-within-a-play.

Sejal Keshwala, Emma Kingston, Newton Matthews, Jamie Muscato and Marisha Wallace staged in this filmed production from Ugly Duck, London Bridge in England.

You’ll have a choice of either a specific showtime or an on-demand purchase to watch the musical. Tickets are £18 which includes service charges. That’s approximately $25.

VOCALS: Giles Terera in Black Matter – Now – March 31st

Just as Leslie Odom Jr. won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton, Giles Terera won the British equivalent, The Olivier, for his performance in the same role in London.

During the pandemic, Terera took to expressing his feelings and experiences during the pandemic and with all the social upheaval by writing songs. He performs that song cycle, Black Matter, in a concert filmed at Crazy Coqs in the Soho area of London.

Terera received rave reviews for Black Matter. Tickets are £13 (which includes service charges) which equals approximately $18.

PLAY: The Thanksgiving Play – Spotlight on Plays on Broadway’s Best Shows – Now – March 29th

Native American playwright Larissa FastHorse received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant in 2020 and it was largely due to her well-received and often performed The Thanksgiving Play. As part of their Spotlight on Plays series, Broadway’s Best shows is streaming a reading of the play with Bobby Cannavale, Keanu Reeves, Heidi Schreck and Alia Shawkat.

The premise finds four white people trying to put together a culturally-sensitive Thanksgiving play to be performed in schools.

Jesse Green, in his New York Times review, said of FastHorse’s play:

“Just because a target’s too easy doesn’t mean it won’t make a satisfying meal. Take turkeys, or the holiday they stand for. In Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play, which opened on Monday at Playwrights Horizons, the familiar, whitewashed story of Pilgrims and Native Americans chowing down together gets a delicious roasting from expert farceurs.”

Tickets are $15. This play will only be available through Monday at 6:00 PM EDT.

MUSICAL/DANCE: Tango the Musical – Center Theatre Group – Now – March 28th

The music of Astor Piazzolla serves as the foundation for this show from Argentina. Eleven dancers perform Argentina’s most famous dance while accompanied by a 10-piece live orchestra. Tango the Musical is set during Argentina’s Guerra sucia (“Dirty War”).

This was a period of enormous conflict from 1976-1984 that found crackdowns on anyone considered or rumored to be a socialist or dissident. As many as 30,000 people went missing during this time.

Tango the Musical is directed by Sergei Tumas and choreographed by Argentinians Iván Leonardo Romero and Silvana Nuñez.

I’m not sure that anyone truly sings, so I’m not sure how much this show is a musical or a dance, but if you love this music, this should be quite entertaining.

There are performances available Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT and 11:00 PM EDT/8:00 PM PDT and on Sunday at 4:00 PM EDT/1:00 PM PDT and 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT. Tickets are $10.

JAZZ: Voices of Freedom – Jazz at Lincoln Center Virtual Season – March 26th – March 31st

Singers Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln and Nina Simone will be celebrated in this concert by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra under the baton of Chris Crenshaw.

Joining them as guest vocalists are Melanie Charles, Shenel Johns, and Ashley Pezzotti who will perform songs the women wrote and made famous.

All four women were powerhouse singers who left everything they had on the stage. I was lucky enough to see Carter, Lincoln and Simone in concert. These are four women well worth celebrating.

Tickets are $20.

CONVERSATION: Virtual Halston with Lucie Arnaz – March 26th – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST

Lucie Arnaz joins Julie Halston for this Friday’s Virtual Halston on the Cast Party Network. Arnaz has been in the news recently with the start of production on Being the Ricardos, a feature film about the relationship between her parents, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are playing the two television icons.

When fans got upset about the casting, Arnaz, who is an Executive Producer on the movie, took to Facebook and said, in part, “Stop arguing about who should play it – ‘she doesn’t look like her, her nose isn’t the same she isn’t as funny’…Just trust us. It’s going to be a nice film and p.s. the voting is over.”

Now that should make for some great conversation!

JAZZ: Jane Monheit – SFJAZZ – March 26th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

While we’re celebrating great women of jazz with the Voices of Freedom concert listed above, let’s also acknowledge The First Lady of Song Ella Fitzgerald. That’s precisely what singer Jane Monheit does in this concert that is part of SFJAZZ’s Fridays at Five series.

Monheit’s 2016 album, The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald features her performing such songs as Somebody Loves Me, Ill Wind and This Time the Dream’s on Me. Will Mack the Knife be part of this concert? I don’t know, but as good as Monheit is, nobody could swing that song (or screw it up) quite like Fitzgerald.

Seriously Monheit is terrific. It would be impossible not to enjoy this show. Joining Monheit for this concert are Andy Langham on piano; Rick Montalbano on drums; Dave Robaire on bass and Jamey Tate on percussion.

Tickets are $5 for a one-month digital membership or $60 for an annual digital membership.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Gil Shaham Plays Boulogne – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – Debuts March 26th – 9:30 PM EDT/6:30 PM PDT

Violinist Gil Shaham joins the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for their Close Quarters series. In this film he will perform Arvo Pärt’s Fratres and Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges’ Violin Concerto No. 9.

If you are accustomed to seeing classical music performances with the camera on the periphery of the orchestra, this will be different. According to Shaham the cameramen were working their way in and around all the musicians during the performance. It’s certain to give a more up-close look at performance than we usually get to see.

Margaret Batjer leads the LACO in an approximately 33 minute film. There’s no charge and the film will be available for viewing at any time.

DANCE DOCUMENTARY: Twyla Moves – American Masters on PBS – March 26th (check local listings)

Whether you love or hate what choreographer Twyla Tharp does (and I know people in both camps), she is arguably one of the most independent and intriguing figures in modern dance. Which probably is what interested filmmaker Steven Cantor to create this documentary on Tharp.

Her work has been performed on stages around the world and includes ballet, modern dance and Broadway musicals. She’s also choreographed for feature films including Hair, Ragtime and Amadeus.

The documentary includes interviews and never-before-seen footage of Tharp at work and in performance. As with all PBS programming, check your local listings for exact airdate and time.

WORLD MUSIC: Zakir Hussain and Masters of Percussion – CAP UCLA – March 26th – 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT

Zakir Hussain is a master table musician. Tabla is a pair of hand drums indigenous to India and Pakistan. He has performed with a diverse range of artists that includes George Harrison, Charles Lloyd, Yo-Yo Ma, Van Morrison and Pharoah Sanders.

For this filmed concert he will be joined by Pezhham Akhavass on tombak and Iranian percussion; Marcus Gilmore on drums and Abbos Kosimov on doyra and Uzbek percussion with special guests.

Zakir Hussain and Masters of Percussion was immensely popular when this program was performed at UCLA during the 2018-2019 season. There’s no charge to watch this concert.

OPERA: Götterdämmerung – San Francisco Opera – March 27th – March 28th

Conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles; starring Daniel Brenna, Iréne Theorin, Greer Grimsley, Andrea Silvestrelli, Melissa Citro, Brian Mulligan and Falk Struckmann. This revival of Francesca Zambello’s 2011 production is from the 2017-2018 season.

The final opera in Der Ring des Nibelungen had its world premiere in 1876 in Bayreuth as part of the first-ever performance of The Ring Cycle.

Alberich’s curse placed on the ring and its owners comes to haunt the characters in this final opera in the Ring Cycle. Siegfried, having fallen in love with Brunnhilde, is convinced to consume a potion that renders him without memory. That lack of remembering finds him proposing to another woman, Gutrune. Her brother consents as long as Siegfried will allow him to marry Brunnhilde. The ring changes hands and with Alberich’s son, Hagen, manipulating the action, ruin comes to all, including the gods whose glory has come to an end leaving Valhalla in flames.

For this production, Zambello has set the story in the American West. The cycle began during the gold rush and ends with Götterdämmerung in present-day America.

Lisa Hirsch, writing for Classical Voice San Francisco, raved about the orchestra’s performance under the baton of Runnicles:

“No Ring production can succeed without a fine orchestra and strong leadership, and as long-time operagoers know, Donald Runnicles and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra make a splendid team. Runnicles, a great conductor of long and complex works, led a performance of breadth, subtlety, and beauty, full of telling detail. The orchestra played tirelessly and beautifully, with a warmly blended and layered sound, over the many hours of the cycle. The brass sections were especially impressive, given the demands Wagner makes on them, playing with unforced power.”

JAZZ: Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet – Snug Harbor Jazz Revival – March 28th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

If you can have a show with one Marsalis brother this week, why not have two? Trombonist/composer/producer Delfeayo Marsalis is performing from Snug Harbor in New Orleans in this concert on Sunday.

In addition to performing with his brothers, his late father, Ellis, and countless other musicians, Delfeayo Marsalis has produced recordings by such artist as Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick, Jr., the Preservation Jazz Hall Band and has worked with filmmaker Spike Lee.

Tickets to watch his concert are $15.

PLAY READING: SQUEAKY – Guild Hall – March 28th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

Jessica Hecht, Marc Kudisch, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Ben Shenkman and Harris Yulin are lined-up for this reading of SQUEAKY by playwright Jeff Cohen.

The play is an autobiographical comedy that stars Kudish and Shenkman having a hard time agreeing on the best course of action for their father (Yulin) who is nearing the end of his life.

Throw in a caretaker (Jackson) and Squeaky’s estranged wife (Hecht) and you’ve got the makings for plenty of familial conflict and loads of opportunities for humor.

Bob Balaban directs. Tickets are free, but donations are encouraged.

PLAY: Pedro Páramo – Goodman Theatre – March 29th – April 11th

Juan Rulfo’s 1955 novel of the same name is the inspiration for this play by Raquel Carrió that was part of the Goodman Theatre’s Latino Theatre Festival in 2013. Pedro Páramo is performed by Cuba’s Teatro Buendía and directed by Flora Lauten.

As in the book, Juan Preciado returns home to honor his dying mother’s wishes of settling old scores with his father, Pedro. What Juan soon realizes is everyone in the town he has returned to is a ghost. It is through this realization that the full story of Pedro Páramo (both the character and the play) becomes fully revealed.

Tony Adler, in his review for the Chicago Reader, said of the play:

“Rulfo’s story is like Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol without the redemption, and like Edgar Lee Masters’s Spoon River Anthology—a collection of poems written from the points of view of people buried in a small Illinois cemetery—without the nice distinction between life and afterlife. Rulfo’s reality allows for a free conflation of bodies and souls, places and times. It isn’t magic, but a simple apprehension of the resonances that wait in all things.”

Tickets are free, but registration is required.

CABARET/CONVERSATION: Pajama Cast Party One Year Anniversary Show – March 29th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Two weeks ago I highlighted Jim Caruso’s 50th Pajama Cast Party show. But this week is the real anniversary: one year of doing online shows. Caruso is pulling out all the stops for this celebration. But I don’t know who or what that will be.

All I know is the VIP guest list is being kept very hush hush. But between his stellar guests for both the live version at Birdland and this full year of shows, this is going to be one swellegant party.

Those are my official Four Days of Best Bets: March 26th – March 29th. A couple reminders before I close out this weekend’s listings.

OPERA: The Metropolitan Opera is streaming two productions this weekend for the first time. On Friday they are streaming Mozart’s Idomeneo from the 1982-1983 season. That production stars Hildegard Behrens, Frederica von Stade and Luciano Pavarotti. This was the first-ever production of that opera at the Met. On Saturday Mozart’s Don Giovanni from their 2000-2001 season with Bryn Terfel and Renée Fleming is being streamed. On Sunday they are showing their 2019-2020 season production of Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer.

And here’s a preview of next week’s streaming operas: love triangles is the theme and the week opens with the 2017-2018 season production of Bellini’s Norma with Sondra Radvanovsky and Joyce DiDonato. Check back on Monday for our preview of the full week of programming.

Finally, it’s always a good idea to check back at the last two or three weeks of Best Bets as some of the programming I write about is available for longer than just the weekend. If you don’t find something you like here, perhaps the most recent two or three weekend lists will have something you’ll like.

That does it for my Best Bets: March 26th – March 29th. Have a great weekend and enjoy whatever you watch!

Photo: Georgia Stitt and Kate Baldwin (Photo by Kristin Pulido/Courtesy Maestra)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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I have to admit, we did sneak in one event that does actually take place live in a parking lot for those in the Los Angeles area. The other 23 are available for streaming from your home. And there’s great stuff, too.

Our two top picks are both holiday-themed, but couldn’t be more different. Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol is an imaginative re-telling of Charles Dickens’ story that is suitable for the entire family. Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic! is truly for adults. (And you might want to have your favorite holiday sauce at your side.)

I also have Shakespeare, jazz, dance, opera, Broadway stars and more for you. So let’s get started.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th:

PLAY: Stratford Festival’s Romeo and Juliet – Center Theatre Group – Now – March 7th

If you were unable to catch any of the streaming productions Canada’s Stratford Festival made available ealirer this year, Center Theatre Group is making a few of them available through their Digital Stage+ program (events that are free to donors/subscribers and $10 for non-subscribers).

The first of five Shakespeare plays being made available is Romeo and Juliet.

Antoine Yared and Sara Farb play the star-crossed lovers in Scott Wentworth’s production from 2017.

The Toronto Star said of this production, “At the production’s heart is the freshness and credibility of the relationship between Sara Farb and Antoine Yared as the title characters. They play them as youthful, impulsive, and vivacious, but far from a perfect hero and heroine. There are tantrums, shrieks, and teenage mood swings aplenty, many of which play as welcome moments of comedy. The usually central scenes of their meeting, marriage, and morning-after-consummation are handled swiftly, as pivot points in the driving forward action.”

PLAY: Who’s Holiday! – Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS – December 11th – December 15th

The insanely talented Lesli Margherita stars in this one-person show that looks at the Dr. Seuss character Cindy Lou Who forty years after she first met The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. The play was written by Matthew Lombardo (Looped) and was written in rhyme to mirror the original story.

Parents should note this is an adult Cindy Lou Who – expect raunchiness and double-entendres.

Margherita won an Olivier Award for her role as Inez in Zorro the Musical. She originated the role of Mrs. Wormwood in Tim Minchin‘s Matilda the Musical. She also appeared in Dame at Sea.

Who’s Holiday! was performed off-Broadway in 2017 and garnered Margherita a Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, writing in the New York Times, said of her performance, “More happens, but it is almost besides this hourlong production’s point, which is to watch the brassy, very funny Ms. Margherita strut her stuff in the designer Jess Goldstein’s festive holiday get-up.

She expertly milks the many double entendres and profane limerick-like rhymes, but this cabaret regular is equally comfortable ad-libbing. (After breaking into a rap at the Sunday matinee, she rasped “I’m out of breath” and reached for a cigarette). She also belts a mean ‘Blue Christmas.'”

There is no charge to watch the show. Donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS are encouraged.

OPERA: The Five Moons of Lorca – Los Angeles Opera – December 11th – December 25th

Los Angeles Opera launches their digital shorts programs with this new work by composer Gabriela Lena Frank and playwright Nilo Cruz.

The Five Moons of Lorca was inspired by the poet Federico García Lorca’s assassination in the early days of the Spanish Civil War. The short was filmed on the stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Choreography and dancing by Irene Rodríguez.

Frank is a Grammy Award-wining pianist and composer who has been commissioned by such artists as the Kronos Quartet, Yo Yo Ma and Dawn Upshaw. Cruz is the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Anna in the Tropics.

Frank and Cruz have collaborated several times previously including La centinela y la paloma (The Keeper and the Dove), The Saint Maker, Journey of the Shadow and the Conquest Requiem. Their opera, The Last Dream of Frida, was scheduled for its world premiere by the San Diego Opera earlier this year, but that was postponed due to the pandemic.

There is no charge to watch The Five Moons of Lorca. Of course, donations are encouraged.

MUSICAL: Meet Me in St. Louis – Irish Repertory Theatre – December 11th – January 2nd

Vincente Minnelli’s 1944 film, Meet Me in St. Louis, serves as the inspiration for this musical adaptation by Hugh Martin (High Spirits), Ralph Blane (Best Foot Forward) and Hugh Wheeler (Sweeney Todd). The musical made its debut on Broadway in 1989.

Meet Me in St. Louis follows the Smith family in 1903 and follows them through the seasons leading up to the opening of the World’s Fair in 1904.

In addition to the title song, the musical includes The Boy Next Door, The Trolley Song and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Irish Rep in New York has filmed a version of the musical that was adapted and directed by Charlotte Moore who appeared in the Broadway production. She’s assembled a terrific cast that includes Melissa Errico (Amour), Ali Ewoldt (Phantom of the Opera), Jay Aubrey Jones (Porgy and Bess) and Max von Essen (An American in Paris).

There are 31 opportunities to stream Meet Me In St. Louis. The price is listed as “Pay what you can” with a suggested donation of $25.

PLAY: Breathe. – YouTube and Twitch – December 11th – December 13th and December 18th

This one-person show by Philicia Saunders follows her increasing participation in civil rights issues. She was inspired by her mentor, Sweet Alice Harris, a legendary community organizer in the Watts area of Los Angeles and a civil rights tour in Alabama.

In Breathe. Saunders depicts 20 different characters within a show that combines film, live performance, performance art and artistic swimming.

Saunders may be best-known to Star Wars fans for her role as Tabala Zo in The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker.

Departing from a lot of programming available now, Saunders will perform Breathe. live on December 11th at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST and on December 12th at 6:30 PM EST/3:30 PM PST. Both performances will be on YouTube.

Encore presentations are taking place on December 13th at 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST on Twitch. This will also feature a TalkBack with Sweet Alice. A second encore takes place on December 18th on YouTube at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST.

Tickets are available from $5-$50 with proceeds going to Sweet Alice’s Parents of Watts and Community Coalition.

PLAY: Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol – The Soraya – December 11th – December 13th TOP PICK

We are all familiar with Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol and its bitter character, Scrooge. But I can assure you you haven’t seen A Christmas Carol like the one Manual Cinema has put together.

Each live performance (and they are live) combines acting, music, puppets and film to create a one-of-a-kind experience with a twist on the story that will surprise you!

There are six performances available over the weekend. Tickets are $20. I strongly recommend Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol.

PAGEANT PLAY – La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin – Latino Theater Company – December 11th – December 20th

For 18 years, Los Angeles-based Latino Theater Company has performed La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin in Los Angeles. The pageant play depicts the story of Juan Diego, a peasant in 1531, who has a vision of the Virgin Mary. Diego’s vision took place in Spanish colonial territory that is now known as Mexico.

Mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzmán (Hopscotch, Carmen) stars in this 2009 filmed performance at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles. She is joined by over 100 actors, singers, Aztec dancers and members of the Los Angeles community. This is performed in English and Spanish.

Evelina Fernández adapted The Nican Mopohua (a mid-16th century text) for La Virgen de Guadalupe. José Louis Valenzuela directed. The director first created the work as a thank you to the community after it supported him during a sleep-in he lead protesting the potential closing of the Los Angeles Theater Center in downtown Los Angeles.

There’s no charge to watch the streaming production and it will be available through December 20th.

CABARET: Merry Christmas Darling: Heidi Kettenring Sings Karen Carpenter – Laguna Playhouse – December 11th – December 28th

On October 13, 1978 – when the soundtrack to the film version of Grease and albums by The Rolling Stones, Donna Summer and The Who were topping the Billboard charts, A&M records released A Christmas Portrait, an album of holiday songs by The Carpenters.

That was followed by a television special. The record became very popular and ultimately went Platinum. A second album, using outtakes from that recording session, was released two years after Karen’s death in 1983.

The darling of Downey, California is being celebrated in Merry Christmas Darling: Heidi Kettenring Sings Karen Carpenter. The show is being streamed via the Laguna Playhouse.

Kettenring appeared as Nessarose in the Chicago company of Wicked. She’s toured as Belle in Beauty and the Beast; Anna in The King and I and Penny in Hairspray.

Karen Carpenter had a one-of-a-kind voice. Kettenring sounds terrific even if she’s not Karen. But that doesn’t take away from the pure joy of hearing these songs sung well and remembering everything that made the Carpenters so beloved.

Tickets are $35 can be purchased through December 25th. The show will be available for streaming through December 28th.  

JAZZ: The Klezmatics: Happy Joyous Hanukkah – SFJazz – December 11th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Hanukkah has started and what better way to celebrate than with the Grammy Award-winning ensemble The Klezmatics. Their music is so infectious it is impossible not to be filled with joy – particularly in this concert at SFJAZZ from 2015.

This is part of SFJAZZ’s Fridays at Five series. The concert will only stream once at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST. You’ll need either a one-month membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to stream the concert. That will give you access to additional concerts for the length of your membership.

JAZZ: Dave Holland – Village Vanguard – December 11th – December 12th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Since his start at London’s Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, bassist Dave Holland has made a name for himself in the jazz world. From collaborations with Miles Davis (including Bitches’ Brew), Joe Henderson, Kenny Wheeler through to his work as a bandleader (including the 2005 Grammy Award winner Overtime), Holland is considered one of the best.

His most recent release is this year’s Without Deception which finds him performing with pianist Kenny Barron and drummer Johnathan Blake.

For these two concerts from New York’s Village Vanguard he’ll be joined by Jaleel Shaw on saxophone; Steve Nelson on vibraphone and Obed Calvaire on drums.

Tickets are $10.

CLASSICAL: Stephen Hough Recital – Philharmonic Society of Orange County – December 11th – December 18th

Easily one of the finest classical pianists in the world, Stephen Hough will perform a live recital for the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. Critics long ago ran out of superlatives to describe his playing.

The scheduled program finds Hough performing: Bach/Busoni: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004; Schumann: Fantasie in C major, Op. 17; Liszt: Funérailles and Mephisto Waltz No. 1, S. 51 and Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15, mvt. 7, “Träumerei.”

The recital debuts at 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST and will remain available for streaming for one week. Tickets are $20.

DANCE/THEATRE: Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man – Center Theatre Group – December 11th – December 13th

Hector Berlioz’s opera Carmen serves as the inspiration for this ballet from Matthew Bourne (all-male swan version of Swan Lake.) Another source of inspiration for Bourne was the novel The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain and its subsequent film versions.

The ballet had its world premiere 20 years ago in Plymouth, England. The Car Man played the Ahmanson Theatre one year later.

Lewis Segal, in his Los Angeles Times review, said of Bourne’s choreography, “Whether he’s evoking the heat, insects and lust of a night when nothing is happening or the surreal frenzy of social dances that barely contain the characters’ primal urges, this is daring, accomplished, uncompromisingly lurid movement theater.

Center Theatre Group and Matthew Bourne have teamed up to make his film of The Car Man available for viewing with five opportunities to see it this weekend. The film of the ballet will stream on Friday at 8:00 PM PST; Saturday at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM PST and on Sunday at 1:30 PM and 6:30 PM PST.

Tickets are $10 (whether you are a donor/subscriber or not).

Can you believe we’re halfway through Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th? Let’s keep going.

PLAY: The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk – The Wallis – December 11th – December 18th

England’s Kneehigh Theatre originally brought The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk to the Wallis in 2018. Now Kneehigh Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and Wise Children bring a film of the show to The Wallis for one week of streaming.

This highly theatrical show portrays the life of painter Marc Chagall and his wife Bella. Through the use of color and imagery mirroring the master painter’s work and music from the Russian Jewish history, this show offers many of the same delights found in other Kneehigh projects such as their Brief Encounter and Tristan and Yseult. Marc Antolin plays Marc Chagall and Audrey Brisson plays Bella. The show was written by Daniel Jamieson and directed by Emma Rice.

When The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk played The Wallis I spoke to Antolin about the show and his role. You can read that interview here.

This is a wonderful show. I strongly recommend seeing it. Tickets are $21.38 (the current exchange rate with the English pound. But it doesn’t not include any additional credit card fees).

PLAY/DANCE/MUSIC/POETRY: KICKBACK – About Face Theatre – December 12th – January 12th

A collection of short plays, dance, music, and poetry make up this online festival from Chicago’s About Face Theatre. The work centers around Blackness and queerness and where those two worlds meet.

For KICKBACK, About Face reached out to numerous artists to create work. The end result features contributions from Dionne Addai, Ky Baity, Keyonna Jackson, Robert Cornelius, Ben Locke, ShaZa (a collaboration between Zahra Baker and Shanta Nurullah), About Face Artistic Associate Paul Oakley Stovall, Michael Turrentine, Cori Wash, Vic Wynter and Rebuild Foundation resident artists Jenn Freeman and avery r. young.

Rebuild Foundation and their collections were made available to the artists who were asked to use their archives as inspiration for their work.

During our turbulent times, it will be fascinating to see what these artists have to say about where we’ve been, where we are and most importantly, where we might be going.

OPERA: La Bohème – San Francisco Opera – December 12th – December 13th Starting 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST

Conducted by Giuseppe Finzi; starring Michael Fabiano, Alexia Voulgaridou, Nadine Sierra, Alexey Markov and Christian Van Horn. This John Caird production is from the 2014-2015 season.

Easily one of the most popular operas in the world, Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème had its world premiere in Turin, Italy in 1896. The libretto is by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. The opera is based on Henri Murger’s 1851 novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème.

The story centers on four friends who are unable to pay their rent. Successfully getting out of a potentially bad situation with their landlord, all but one go out on the town. Rodolfo stays home and meets a young woman named Mimi. They fall in love, but Mimi’s weakness may be a sign of something far more life-threatening than they know. (If this sounds like the musical Rent, it is because La Bohème served as Jonathan Larson’s inspiration for that musical.)

San Francisco Opera had two casts performing La Bohème. Joshua Kosman, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, said one performance in this production stood out.

“If one singer left a particularly outsize impression from the weekend’s openings, it was Fabiano, whose performance as Rodolfo made good on the promise of his fine 2011 company debut in Lucrezia Borgia and hinted at even more impressive things to come. This was a full-throated, almost heroic depiction of the moonstruck poet, with muscular sound, impeccably placed high notes and an air of romantic ardor that lent weight and power to everything he sang.”

CLASSICAL: Reaching Dreams Through Music – Lang Lang International Music Foundation – December 12th – 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST

Classical pianist Lang Lang and his foundation have assembled an illustrious cast for Reaching Dreams Through Music. Joining Lang Lang and his wife will be Stay Human’s Jon Batiste, ballet dancer Misty Copeland, opera singer Renée Fleming, actor/director Ron Howard, musician Wyclef Jean, jazz pianist/vocalist Diana Krall and pop singer Sam Smith.

The purpose of this streaming event is to celebrate the role music plays in our lives and how it has shaped these artists lives since their childhood. In short, if reading is fundamental, music is instrumental in our lives.

The Young People’s Chorus of New York City will also be making an appearance, along with the LLIMF Young Scholars and Junior Music Camp Music Ambassadors.

There is no fee to watch Reaching Dreams Through Music. There was no information available as to how long this program will be available for viewing at press time.

OPERA: Bryn Terfel in Wales – Met Stars Live in Concert – December 12th – 12:00 PM EST/9:00 AM PST

Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel is what you’d call a cross-over artist. He’s performed in countless opera productions (you should see him in Don Giovanni if you get the chance), he’s portrayed the title character in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd and he has released albums of songs from his native Wales.

That’s exactly where you’ll find him in this Met Stars Live in Concert performance – specifically Brecon Cathedral.

Joining Terfel are harpist Hannah Stone, pianist Jeff Howard, the Welsh traditional folk group Calan plus soprano Natalya Romaniw and tenor Trystan Llyr Griffiths – two rising young Welsh singers.

The announced program finds a combination of holiday-appropriate songs, music by Gustav Holst, Richard Wagner, Lerner and Loewe and traditional songs.

The show takes place live on Saturday, but will remain available for streaming afterwards. Tickets are $20.

DANCE: Pam Tanowitz Dance – The Joyce Theatre – December 12th – December 26th

Acclaimed choreographer Pam Tanowitz debuts new work live from New York’s The Joyce Theatre on Saturday at 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST. You may recall she is the choreographer of Four Quartets in which she collaborated with Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho and American painter Brice Marden on a presentation of T.S. Eliot’s monumental work.

Finally Unfinished: Part 1 was created during the pandemic (with obvious precautions in place) and is set to new music by composer Ted Hearne. It is a site-specific work that utilizes The Joyce Theatre in all its emptiness.

Gustave Le Gray, No. 2 has its New York premiere in this program. Composer Caroline Shaw‘s music for solo piano serves not just as the score for the dance, but also its inspiration.

The dancers are Jason Collins, Brittany Engel-Adams, Christine Flores, Zachary Gonder, Lindsey Jones, Victor Lozano, Melissa Toogood.

Tickets are $13 (including service charges).

OPERA: La Bohème aka The Hipsters – Pacific Opera Project – December 12th – December 13th

Josh Shaw and Pacific Opera Project are back with another drive-in opera for you: their version of Puccini’s La Bohème (I guess it’s La Bohème week). Only their version, as you would expect, is not going to be traditional.

Several years ago Shaw updated Puccini’s opera to present-day and gave the opera a subtitle, The Hipsters. He’s been reworking it again so that the opera takes place between Christmas Eve 2019 and November 2020. I wonder what significant events might inspire him since Act 3 is in April of 2020 and Act 4 appears timed to the elections.

No longer will you find the bohemian characters Puccini introduced to the world. These hipsters are a graphic designer, a screenwriter, an English major, an indie-rocker and a fashion designer.

The cast includes Arnold Livingston Geis as Rodolfo, Oriona Falla as Mimi, Ben Lowe as Marcello, Maria Dominique Lopez as Musetta, E. Scott Levin as Schaunard, Keith Colclough as Colline, and Luvi Avendano in the roles of Benoit, Alcindoro and Parpignol.

The socially-distanced performances take place in the parking lot of the Camarillo United Methodist Church at 5:30 PM. Tickets are $65-$175 per car (there are sections just as there would be in an opera house).

CABARET: Shoshana Bean – Sing Your Hallelujah – For the Record Live at the Apollo Theatre – 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST

Singer/actress Shoshana Bean sold out New York’s Apollo Theatre the last two years in a row. The pandemic made a trifecta impossible, so what’s a girl to do? Film a special there. That’s exactly what Bean has done with Sing Your Hallelujah which is being streamed on Saturday night.

The show was inspired by the holiday television specials some of us grew up with (or maybe you experienced A Holly Dolly Christmas earlier this week).

Joining Bean for the show are Gavin Creel (Tony Award-winner for Hello, Dolly!), tap dancer Jared Grimes, Jeremy Jordan (The Last Five Years), singer Shayna Steele, Connie Talbot (Britain’s Got Talent Finalest) and Daniel J. Watts (Tony Award-nominee for his performance as Ike in Tina – The Tina Turner Musical). David Cook serves as Music Director.

Tickets start at $30 with various VIP packages also available that will include a Q&A hosted by Sara Bareilles.

PERFORMANCE: Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic! – CAP UCLA – December 12th – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST TOP PICK

Two years ago, after rocking my world with A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Taylor Mac returned to Los Angeles to perform Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce. Mac, who prefers judy as the preferred pronoun, brought to CAP UCLA at Royce Hall a holiday concert like no other.

judy is back in a pandemic version of this holiday show which has been safely produced to skewer our world this holiday season. Fans of Mac will know to expect wildly imaginative costumes (by designer Machine Dazzle), uniquely arranged songs (with the assistance of Music Director Matt Ray) and definitely an adult take on everything. This is NOT family friendly material. Unless, of course, you’re “family.”

Mac was the named a MacArthur Fellow and this year became the first American to win the International Ibsen Award. American Theatre Magazine says the award is considered “the Nobel Prize for theatre.”

Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic will only stream once. Tickets require a minimum of $25 with proceeds going to CAP UCLA.

CLASSICAL: Jeremy Denk Recital – 92nd Street Y – December 13th – 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST

If you didn’t get a chance to see pianist Jeremy Denk‘s recital from Caramoor in October, he’s performing the same program from New York’s 92nd Street Y on Sunday.

The program is scheduled to include: Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C Minor, K 457; Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins’s The Battle of Manassas; Joplin/Chauvin’s Heliotrope Bouquet; Tania León’s Ritual; Frederic Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 32 in C Minor, Op. 111.

You’ll get two classical period compositions, ragtime, the work of a young Black man during The Civil War and the work of two contemporary composers. How’s that for diverse?

Tickets are $15.

OPERA: Pasión Latina – Lyric Opera of Chicago – December 13th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Music from Argentina, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain is on tap in this concert starring soprano Ana María Martínez that will premiere on Sunday on the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Martínez has appeared at LA Opera in the title role of Carmen and in the title role of Madama Butterfly with Lyric Opera of Chicago. Those are just two of her many roles she’s performed around the world.

Joining Martínez in Pasión Latina are Mexican-American tenors René Barbera and David Portillo; Mexican tenor Mario Rojas, Mexican-American bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba; Mexican soprano Denis Vélez and Puerto Rican baritone Ricardo José Rivera.

The singers will be accompanied on piano by Ryan Opera Center music director Craig Terry and Ensemble pianist Chris Reynolds. The show concludes with a concert segment in which the singers are joined by members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra.

This concert is free.

CHORAL: Broadway Inspirational Voices: A Season of Hope and Inspiration – December 13th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

What began as the Broadway Gospel Choir in 1994 has become an acclaimed ensemble that has captured the hearts of all those who hear them sing. Broadway Inspiration Voices is a music group that has members of Broadway and off-Broadway shows – whether singers or musicians – as their members.

Last year BIV was awarded a Special Tony for Excellence in Theatre.

This Sunday they are live streaming A Season of Hope and Inspiration. As it is a live stream, this will only be shown live as scheduled.

You won’t want to miss this concert. Take a look at who’s joining them: guest appearances by Debbie Allen, Gavin Creel, Montego Glover, Celia Rose Gooding, Angela Grovey, Marva Hicks, LaChanze, Telly Leung, Lisa Lynne Mathis, Audra McDonald, Michael McElroy, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Karen Olivo, John Eric Parker, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Robinson, Jeanine Tesori, Leslie Uggams, Schele Williams and Vanessa Williams.

There will also be performances featuring Shoshana Bean, Crystal Monee Hall, Marcus Paul James, Patti LuPone, Leslie Odom Jr., Billy Porter, Daniel J. Watts, and hundreds of guest artists from Broadway, U.S. National tours, London’s West End, and Australia.

You can watch the concert for free, but you do need to register for it. you can also make donations to Broadway’s Inspiration Voices and also purchase a VIP experience that allows for some pre-show fun.

We’ve come to the end of Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th. With so many options from which to choose, I’m not going to add any reminders. If you are curious, check out our This Week in Culture section on the main page or the Now Playing section.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Have a great weekend and enjoy these Best Bets at Home: December 11th -December 13th.

Photo: Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past from Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol (Courtesy of The Soraya)

The post Best Bets at Home: December 11th – December 13th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Thankfully it appears we will have an even larger number of ways to enjoy culture at home in the weeks and months ahead. This weekend’s best bets include a virtual version of the annual Monterey Jazz Festival, a live-streamed musical from England, a dystopian virtual reality live musical, a concert with two stars of opera and stage and so much more.

Here are your Best Bets at Home: September 25th – September 27th:

From The Ford with Lula Washington Dance Theatre – Now

Cultural Attaché made a big deal about the cancellation of this summer’s Hollywood Bowl season. Lost in the shuffle was the cancellation of the season at The Ford Theatre as well. Much like their colleagues on the other side of the Cahuenga Pass in Los Angeles, they have been presenting some programming on line.

While much of it isn’t programming that we would naturally cover – which does not reflect on its quality at all – this week’s program is a perfect fit.

Los Angeles-based Lula Washington Dance Theatre performed at The Ford in 2018. That performance became available Thursday on The Ford’s Facebook and YouTube pages. The performance (and, in fact, all of the performances they began streaming in August) are available for viewing.

Earlier this year I interviewed Lula Washington as they celebrated their 40th anniversary. You can read that interview here and get more information about this wonderful company.

Monterey Jazz Festival – September 25th – September 27th

Every day this weekend the Monterey Jazz Festival is streaming two-hours of performances by jazz legends. There will be a mix of archived and new performances. The streaming begins each day at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT on the festival’s YouTube channel.

The line-up is as follows (and when I last checked there was still a notice that more performances might be added):

Friday, September 25th: Dianne Reeves, Roy Hargrove & RH Factor, Christian Sands (the 2020 and 2021 Monterey Jazz Festival Artist-in-Residence), Terri Lyne Carrington – Mosaic Project, Next Generation Jazz Orchestra Directed by Gerald Clayton, Christian McBride & Inside Straight, Jamie Cullum and Herbie Hancock.

Saturday, September 26th: Regina Carter, Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo Directed by Katie Thiroux, Next Generation Jazz Orchestra Directed by Gerald Clayton, Davina and the Vagabonds, Clint Eastwood in conversation with Tim Jackson, Eastwood at Monterey with Diana Krall & Kenny Barron Trio, Berklee Institute of Jazz & Gender Justice Quintet, Our Native Daughters featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell and a Tribute to Dave Brubeck with Cannery Row Suite featuring Kurt Elling & Roberta Gambarini.

Sunday, September 27th: Sonny Rollins Tribute featuring Jimmy Heath, Joe Lovano, Branford Marsalis, and Joshua Redman, Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, Anat Cohen Tentet, Angela Davis in conversation with Terri Lyne Carrington, Gerald Clayton Quartet, Cooking Demonstration with Lila Downs from her home in Oaxaca, 2012 Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour with musical director Christian McBride and Dee Dee Bridgewater on vocals, 2018 Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour with musical director Christian Sands and Cécile McLorin Salvant on vocals and a Tribute to Quincy Jones, “The A&M Years”, featuring Hubert Laws and Valerie Simpson.

There is no charge to watch these programs. Donations are encouraged and will go to the artists performing, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Just Like Us – Latino Theater Company – September 25th – October 4th

Los Angeles-based Latino Theater Company continues presenting both archived films of previous productions and readings of new works with a sneak peek of Karen Zacarías’s Just Like Us.

The play depicts the lives for four teenage Latinas. Two girls are undocumented and two are not. As the realities of their separate immigration situations begin to reflect what each girl may or may not be able to accomplish, their friendships get tested.

Zacarías based her play on Helen Thorpe’s best-selling book of the same name. Zacarías (Native Gardens) uses a documentary-style approach to this play.

The cast includes Richard Azurdia, Natalie Camunas, Michelle Castillo, Alicia Coca, Peter Mendoza, Elyse Mirto, Lys Perez, Geoffrey Rivas, Lucy Rodriguez, Kenia Romero and Alexis Santiago. Just Like Us is directed by Fidel Gomez.

While you are at the LATC website (where you can access Just Like Us), you might also notice that Nancy Ma’s Home will be available for viewing. Ma performed her one-person show at LATC last year. The play illuminates Ma’s struggle to accept her own identity when she finds herself torn between her immigrant family’s Chinese Toisan background and her new-found American home.

Miranda: A Steampunk VR Experience – Now – September 26th

In 2013 the first production of Kamala Sankaram’s steampunk opera took place. Seven years later, a new version that takes the work and brings it into the virtual reality world, co-created by Tri-Cities Opera and co-presented by Opera Omaha, is available for free (with advance registration).

Miranda tells the story of three suspects who are on trial for the murder of a wealthy woman. Each of the three defendants will have to testify in order to exonerate themselves. You, the audience, will serve as judge and jury. The entire story takes place in a dystopian feature that appears to be a radical version of our present-day world with steampunk influences.

The performance happens live in real time. Each performer is kept separated in their own motion capture cubicles. Utilizing motion capture gear (think Andy Serkis in the Planet of the Apes remakes) their movement and performances are captured a brought into the 3D virtual environment.

There are three performances each day. The website lays out the various ways you can experience Miranda (you don’t have to have VR gear to do so.)

I honestly don’t know how good this will be, but it is certainly a unique way to bring the performing arts to audiences during the pandemic. The sheer bravado of doing a project this way makes it worthy of inclusion.  

Dances at a Gathering – The Royal Ballet – September 25th – October 24th

Jerome Robbins’s Dances at a Gathering was first performed in 1969 by the New York City Ballet. The hour-long work is set to the music of composer Frédéric Chopin.

The Royal Ballet brought the ballet back onto their stages during the 2019-2020 season. It marked the return of this particular Robbins work after an absence of eleven years.

Dances at a Gathering features five couples. The company for this performance includes Luca Acri, Federico Bonelli, William Bracewell, Alexander Campbell, Francesca Hayward, Fumi Kaneko, Laura Morera, Yasmine Naghdi, Marianela Nuñez and Valentino Zucchetti.

Robbins was a five-time Tony Award winner and a two-time Academy Award winner. He’s best known for West Side Story.

The Royal Ballet is charging £3 to view the ballet. That’s just under $4.

Romantics Anonymous – The Wallis – September 26th – 4:00 PM EDT/1:00 PM PDT

For the past few years Emma Rice and Kneehigh have brought their innovative productions of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk and Brief Encounter to the stage at The Wallis in Beverly Hills.

This year Rice was scheduled to return to the United States with a tour of The Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and Plush Theatricals Production of the musical Romantics Anonymous, but that was not to be.

Romantics Anonymous is based on the 2010 film Les Émotifs Anonymes. It tells the story of two people who make chocolate and are navigating their way through the world in very different ways. Angélique, who pours her heart and soul into her chocolates, is part of a support group helping her get a better grip on her life. Jean-René listens to self-help tapes while trying to keep his floundering chocolate factory afloat. They are both very emotional people and, of course, fall in love.

The musical was written by Michael Kooman (music) and Christopher Dimond (lyrics). Rice wrote the book.

Lyn Gardner, writing for The Guardian, said of the show, “Romantics Anonymous is a multifaceted gem, chock-full of love, generosity and joy…”

Ever resourceful, Rice and the entire team have taken a unique approach to making their show available. The entire cast and crew have been in quarantine and will be performing the show live at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre on Saturday. The Wallis is one of six companies to host the United States performance.

Romantics Anonymous stars Marc Antolin, Carly Bawden, Me’sha Bryan, Philip Cox, Omari Douglas, Harry Hepple, Sandra Marvin, Laura Jane Matthewson and Gareth Snook.

The cost to watch the show is £21 which is just under $27 (as of the exchange rate on 9/24 when this was written). Romantics Anonymous will only be streamed live on this one date. There will be, however, an audio described version and a closed caption version available on Monday, September 28th at 11:00 AM and 11:30 AM respectively.

A Time to Sing: An Evening with Renée Fleming and Vanessa Williams – The Kennedy Center – September 26th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Opera singer Renée Fleming and Tony Award-nominated actress Vanessa Williams team up for this new concert filmed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The women will share the stage and perform songs written by Harold Arlen, Benjamin Britten, Antonín Dvořák, Joni Mitchell, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Stephen Sondheim, Sting and more. There will also be the world premiere of Diva by Andrew Lippa.

Tickets to watch the concert are $15 and will allow access to view A Time to Sing through the rest of 2020.

Open Fist Theatre Company’s 30th Anniversary Virtual Gala – September 26th – 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT

For any theatre company to last thirty years is quite an accomplishment. Los Angeles-based Open Fist Theatre is celebrating that accomplishment with a virtual gala and online auction on Saturday night.

Joining the company during this one-hour event will be Shoshana Bean (Broadway’s Waitress), Jason Paige (For the Record shows) and Ty Taylor (lead singer of Vintage Trouble.)

Since their inception in 1990, Open Fist Theatre Company has produced multiple award-winning productions including Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage, The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved In The Former Soviet Union and DeLEARious.

There is no cost to watch the gala. Donations are, of course, encouraged. There are also VIP tickets for a virtual cocktail hour that runs in the 60 minutes prior to the gala’s start. Those tickets are $100.

Those are my choices for your Best Bets at Home: September 25th – September 27th. As usual, I have some reminders for you.

Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new series Sound/Stage launches today on their website. This week’s program is called Love in the Time of Covid and features performances by the orchestra with Gustavo Dudamel conducting. Guests include mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges and actress María Valverde. Works by Peter Liberson, George Walker and Gustav Mahler will be performed.

This weekend’s Table Top Shakespeare: At Home will have performances of King John on Friday, Titus Andronicus on Saturday and Much Ado About Nothing on Sunday.

Here are this weekend’s listings from this week’s Jazz Stream:

The Nicole Glover Quartet performs live from Smalls on September 25th.

Fridays at Five from SFJAZZ streams at 2014 concert: John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme 50th Anniversary Celebration on September 25th.

The Kenny Barron Trio live at the Village Vanguard streams on September 25th and September 26th.

Ramsey Lewis performs live on September 26th.

The Marcus Strickland Trio live at Blue Note streams on September 26th.

Charles Lloyd, Zakir Hussain and Julian Lage perform live from Healdsburg Jazz Festival on September 26th.

This weekend’s operas from the Metropolitan Opera’s Puccini Week are Tosca on Friday, Turandot on Saturday and La Bohème  on Sunday.

That is a lot of options for this weekend’s Best Bets at Home: September 25th – September 27th. Continue to check back at Cultural Attaché for our weekly suggestions to satisfy your desires to see the performing arts.

Main photo: The company of Romantics Anonymous (Photo by Steve Tanner/Courtesy The Wallis)

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Amongst this weekend’s options are a pithy hostess talking to Broadway stars; the reading of a play with a star-studded cast; the world premiere of a new work from one of classical music’s fastest-rising composers; two opera performances and so much more.

So let’s get started. Here are your Culture Best Bets at Home: August 21st – August 23rd:

The Black Clown – Harlem Week – August 21st – 4:00 PM EDT/1:00 PM PDT

Every summer the city of New York celebrates everything Harlem. This year’s Harlem Week is taking place mostly online. A real highlight of this year’s festival is the audio streaming of excerpts from The Black Clown.

Davóne Tines, who originated the role of adult Charles in Terence Blanchard‘s opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones, created this work with Michael Schachter and Zack Winokur. It is based on Langston Hughes’ poem of the same name.

The Black Clown had its world premiere at the 2019 Mostly Mozart Festival. The poem, and this adaptation of it, depicts how one man handles oppression in America. It’s a work that utilizes multiple forms including jazz, opera vaudeville, gospel and spirituals.

The cast of The Black Clown includes Davóne Tines, Sumayya Ali, Darius Barnes, Dawn Bless, Jonathan Christopher, LaVon Fisher-Wilson, Lindsey Hailes, Evan Tyrone Martin, Jhardon DiShon Martin, Brandon Michael Nase, Amber Pickens, Jamar Williams and Hailee Kaleem Wright.

In an interview with Ryan Ebright of the New York Times, Tines said, “With The Black Clown, Hughes was tapping into and providing a blueprint for how social justice has happened in the past, how it needed to happen in his time, and how it needs to happen today.”

Virtual Halston – Cast Party Network YouTube Page – August 21st – 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT

If you think of actress Julie Halston (and you should), you probably think of her as both playwright Charles Busch’s muse and one of his most frequent actors. What you may not know is that she’s also one of the pithiest people hosting a theatre-centric online talk show. It’s called Virtual Halston.

Halston’s show is part of Jim Caruso’s Cast Party Network and it involves the same level of of fun. Halston talks directly to the audience, with Caruso and also with special guests.

This week’s guest are actors Mercedes Ruehl and Michael Urie who played mother and son in the 2017 revival of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy (which for this production was renamed Torch Song). The show transferred to Broadway in 2018 for a sadly much shorter run than this amazing production deserved.

Each week’s Virtual Halston is archived. So feel free to peruse the previous episodes with guests Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon); Colman Domingo (The Scottsboro Boys); Jessica Vosk (Fiddler on the Roof), Mary Testa (Oklahoma); Marilu Henner and so many more.

One word of warning: if you watch one episode you’ll find yourself hours later having watched several. Oh…and bring a cocktail. This is truly a happy hour.

Broadway for Racial Justice Amplified Concert – August 21st – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

As Black Lives Matters protests became more prevalent across the country, it was inevitable that Broadway would get involved. It was also inevitable that racism in theatre was going to get addressed as well.

One new organization launching on September 1st is the Broadway for Racial Justice Emergency Assistance Fund. To raise money for the organization they are putting on an online concert with both Broadway veterans and new performers who are starting to make a name for themselves.

Tony Award winner Patina Miller (Pippin) and Brandon Michael Nase (Cats) serve as hosts. Scheduled to perform are Hailey Kilgore (Once on This Island), Solea Pfeiffer (Hamilton), Shoshana Bean (Wicked), Tony Award-winner Jessie Mueller (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) and Skylar Astin (Spring Awakening and television’s Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist – which if you haven’t watched, you should).

Joining will be Kalen Allen, Brittany Campbell (Hamilton), Kayla Davion (Tina), Deon’te Goodman (Hamilton), singer/songwriter Sapphire Hart, Morgan James (Motown: The Musical), Andre Malcolm, Arianne Meneses, Joey Rosario, and the band Empty Royalty

Broadway for Racial Justice Amplified streams at 8 PM ET on YouTube. There is no charge to watch the concert, but donations are encouraged.

Andrew Owens Living Room Recital – LA Opera – August 21st – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Tenor Andrew Owens has performed numerous roles in opera all over the world. Amongst the operas in which he’s appeared are Lucia di Lammermoor, Il barbiere di Siviglia, L’incoronazione di Poppea, Fidelio, I due Foscari and Die Zauberflöte.

There was a time when every tenor wanted to have a career like Mario Lanza’s. He was a tenor who rose to fame both as a singer and as an actor. He was, at the time of his death in 1959, considered the world’s most famous tenor.

Owens will celebrate Lanza in this Living Room Recital on LA Opera’s website (and their Facebook page). Joining him for the recital will be pianist Chris Reynolds and flautist Jessica Warren.

LA Opera archives these recitals, so if you can’t watch Andrew Owens as it happens, or want to see other recitals, they are available for viewing.

Judgment Day – Barrington Stage Company – August 22nd – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

Berkshire County’s Barrington Stage Company has sent multiple productions from their stage to Broadway. Most famously they held the world premiere of the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. A 2013 revival of On the Town also made its way to Manhattan.

This weekend they will have a reading of Rob Ulin’s comedy Judgment Day. Ulin is the co-executive producer of Ramy and has written one episode of the show. He’s also produced and written for The Kids Are Alright, Young Sheldon and The Carmichael Show.

Judgment Day depicts the story of a sleazy lawyer who, after a near-death experience with an angel who threatens to condemn him to hell for all eternity, attempts to redeem himself and his soul.

The reading features an all-star cast: Jason Alexander plays Sammy Campo, the lawyer. Patti LuPone plays the Angel. Santino Fontana plays a priest struggling with his faith. Michael McKean plays the monsignor who oversees Fontana’s character.

Loretta Devine (Dreamgirls), Josh Johnston, Bianca Laverne Jones, Julian Emile Lerner, Justina Machado (One Day at a Time), Carol Mansell, Michael Mastro and Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill) are also part of the cast. Matthew Penn directs.

You can watch the performance live on Saturday or you can watch it through August 25th. There is a donation of $35 required to view Judgment Day. Once you have made the donation you will receive a link to the reading.

The Fairy Queen – Glyndebourne – August 23rd – August 30th

Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen had its world premiere in London in 1692. Rather curiously it has an anonymous libretto which was inspired by William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream.

Historians consider The Fairy Queen to have followed in the 16th century tradition of “masques.” A masque was a piece of entertainment meant to serve as both an allegory and to cater to the ego of their patrons. Music, dancing, acting, singing, costumes and stage design were of heightened importance.

This 2009 production at Glyndebourne features a new edition of the score by Bruce Wood and Andrew Pinnock and was directed by Jonathan Kent.

Starring are Lucy Crowe, Carolyn Sampson and Ed Lyon. William Christie leads the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Kate Kellaway, writing for The Guardian, said of this production:

“The first thing to say about Jonathan Kent’s magnificently inventive, entertaining and saucy production is that it is, emphatically, not for purists or for nervous baroque enthusiasts. Anyone hoping for a Fairy Queen of gilded fountains and peaceful forests should steer clear. But for everyone else, this production is a gas, and although more London Palladium than East Sussex pastoral, it is hard to imagine a more brilliantly creative approach to the work.”

Spiva & Hollywood’s Golden Age – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – August 22nd – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

LA Chamber Orchestra continues their Summerfest series of safely performed chamber music concerts from the stage of Zipper Hall at the Colburn School. There are two things that make this concert the most interesting one so far from LACO.

The first is the instrumentation. For this concert there are two bassoons (Kenneth Munday and Damian Montano) and two celli (Armen Kasjikian and Giovanna Moraga Clayton).

Most exciting is the concert will serve as the world premiere of Derrick Spiva Jr.‘s Hum. Spiva, who was recently named Artistic Advisor to LACO, is one of our most interesting young composers. He is a prolific composer with commissions from multiple orchestra and performance ensembles.

In addition to Hum, the programs scheduled to include Franz Christoph Neubauer’s Cello Duet No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 10, I. Allegro; Michel Corrette’s Le Phénix; Johann Sebastian’s Bach’s Komm, süsser Tod, BWV 478; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Three Canons; George Gershwin’s Summertime from Porgy and Bess; David Raksin’s Theme from Laura; Charles Gounod’s Marche funèbre d’une marionnette and the Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher song The Rainbow Connection.

The concert is scheduled to run 40 minutes. It will be archived on LACO’s website for later viewing.

Rachel Bay Jones and Seth Rudetsky – August 23rd – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Rachel Bay Jones may not be the best-known Broadway star, but for anyone who saw her originate the role of Heidi Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen, you know exactly why she received a Tony Award for her performance.

She is Seth Rudetsky’s guest this week in his series of conversations and performance with Broadway luminaries.

Amongst her other Broadway shows are Pippin, Hair, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Off-Broadway she appeared in First Daughter Suite at the Public Theatre and, of course, the sold-out pre-Broadway run of Dear Evan Hansen.

As with all Seth Rudetsky concerts, there will be an encore streaming on Monday, August 24th at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT. Tickets for either time are $25.

That’s this week’s Best Bets: August 21st – August 23rd. You know I have some reminders for you, too:

For those in the Los Angeles area, PBS SoCal will air In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, August 21st at 8:00 PM PDT. This first episode is Hecho en Mexico.

Fridays at Five from SFJazz features a concert by Grammy Award-winning singer Dianne Reeves.

The operas available from the Metropolitan Opera this weekend are Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra on Friday, Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia on Saturday and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel on Sunday.

Legendary drummer Andrew Cyrille performs from the stage at the Village Vanguard on Friday and Saturday.

That’s it for Best Bets: August 21st – August 23rd. Enjoy your weekend.

Photo: Jotham Annan in The Fairy Queen (©Glyndebourne Productions Ltd/Photo by Richard Hubert Smith)

The post Culture Best Bets at Home: August 21st – August 23rd appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Brown is, of course, the Tony Award-winning composer of the musicals Parade, The Last Five Years, Songs for a New World, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon in Vegas and 13.

If you’re wondering how Brown and Grande find themselves together, as I’m sure many might be, Grande was in the cast of 13 on Broadway in 2008. They have remained friends. One of Brown’s songs, “Jason’s Song (Give It Away),” appeared on Grande’s Dangerous Woman album in 2016. The rest, as they say, is history.

Shoshana Bean, about whom we’ve written a few times, appeared on Broadway in Hairspray, Wicked and Waitress. She also has a voice that can blow the roof off any venue in which she performs.

Two great vocalists and a great composer. This should be a thoroughly entertaining live-stream concert.

Update: SubCulture just announced that this concert will begin at 8:30 PM EDT/5:30 PM PDT

Photo of Ariana Grande courtesy of her Facebook page.

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When I saw the movie in December, my first comment was that I know how good Justin Paul and Benj Pasek are as songwriters, but it was too bad that the music was so over-produced for the film I felt their work was lost.

In the music video, Ms. Bean is joined by dancer Travis Wall. The video is simple. And it is effective. Not only does the point of the song get across much better than it did in the film, it resonates with an emotionality that reflects Pasek & Paul at their best. (Just ask anyone who has seen Dear Evan Hansen.)

By the way, speaking of Dear Evan Hansen, if you haven’t seen the mash up of songs from that show and Hamilton performed by Ben Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda here is another example of simplifying songs to reveal new shades of emotion that you might not have realized previously. This is called Found Tonight.

If you download This Is Me, every penny will go to the Los Angeles LGBTQ Center.

Proceeds from Found Tonight will go to the March for Our Lives Initiative.

The post The Way “This Is Me” Should Sound appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Nico Muhly’s “Register” World Premiere – Walt Disney Concert Hall

February 23-25

36-year-old composer Nico Muhly was commissioned by the LA Philharmonic to write a concerto that takes full advantage of the mighty organ at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The result, Register, has its world premiere tonight with two additional performances on Saturday and Sunday. All three concerts will include Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Friday’s show, part of the “Casual Fridays” series does not include Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin. James Conlon conducts the three concerts. To learn more about Register, check out our interview with Muhly here.

For an example of Muhly’s work for the organ, here’s a video of The Revd Mustard his Installation Prelude:

The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk – The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

February 23-March 11

England’s Kneehigh Theatre brings this highly theatrical portrayal of the life of painter Marc Chagall and his wife Bella. Through the use of color and imagery mirroring the master painter’s work and music from the Russian Jewish history, this show offers many of the same delights found in other Kneehigh projects such as their Brief Encounter and Tristan and Yseult. Marc Antolin plays Marc Chagall and Daisy Maywood plays Bella. The show was written by Daniel Jamieson and directed by Emma Rice.

Bob Baker Day – Bob Baker Marionette Theatre

February 24

If you’ve never been to the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre then you are missing out on one of the jewels of Los Angeles. The master puppeteer passed away several years ago, but the legacy of his work is celebrated every day at the theatre that bears his name. This all-day festival will include presentations inside his magical theatre and also in and around the grounds nearby. The event begins at 10 AM with a puppet procession opening ceremony. The grand marshal is DJ Lance Rock of  Yo Gabba Gabba!  OK Go’s Tim Nordwind will be doing an DJ set. There are also plenty of games, displays and more available and it is all free. Regularly scheduled performances will take place in the theatre (those five shows are ticketed at $10; two of the performances are already sold out.)

For the Record Presents Shoshana Bean – The Theatre at the Ace Hotel

February 24

There are massive roles in musical theatre for women. Amongst them are “Elphaba” in Wicked and “Fanny Brice” in Funny Girl. Singer Shoshana Bean has performed both. Her massive voice with the ability to be as soft as a feather and as soulful as a woman in church served both projects well. Bean showcases the full range of her vocal abilities with her new CD, Spectrum. This is a different project for Bean and finds her backed by an 18-piece big band. On Saturday night she will be celebrating the release of Spectrum with a concert at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel. She will be joined by the 18-piece band and by special guest Amber Riley (Glee, Dreamgirls.) For Shoshana Bean’s thoughts on the project and this concert, check out our interview with her here.

And take a look at this cover Shoshana Bean and Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo did of Taylor Swift’s “I Did Something Bad” that Swift loved!

Stepping Out – The Soraya at Valley Performing Arts Center

February 25

The Dublin Irish Dance Company presents a story of immigrants through dance and music. In a time when the subject of immigration is one of the pressing issues of our day, this show reminds us that the American Dream has long held sway for countless generations. Through the music and dance of Ireland, Stepping Out tells the story of people leaving famine behind in their native land, crossing the Atlantic and going to a land of opportunity.

The post The 5 Things You Need to See: This Weekend in LA (Feb 23-25) appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

“I think my instinct is when people present new ideas of how to accomplish anything,” she says over the phone, “if it isn’t something I know or understand, my knee-jerk reaction was to say ‘no.'”

There are two reasons Streisand would be helpful. Bean is an avowed Streisand fan first and foremost. Secondly it was this clip of Streisand performing “When the Sun Comes Out” on the Ed Sullivan that inspired Bean’s new album, Spectrum.

Spectrum, by Bean’s own definition, is inspired by the classic recordings of artists like Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and yes, Barbra. It has just been released and on Saturday Bean is showcasing the new material in a concert at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel. She will be joined by the 18-piece big band that backed her up on the recordings. Amongst the songs featured are three originals Bean wrote, covers of songs by Rihanna and Ed Sheeran plus her interpretations of such standards as “How Deep is the Ocean” and “I Wanna Be Around.”

“I challenged myself with Spectrum,” she reveals. “It’s enabled me to go way further and meet new people and have new relationships beyond anything I’ve had in the past. How I handle my art is how I’m handling my personal and professional relationships and how I’m taking care of myself. I’ve become more flexible and open and it’s made room for more excitement and joy and opportunity.”

In order to make Spectrum, Bean went the  crowdfunding route. And she found out how large her fan base really was. She achieved 192% of her goal. “It was proof-positive to me that when you do something uncomfortable magical things will happen. I heard ‘you’ll need raise $60-70,000 for a big band album.’ That so many people were on board that quickly and enthusiastically gave me a lot of confidence and bolstered my bravery to make big asks and take big steps.”

Just days before recording started, Bean didn’t have “the single” for the project yet. So she did what any enterprising songwriter does with a ticking clock on her shoulder…she wrote one, “Remember the Day.”

“I knew it had to be hooky,” she says of this particular creative process. “It needed a big bold sound because it needed to let you know this is what you can expect from this album. It needed to bridge the gap from gritty to more soulful to more traditional. It needed to be created from everything else on the album. This had a lot of expectations and had to do all those things and be uptempo and stand next to these monster classics. It was a miracle.”

Now she has to present the material live on Saturday. “This is such a massive undertaking in so many ways,” she says with nervous excitement. “This will be the first time I get to perform with this type of a band. I’ve never been on stage with 18 pieces. Being in that venue is thrilling. Most of the people I love and who have supported me will be there. It’s a celebration. My dress isn’t too shabby. I’m pretty excited about my dress.”

Unfortunately some of the people she announced as special guests won’t ultimately be joining. But this, too, offered Bean some lessons.  “Every single one cancelled. Even making those asks was a move I would never have made before. But now I can go back and be even more brave by being okay with people canceling. Amber Riley just agreed to show up and sing with me.”  [Amber Riley, best known for Glee, won the British equivalent of the Tony Award for her performance in the London production of Dreamgirls.]

I bring up a different Streisand quote to Bean before the conversation ends. Streisand said “I guess if you have an original take on life, or something about you is original, you don’t have to study people who came before you. You don’t have to mimic anybody. You just have a gut feeling inside, an instinct that tells you what’s right for you and you can’t do it and other way.”

Bean loves the quote, thinks for a moment and then says, “I think that I’m a culmination of all the things I’ve soaked up in my life. I’m very Streisand, there’s Frank Sinatra, Chrissie Hyde, John Mayer, Aretha Franklin…while it may seem original, we’re all using the same ingredients. What matters are your proportions. I go left when people think I’m going right. I don’t look at it as strategic decisions, it’s what I’m lead to do. It’s literally been what felt like it needed to happen.”

Photo by Bradford Rogne Photography

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