Cabaret – Celebration Theatre

Previews begin 5/25

Over the past two years, Celebration Theatre has had back-to-back hits with taking very large, splashy musicals (The Boy from Oz, Priscilla Queen of the Desert) and making them work in the intimate settings of their Hollywood theatre. Now they tackle the Kander & Ebb musical Cabaret. This production, much like the 1998 revival that starred Alan Cumming and Natasha Richardson, is set in the Kit Kat Club. But for this production, director Michael Matthews is offering up a far more decadent and dirtier club than has been seen before. Almost every performance of the two previous musicals sold out, extended their runs and still sold out. So I ask you, what good is sitting all alone in your room?

Beauty and the Beast: Live in Concert to Film  – The Hollywood Bowl

May 25-26

Most films that get live orchestral treatment at the Hollywood Bowl don’t have songs. With these two performances of the Disney animated film classic, the memorable characters from the film will be voiced live by an all-star cast that includes Zooey Deschanel as “Belle,” Kelsey Grammer as “Lumiere,” Taye Diggs as “Gaston,” Rebel Wilson as “LeFou,” Jane Krakowski as “Mrs. Potts” and Anthony Evans as “Beast.” Michael Kosarin is conducting the orchestra. There are also a few special performances before the film.

Crossing – The Walis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

May 25-26

If you are interested in getting a good sense of what the future of classical music and opera will be in the years ahead, then checking out this chamber opera by Matthew Aucoin is an excellent place to start. The 28-year-old wrote Crossing about a period of time in poet Walt Whitman’s life in which he abandoned all the comforts of his life to tend to wounded soldiers in the hospital during the American Civil War.  These two performances are concert performances and not fully staged productions of Aucoin’s work. But they will give you an excellent look into his work and, by extension, one direction contemporary opera is heading. For more information on Crossing, check out our interview with Aucoin here.

Ann Hampton Callaway and Amanda McBroom – Catalina Bar & Grill

May 25-May 27

Last October singers Amanda McBroom and Ann Hampton Callaway brought their show Divalicious to the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa and also the Venetian Show Room at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Now it’s LA’s turn to see these two wonderful singers in the show where they work their magic on songs from the Great American Songbook and some of their own recordings. They will be joined by Music Director Michelle Brourman on the piano. These sisters are doing it for themselves.

Photo by Steve Sorokoff/Courtesy of BroadwayWorld.com

Schumann Focus: Symphony #4 and the Cello Concerto  – Walt Disney Concert Hall

May 26-27

The LA Philharmonic continues its journey through the symphonies of Robert Schumann with these two performances of the 4th Symphony. What makes the 4th Symphony (in D Minor) so unique is the four movements are played through without a break. This was unheard of at the time of its premiere. As with the earlier concerts this week, Sol Gabetta will be playing the Cello Concerto and Gustavo Dudamel is conducting.  Note that Saturday’s performance is a matinee.

The post The 5 Shows You Must See: This Weekend in LA (5/25-5/27) appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

That is followed by Sol Gabetta playing the Cello Concerto in A Minor. Here is an excerpt of a performance she gave of this concerto.

The concert concludes with Schumann’s Symphony #3 in E Flat Major – called The Rhenish.

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