In addition to our top pick, Ballet Hispánico, which we announced yesterday, we have a few plays, some jazz, classical, Broadway music and opera for you.

Here are this Memorial Day Weekend’s Best Bets: May 28th – May 31st:

*TOP PICK*: DANCE – Ballet Hispánico 50th Celebration – May 28th – June 10th

Latin dance company Ballet Hispánico celebrates their Diamond Anniversary with the streaming presentation of three new works by Lauren Anderson, Ana “Rokafella” Garcia and Belén Maya and classic works from their repertoire by Graciela Daniele, Nacho Duato, the late Geoffrey Holder, Ann Reinking, Pedro Ruiz and Gustavo Ramirez Sansano.

The show willl feature several special guests.

Amongst them will be Tony Award-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) and Academy Award nominee Rosie Perez (Fearless).

The show debuts at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT on May 28th and will remain available for two weeks. There’s no charge to watch this wonderful celebration.

PLAY: The LATRELL Show – IAMA Theatre Company – Now – June 20th

Brandon Kyle Goodman stars in and wrote this play about a talk show host, Latrell Jackson, whose perhaps best known for saying whatever he wants on any subject. He’s quick with the jokes and even quicker to share his opinions.

As a gay Black man, he’s been around the block a few times. As he embarks on filming a very special episode, Latrell is forced to reveal there’s more to his public persona than easy laughs and quick criticism.

Stefanie Black and Devere Rogers co-directed The LATRELL Show. This is definitely a show for those not afraid of frank talk, explicit language and the presentation of ideas that don’t remotely fall into the world of political correctness. In other words, recommended for mature audiences.

Tickets range from $15 to $100 depending on your ability to pay.

PLAY: Georgie: My Adventures With George Rose – TheaterMania – Now – July 18th

You don’t need to know who George Rose was to enjoy this one-man show. But it doesn’t hurt to have a few facts about this very likable and charismatic performer.

Rose was nominated for five Tony Awards: Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Coco; Best Featured Actor in a Play for My Fat Friend and Best Actor in a Musical for The Pirates of Penzance.

His two other nominations resulted in wins for the actor: Best Actor in a Musical for My Fair Lady (1976 revival) and for The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Ed Dixon, who as a young actor was cast in a production of The Student Prince with Rose, became friends with the older actor. Dixon was gay, but had never experienced someone who was as vocal about being gay as was Rose.

This is the starting point for Dixon’s one-man show that was named Best Solo Performance by the Drama Desk Awards. Throughout the 90-minute show, Dixon tells stories, impersonates not just Rose, but his famous friends like Richard Burton and Katharine Hepburn and offers up some song and dance.

This clip above is not from this film, but from promotional materials from the Signature Theatre.

Tickets are $25.

PLAY: Alice in Wonderland – A Noise Within – May 27th – June 20th

Enough of the adult material, here’s a play for the whole family. Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was adapted by Eva Le Gallienne & Florida Friebus for the stage. The show first opened on Broadway for a very short-lived run in 1982 (18 previews and 21 performances.)

Stephanie Shroyer originally conceived and directed this production. Erika Soto plays the title character.

The rest of the cast plays multiple characters with Susan Angelo as the White Queen; Rafael Goldstein as the Mad Hatter; Julanne Chidi Hill as the Cheshire Cat and Justin Lawrence Barns as The Queen of Hearts.

This is an 85-minute film staged by Julia Rodriguez-Elliot. Josh Grondin wrote the original score.

Tickets are $25 – $40. Unlike other productions where you can stream at your leisure, there are set times each day to watch Alice in Wonderland.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Resilience: Destiny Muhammad – San Francisco Symphony – Now Playing

Harpist/vocalist Destiny Muhammad has curated this episode of San Francisco Symphony’s Sound Box series. On her website she is described as representing a genre that ranges from Celtic to Coltrane. She’s well-known in the Bay Area which makes this collaboration with the SF Symphony an obvious fit.

The theme for her Sound Box is Resilience.

She came up with the theme after seeing all her professional engagements get cancelled due to the pandemic. As with most of us, it took both personal and professional resilience to navigate her way through it all.

Muhammad has put together a very impressive program for this filmed concert. The pieces being performed include Confessions to My Unborn Daughter by Ambrose Akinmusire; Tell Him Not to Talk Too Long by Mary Lou Williams; Serenade by William Grant Still and her own composition Hope on the Horizon.

What makes this program of particular note is that the harp is rarely a featured instrument. This won’t be like any other filmed concert you’ve seen recently.

Tickets are $15.

BROADWAY VOCALS: One Voice: The Songs We Share – PBS – May 28th (check local listings)

In this new PBS series, Luke Frazier leads the American Pops Orchestra in a celebration of the songs that have come from Broadway. Whether you know the songs because you saw the musicals themselves or heard them performed by popular singers and bands, you know the songs. By the way, did you know The Beatles recorded a song from The Music Man?

In this episode Tony Award winner Jessie Mueller is one of the performers. She originated the role of Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Also on this show are Amber Iman (Shuffle Along, or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All that Followed); tap dancer Luke Hawkins; RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9 top 5 finisher Alexis Michelle and Sam Simahk (2018 revival of Carousel).

These artists will be performing songs from Carousel, Damn Yankees, Funny Girl, Hello Dolly!, La Cage Aux Folles, The Roar of the Greasepaint The Smell of the Crowd and The Wiz.

A second episode, which immediately follows on most stations, will featured sacred music and includes Michelle Williams from Destiny’s Child; American Idol’s Justin Guarini; soprano Maureen McKay and more.

DANCE: 21st Century Choreographers – Royal Ballet – May 28th – June 27th

Kyle Abraham, Crystal Pite and Christopher Wheeldon are the choreographers whose work is showcased in this program from The Royal Ballet in the United Kingdom.

Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour, created for the San Francisco Ballet is up first. Abraham’s duet, a precursor to a longer work that was commissioned by the Royal Ballet for their 2021-2022 season follows.

The program concludes with Pite’s Statement and Solo Echo. The latter piece set to the music of Johannes Brahms.

Tickets are £16, which is being billed out as $18.50 on The Royal Ballet website.

OPERA: Gallup (Na’nízhoozhí) – LA Opera – Debuts May 28th

Gallup, New Mexico, is called Na’nízhoozhí in the Navajo language. It’s also the location of this digital short from LA Opera. What stands out about this particular piece is that it features new music composed by Matthew Aucoin. He is the composer of the opera Eurydice which had its world premiere at LA Opera in February of 2020.

Singing in this piece are Anthony Roth Costanzo and Davóne Tines. (Two other terrific reasons to watch Gallup).

Two men from the Navajo Nation are also involved: director Blackhorse Lowe and Jake Skeets whose poetry was set to music by Aucoin.

This isn’t a perspective we commonly get to see in the performing arts. I, for one, can’t wait to see and hear this work.

JAZZ: Curtis Taylor Quartet – Jazz at LACMA – Debuts May 28th – 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT

As restrictions start to get lifted, programming like Friday Jazz on the plaza at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art might return. Until that time, LACMA continues debuting filmed performances. This week’s features trumpeter Curtis Taylor.

Taylor, who originates from Ohio but calls Los Angeles home, is a bandleader and an in-demand musician. Amongst the artists with whom he has recorded and/or toured are Cyrus Chestnut, Billy Childs, Gregory Porter and Patrice Rushen. He’s also toured with the legendary James Carter as a member of his quintet.

His most recent album, Snapshot, was released in 2019.

This concert will also include an interview with Taylor. This concert will be available for viewing after its debut on LACMA’s YouTube Channel.

BROADWAY VOCALS: George Salazar – Seth Concert Series – May 30th – 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT

The first show I saw George Salazar in was Here Lies Love at the Public Theater in New York. The other show I saw him in was Pasadena Playhouse’s Little Shop of Horrors in the fall of 2019. Between those two productions he made his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of Godspell and starred in the musical Be More Chill.

I’m sure he’ll have plenty to talk about with Seth Rudetsky in this weekend’s Seth Concert Series. He’s also a good singer, which makes him a great guest.

I’m sure he’ll have plenty to talk about with Seth Rudetsky in this weekend’s Seth Concert Series. He’s also a good singer, which makes him a great guest.

If you can’t catch this show as it streams live on Sunday afternoon, there will be a rerun on Sunday at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. Tickets for either showing are $25.

There are no significant performing arts events on Monday’s holiday. So that completes this week’s Best Bets: May 28th – May 31st. But you know there are always going to be a few reminders:

JAZZ: Saturday is your last chance to watch the worldwide International Jazz Day 2021 Concert with performances by Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gerald Clayton, Andra Day, Herbie Hancock, Stefon Harris, Dianne Reeves and more.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Monday is your last day to catch Sutton Foster’s Bring Me to Light concert with special guests Raúl Esparza, Joaquina Kalukango, Kelli O’Hara and Wren Rivera.

OPERA: Last weekend’s Met Stars Live in Concert performance by Isabel Leonard, Ailyn Pérez and Nadine Sierra is available on demand through June 4th.

VARIOUS: Monday is the final day to catch a multitude of performances that were part of the Voices of Hope Festival from Carnegie Hall. This includes performances by The Kronos Quartet, Ute Lemper, Jason Moran, Davóne Tines with Jennifer Koh and more.

PLAY: Christine Quintana’s Clean starts its week of streaming as part of South Coast Repertory’s Pacific Playwrights Festival.

OPERA: The operas available this week from the Metropolitan Opera are the 1996-1997 season production of Giordano’s Fedora on Friday; the 2010-2011 production of Strauss’s Capriccio on Saturday and Rossini’s Le Comte Ory from the same season on Saturday. Monday is the start of Aria Code: The Operas Behind the Podcast (the Met’s collaboration with WQXR) and will feature the 2019-2020 season production of Puccini’s Turandot.

That should keep you pretty well occupied this weekend. With this much to see, who has time for a barbecue?

Enjoy your weekend! Enjoy the performing arts!

Photo: Ballet Hispánico in Línea Recta (Photo by Paula Lobo/Courtesy Ballet Hispánico)

The post Best Bets: May 28th – May 31st appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

This week’s selections run the gamut from spoken word to Ukranian music to Cuban jazz to Broadway royalty.

My top pick amongst this week’s Best Bets: April 16th – April 19th is part 3 of MasterVoices’ Myths and Hymns. Adam Guettel’s song cycle is one of my favorite compositions of his and the first two parts of MasterVoices’ series were extraordinary. Dove Cameron (who appeared in a small tour of the composer’s The Light in the Piazza) and Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson are amongst the guest joining MasterVoices for this section called Love.

Here are my Best Bets: April 16th – April 19th:

*TOP PICK* VOCALS: Myths and Hymns Part 3: LOVE – MasterVoices YouTube Channel – Available Now

I’ve already written about this series of four programs that combine performance, film and animation to present Adam Guettel’s Myths and Hymns.

Part three is called Love and features performances by Dianne Drayse Alonso, Nina Bernstein, John Brancy, Dove Cameron, Drew Gehling, Cheyenne Jackson, Shereen Pimentel and Lori Wilne.

The films in this episode are directed by Victoria Clark (Tony Award winner for her performance in Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza) and Ted Sperling (Tony Award winner for his orchestrations of the same musical; he’s also the Artistic Director of MasterVoices).

The first two parts of Myths and Hymns were terrific. I have no doubt this will be just as inspiring and moving as the other two. Thus it is my top pick this week.

SPOKEN WORD: Black Nourishment – Not a Moment, But a Movement – Center Theatre Group – Now – June 15th

From the stage of the Kirk Douglas Theatre spoken word artists Tru Sound, Yazmin Monet Watkins and Alyesha Wise will speak their truth about being Black in America. Performing in front of murals from their home towns are spoken word artists Chris Webb and Sierra Freeman in Cleveland; Royce Hall and Jali Ajani Nafula in Atlanta and from Oakland are Shawn William and Prentice Powell.

Music is provided by Sugi Dakks who is joined by Jarren Heidelberg on drums; Josh Howard on bass; Aaron Mastin on keys and Terall Whitehead on guitar. Expect hip-hop music with a jazz flavor.

Black Nourishment is directed by Tyrone Davis and Bruce A. Lemon Jr. There will be an introduction from Emmy Award-winner Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us).

There is no charge to watch Black Nourishment through April 30th. After that it will cost $10 to view the show.

ROCK OPERA: Weightless – Women’s Project Theater – Now – May 30th

One story Ovid’s Metamorphoses serves as the inspiration for this rock opera by The Kilbanes (married couple Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses). That story is one of sisterhood, but also includes extremely violent acts.

The Kilbanes have created a rock opera that was first performed at Z Space in San Francisco in 2018.

When it was presented at the Under the Radar Festival in 2019, Laura Collins-Hughes, writing in the New York Times, called Weightless, “an accomplished work, and an entertaining one. The Kilbanes banish rape from the narrative in favor of pleasurable sex, and shape the story with female voices.

“Unlike so many pieces of music theater, Weightless has a well-crafted form, and its spoken dialogue melds beautifully with the propulsive score.”

The Kilbanes have made a film of their rock opera (directed by Tamilla Woodard) with fellow cast members Lila Blue, Kofy Brown, Dan Harris and Joshua Pollock.

Weightless will be available for streaming through May 30th. There is no charge, however donations are encouraged.

WORLD MUSIC: DakhaBrakha – CAP UCLA – Now – May 31st

For those who like their music from other parts of the world, this Ukranian ensemble gives you a taste of the traditional and the adventurous.

DakhaBrakha is a four-person ensemble featuring Nina Garenetska, Marko Halanevych, Iryna Kovalenko and Klena Tsybulska. They have been winning over audiences and critics for 17 years with their unique blend of old and new.

Or perhaps as their name is translated, the Give and Take.

This concert was filmed exclusively for CAP UCLA in Kyiv.

There is no charge to watch this concert, but donations are encouraged. CAP UCLA will continue to make DakhaBrakha’s concert available through May 31st.

PLAY: Sitting and Talking – Laguna Playhouse – April 16th – May 2nd

How do sixty-somethings (or anyone for that matter) navigate dating during a quarantine? That’s the question asked by Lia Romeo in her designed-for-Zoom play Sitting and Talking. Her play will have its Southern California premiere via the Laguna Playhouse starting this weekend.

Starring as the man and woman trying to find love are Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) and Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me). James Grossman directs.

Tickets are $20 per household. There will be a live talkback this Sunday, April 18th at 8:30 PM EDT/5:30 PM PDT with Lauria, Malick, Romeo, Grossman and producer Chris O’Connor.

OPERA: Zemlinskys Zimmer – the little OPERA theatre of ny – April 16th – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

This will be a livestream performance from St. John’s in the Village of a work that combines scenes from Alexander Zemlinsky’s opera Eine Florentinische Tragödie with vocal and chamber music by the composer. They are being combined to tell the story of a love triangle with a married woman torn between her husband and a Prince. (It’s opera, of course there’s a love triangle! Of course a Prince is involved!)

Zemlinsky’s work was based on an Oscar Wilde play. His opera had its world premiere in 1917 in Stuttgart.

the little OPERA theatre of ny production will feature Katy Lindhart, Eric McKeever and Nicolas Simpson. Catherine Miller accompanies on piano and serves as Music Director. Laura Frautschi will appear as a guest violinist. Philip Schneidman directs.

Tickets begin at $5 and increased based on your ability to pay/make a donation.

JAZZ: Daymé Arocena – SFJAZZ – April 16th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Though not a household name in America, Daymé Arocena is very well-known in Cuba where she was born. Arocena began her professional career at the age of 14 working with the band Los Primos.

Her first album, New Era, was released in 2015. She followed with One Take (2016), Cubafonía (2017) and Sonocardiogram (2019).

This concert, part of SFJazz’s Fridays at Five series, comes from November 2019 when she was touring in support of Sonocardiogram. Raul Da Gama, in his review of the album for LatinJazzNet, said, “…what she does on Sonocardiogram is to raise the level of her music art to the heights achieved by men with a longer standing in this realm – even such men as the doyen of them all, Román Díaz, and the explosive Pedrito Martinez. Like them Miss Arocena’s ability to invoke (such goddesses as) Oyá, Ochún and Yemayá is not only palpable, but she delivers her invocations with enormous power, poise and stylistic grace.

There will be an encore presentation of this concert on Saturday, April 17th at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT. Tickets are $5 (which includes one month of digital membership) or $60 (which includes a full year of digital membership.) Digital membership allows for free streaming of the Fridays at Five concerts and discounted tickets to additional streaming events (one of which you can find below).

PLAY: An Evening with John Wilkes Booth – Whitefire Theatre – April 16th – 10:00 PM EDT/7:00 PM PDT

Given that Classic Stage Company is celebrating the musical Assassins, it seems only fair to offer another point of view. In this case, the point of view of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

The play was written by Lloyd J. Schwartz (a producer/director of The Brady Bunch) and Clinton Case.

Starring in An Evening with John Wilkes Booth is Stephen Spiegel.

Case’s extensive research forms the factual spine of this one-man show. We don’t often get to hear from those who pull the trigger, so this should be a fascinating companion piece to Tell the Story about Sondheim’s musical.

It features a performance by Spiegel that prompted a critic from The Free Press in Columbus, Ohio to state, “the actor does anything but phone his performance in. Indeed, Spiegel kills as America’s archetypal assassin.”

Tickets are $15.99 and allow for streaming on demand for 72 hours.

OPERA: Verdi’s Don Carlo – San Francisco Opera – April 17th – April 18th

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti; starring Michael Fabiano, Ana María Martínez, René Pape, Mariusz Kwiecień and Nadia Krasteva. This revival of Emilio Sagi’s 2003 production is from the 2015-2016 season.

Don Carlo had its world premiere in 1867 in Paris. Friedrich Schiller’s play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien, served as the basis for the libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle. The opera was originally performed in French. Three months after its debut in Paris, Don Carlo was performed in Italian. First at Covent Garden in London and later in Bologna. It is most frequently performed in Italian.

Don Carlo of Spain and Elisabetta of Valois are betrothed to one another. They have never met. Don Carlo sneaks away to meet this unknown woman. They fall in love. However, their happiness is quickly ruined when Carlo’s father, Filippo, announces that he’s in love with her and she is to be his bride.

Even though she is now his stepmother, Don Carlo tries multiple times to woo Elisabetta away from his father. With the Spanish Inquisition ongoing, the affairs of all three and the appearance of a mysterious monk lead to murder plots, revenge, unrequited love, thievery and more being played out in Verdi’s longest opera.

James Ambroff-Tahan, writing in the San Francisco Examiner, said of this production, “It’s been 13 years since San Francisco Opera has staged Don Carlo, one of Verdi’s most mature operas. Yet the talented cast in this summer’s sumptuous revival of director Emilio Sagi’s production — boasting the vocal heft and staying power the four-and-a-half hour work requires — makes the dry spell well worth the wait.”

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bang on a Can Marathon – April 18th – 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT

Bang on a Can (founded by Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe) began its traditions of marathon concerts celebrating new music in 1987. They return with another marathon this year and this one features all world premieres.

Here’s the line-up (using EDT):

1:00 PM: Anguish from Falling Sky by Michael Abels performed by Vicky Chow; witness… by Mantana Roberts; ad astra by Joan La Barbara performing by Iva Casian-Lakos (and noted to be for a cellist who sings) and Chaconne in A Minor by Anton Batagov.

2:00 PM: How Was Your Year by Rudresh Mahanthappa performed by Ken Thomson; House Calls by Timo Andres performed by David Byrd-Marrow; Meditation #1 by Leyla McCalla performed by Arlen Hlusko; Persuasion by John Hollenbeck performed by David Cossin

3:00 PM: STALLION by Carman Moore performed by Robert Black; new work written and performed by Kelly Moran; Song for Eric by Michael Friday performed by Jeff Anderle and new work by Jonathan Bailey Holland performed by Mark Stewart

4:00 PM: Six Riffs after Ovid for solo oboe by Michael Daughtery performed by Titus Underwood; new work written and performed by Andy Akiho and See You on the Other Side written and performed by Soo Yeon Lyuh

Tickets begin at $10 and increase based on your ability to pay.

CABARET: Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus – Seth Concert Series – April 18th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Married couple Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus perform together in this weekend’s Seth Concert Series with Seth Rudetsky.

Block is the Tony Award winner for The Cher Show.

She also appeared in the 2016 revival of Falsettos, the 2012 revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Boy From Oz.

Arcelus appeared in Rent, Good Vibrations, Elf, A Time to Kill and co-wrote the book for Gettin’ the Band Back Together Again.

They both appeared in Wicked (she as Elphaba, he as Fiyero) where they met and fell in love.

There will be an encore showing at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT on Sunday. Tickets for either showing are $25.

CHAMBER MUSIC: Telegraph Quartet – Crowden Music Center – April 18th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Violinists Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violist Pei-Ling Lin and cellist Jeremiah Shaw formed Telegraph Quartet in 2013. They have toured the world with their mix of traditional classical music repertoire and more contemporary works.

This will be the case for their performance from Crowden Music Center in Berkeley, California. Scheduled repertoire includes Britten’s Three Divertimenti (their recording of this work can be found on their 2018 recording Into the Light), Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1 and Brahms’ String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51 No. 2.

There is no charge to watch their performance, however donations are encouraged. The concert will remain available for streaming for one week.

JAZZ: Alone Together: Tuck & Patti – SFJAZZ – April 18th – 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT

On Thursday, April 15th jazz duo Tuck & Patti gave a live performance for SFJAZZ. That performance will be available again on Sunday, April 18th.

Guitarist Tuck Andress and singer Patti Cathcart have been performing for over four decades and they’ve been married for 38 years and counting.

They have regularly received rave reviews for their live performances. The combination of his playing and her voice is one that makes the complicated seem simple and the simple seem to have more depth than you imagined.

In 2018 they went on tour with St. Vincent. Why? Tuck is her uncle. St. Vincent is also a fascinating artist. Why wouldn’t she take advantage of their talent? You should, too.

Tickets are $5 for members and $10 for non-members. Ticket buyers will have access to on-demand streaming through May 31st.

CABARET: Broadway Close Up: Kay Swift – Kaufman Music Center – April 19th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Kay Swift is one of the most interesting women in the history of Broadway musicals. Her musical Fine and Dandy opened on Broadway in 1930 and ran for 255 performances. This is one of five musicals she wrote (she also wrote the lyrics for her fifth, Paris ’90) and was easily the most successful.

One song of hers, Can’t We Be Friends, has proven particularly popular and has been recorded dozens of times. It’s also a favorite of filmmakers who have included it in such movies as Bonnie and Clyde, The Heartbreak Kid and Torch Song Trilogy.

Some might think of her only from her relationship with composer George Gershwin. Obviously there was much more to Swift than just one affair (and it was an affair). After Gershwin’s death she was regularly asked to offer her advice and knowledge about his works.

Sean Hartley will host an episode of Broadway Close Up from Kaufman Music Center looking at Swift’s life and career.

Joining for performances are Nikki Renée Daniels (the upcoming revival of Company), Jeff Kready (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder), Sally Wilfert (Assassins) and Klea Blackhurst (The Nutty Professor). Serving as music director is composer Georgia Stitt.

Tickets are $15. There will be a live Q&A with Hartley immediately following the show.

CABARET/CONVERSATION: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – April 19th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Joining Jim Caruso for this Monday’s Pajama Cast Party are Sally Mayes and George Dvorsky (whose musical Pete ‘n’ Keely is being made into a film), Jackie Cox (from season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race), cabaret artist Meg Flather and singer/actor Jacob Daniel Cummings.

You have probably already assumed that the Keely in the title of the musical is Keely Smith who was married to and performed with Louis Prima. But alas, you’d be incorrect.

This is Keely Stevens and he is Pete Bartel. They were once headliners in Vegas and a staple of television talk shows. They are reuniting for a live television appearance and it’s the first time they’ve done so since a very public break-up.

The timing for Jackie Cox to appear is quite good indeed. Next week RuPaul’s Drag Race will name the season 13 winner. Who will it be? (If you don’t know who is in the running they are Gottmik, Kandy Muse, Rosé and Symone. I’m personally rooting for Symone.) Jackie Cox will be spilling all the T with JC!

Caruso knows the most minute details about all his guests. This will be another fabulous way to start your week!

Those are my Best Bets: April 16th – April 19th, but you know I always have a few reminders.

Be sure to check out my preview for Carnegie Hall’s Voices of Hope festival as there are numerous offerings available this weekend including performances by pianist Emanuele Arciuli, The Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Dutch National Opera, singer/songwriter Ute Lemper, Movement Art Is and Third Coast Percussion.

Los Angeles Opera’s Signature Recital Series has begun and the first offering is a performance by tenor Russell Thomas. Go here to read my preview of the series.

Classic Stage Company’s in-depth look at the Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical Assassins will remain available through Monday. For details go here to read my preview.

Los Angeles Philharmonic’s second season of Sound/Stage continues this week with a new episode focused on John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music. I’ve seen this work performed live, you’re in for a treat.

This weekend’s offerings from the Metropolitan Opera are their 2016-2017 season production of Dvořák’s Rusalka on Friday; Saturday they will stream their 1986-1987 production of Puccini’s Turandot for the first time and on Sunday they are streaming their 2013-2014 season production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola.

And in a preview of next week’s streaming productions, the Met will stream Wagner’s Lohengrin from the 1985-1986 season as part of their Moral Authority week.

That does it. That’s the complete list of Best Bets April 16th – April 19th.

Have a terrific weekend! Enjoy the performing arts!

Photo: Dove Cameron in Myths and Hymns Chapter 3: How Can I Lose You” (Courtesy MasterVoices)

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There are a lot of exciting events as part of Voices of Hope. I strongly encourage you to check out Carnegie Hall’s website to pick what most interests you. There is a mix of films, documentaries, more performances than could be included here and multiple opportunities to learn.

One of the wonderful things about this festival is that you have until May 31st to catch all of the programming presented by Carnegie Hall. You’ll be able to find their events on their Facebook page and also their YouTube channel.

It is worth noting that several of my picks here are not presented by Carnegie Hall, but by other venues. Those events have more limited viewing opportunities.

In an effort to navigate the entire list, I’ve selected my top picks to be found within the festival and have, with one exception, chosen only performances.

Here are my selections of the best of Voices of Hope.

CABARET:

Ute Lemper – Songs of Eternity – Beginning April 18th at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Songs and poetry by composers held in concentration camps or trapped in ghettos are featured in this performance by Ute Lemper. The material will be performed in German and Yiddish as reflects the theme.

Lemper has long been a passionate advocate for this music and that passion comes through brilliantly in her deeply emotional performance of these songs.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Ute Lemper – Rendezvous with Marlene – April 25th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Lemper practically bookends the Voices of Hope festival with the inclusion of her enormously well-received tribute to Marlene Dietrich which was inspired by her time spent with the legend while Lemper was appearing in the musical Cabaret in Paris.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

CLASSICAL MUSIC:

Dmitri Shostakovich: A Man of Many Faces – April 16th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

This documentary by Reiner Moritz will look at one of classical music’s most fascinating composers. He faced incredible scrutiny from the Russian government during this career. In spite of intense pressure from the Communist government he was able to create some of the most incredible music of the 20th century.

The late actor John Hurt serves as narrator and the film includes multiple interviews including archival footage of the composer himself.

Emanuele Arciuli: American Voices – April 16th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

It would be a shame to think that a list of American classical composers begins with just the popular Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Samuel Barber and continues onto Leonard Bernstein and John Adams without recognition of so many others.

The history of this music is far deeper than most of us know.

And it includes more Black and Native American composers than any of us realize. Well, any of us except Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli who will perform a recital of this music in this concert.

Amongst the composers being represented here are Dawn Avery, Louis Ballard, Michael Begay, Margaret Bonds, Conor Chee, Arthur Cunningham, Brent Michael Davids and Talib Rasul Hakim. I’ll be honest, I’m not familiar with all four of these composers. That’s precisely why I intend to watch this recital.

I am, however, familiar with Arciuli. His recordings, particularly Round Midnight from 2011, are beautifully performed.

You need to register in advance for this recital. There is no indication that there will be opportunities to stream this after this initial showing.

Boston Symphony Orchestra – Shostakovich Symphony No. 4 – April 16th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in this performance of one of Shostakovich’s most important works. From the opening moments this symphony grabs hold of you and doesn’t easily let go.

The pressure I mentioned above was so intense that the composer hid this symphony from the world until 1961.

Shostakovich completed the work in 1936 – twenty five years before anyone heard this incredible symphony. And it is incredible.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Quartet for the End of Time – April 20th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Written in 1940 by composer Olivier Messiaen while interned at a camp by the Nazis in World War II, this chamber music work was written for cello, clarinet, piano and violin. Quartet for the End of Time will be performed by Carter Brey, Anthony McGill (both of the New York Philharmonic), Inon Barnatan and Alan Gilbert (former Music Director of the NY Phil).

There are eight movements in Messiaen’s composition which the composer indicated was inspired by a passage in the Book of Revelation.

This performance took place at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur in 2016.

Kronos Quartet – April 24th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Two-time Grammy Award winning ensemble (and 11-time nominees) Kronos Quartet perform a concert which finds Armenian Genocide, Terry Riley and Martin Luther King, Jr. sharing space.

Mary Kouyoumdjian’s Silent Cranes is an expression for the voiceless who perished in the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

Selections of compositions by Terry Riley are included as are excerpts from Peace Be Till.

Zachary James Watkins composed this work and was inspired by a piece of history surround King’s I Have a Dream Speech. David Harrington, founder and violinist of Kronos Quartet, found out that the August 1963 speech where King gave the world those rousing words, wasn’t planned to include that section. In fact, that wasn’t written – it was improvised after gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted out to him, “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin” during his speech. The rest, as they say, is history.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

National Symphony Orchestra – Casella Symphony No. 2 – Begins April 26th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Alfredo Casella is not a household name. This symphony was composed in the first decade of the 20th century, making this a pre-World War I work. It’s big, it’s aggressive, it’s rich and runs 50 minutes. It should make for great viewing in addition to great listening.

Gianandrea Noseda leads the performance.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

DANCE:

Third Coast Percussion / Movement Art Is – Metamorphosis – April 20th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Chicago-based ensemble Third Coast Percussion is a Grammy Award-winning ensemble that celebrates new music, diversity and inclusion.

Jon Boogz and Lil Buck lead Movement Art Is, a dance company that wants to express themes of social change while achieving a high level of artistry with their movement.

The two groups team up for Metamorphosis in which they explore the life experiences of young Black men in America today. It will be expressed through the combination of a couple different styles of street dancing.

The performance features music by Jlin and Tyondai Braxton and also Philip Glass’ Aguas da Amazonia in an arrangement by Third Coast Percussion (which can be found on their Paddle to the Sea album from 2018).

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Jeremy McQueen’s Black Iris Project – A Mother’s Rite – April 26th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Combine Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring with a dance depicting one mother’s life after her son was killed by the police. That’s what choreographer Jeremy McQueen has done in creating A Mother’s Rite.

Courtney Celeste Spears of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs this solo work. McQueen received a 2020 New York Local Emmy Award nomination for this film.

A Mother’s Rite perfectly represents his goal of creating work with social impact at its core.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

JAZZ:

Somi: in the absence of things – April 21st – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

In 2020, Somi, a jazz vocalist from East Africa, released a live album called Holy Room: Live at Alte Oper with Frankfurt Radio Big Band. Music from that dynamic album serves as the soundtrack for this experimental short film in which she explores the price artists have paid during the pandemic.

The film also addresses the need to increase Black storytelling in cultural institutions.

Immediately following the screening of the film, Somi will appear in selections from a recently filmed concert she gave in Senegal.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Jason Moran: James Reese Europe and the Harlem Hellfighters – The Absence of Ruin – April 22nd – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

1918 started with an auspicious event. New York’s 93rd Division’s 369th Infantry Regiment landed in France. Amongst the members of this regiment, nicknamed The Harlem Hellfighters, was James Reese Europe. He and his military ensemble of musicians introduced the French to a particular style of jazz written and performed by Black musicians.

He returned one year later to America and was hailed for his accomplishments. He went out on a tour with this celebrated music, but one of his band members, feeling he’d been cheated by Europe, stabbed him and he succumbed to his injuries.

As only pianist/composer/historian/artist Jason Moran can, he will celebrate James Reese Europe in this show which is one of the main highlights of this entire festival. Since Moran is not only insanely talented, but one of jazz music’s best thinkers, this will be a terrific show.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

OPERA:

Dutch National Opera – Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk – April 19th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Conducted by Mariss Jansons; starring Eva-Marie Westbroek, Katerina Ismailova, Christopher Ventris, Ludovit Ludha and Anatoly Kotcherga. This 2006 production (for the composer’s centennial) was directed by Martin Kušej.

The Soviet government’s response to this opera is what lead Shostakovich to keep his fourth symphony in hiding for so long.

If you’ve watched the documentary listed above and also the performance of that symphony, this is a third piece in that puzzle.

Based on the novel of the same name, this opera is filled with infidelities, tangled affairs and murders. In other words, everything opera fans hold near and dear to their hearts.

Katerina makes a vow of fidelity to her husband Zinovi she knows she can’t possibly keep. Once he’s away on business the problems start. One lover after another is discovered and each ends up mysteriously dead. Who survives and who is coupled is only revealed at the end when more tragedy will come into play.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

OTHER:

This is a section where programming that doesn’t neatly fit into just one genre can be highlighted.

Davóne Tines / Jennifer Koh – April 23rd – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Bass-baritone Davóne Tines and violinist Jennifer Koh team up for this film having its premiere during the festival. Their work dissects Asian American oppression and its long history in America. They also look at the close ties between the Asian American and Black communities.

In collaboration with arranger Ken Ueno, they are seen performing one of the most powerful songs about racist acts against Blacks, Strange Fruit. Accompanying their performance (which should be shattering given how talented they each are) will be images of violence against the Asian American community.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Samora Pinderhughes – Grief – April 27th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Samora Pinderhughes was described on PBS NewsHour as an artist and composer who “wants to make music that makes listeners live differently.” You will certainly by influenced by this project, Grief.

Systemic racism in all its forms is in the crosshairs for this work that was commissioned by Chamber Music America and New Music USA. Not only do his songs call out what many of us have witnessed, but also help create a possible way forward for, if nothing else, resistance.

Grief was filmed for the Voices of Hope festival and its imagery was inspired by one of my favorite photographers, Roy DeCarava. The film is directed by Christian Padron.

Joining Pinderhughes in this film are: Boom Bishop on electric bass; Marcus Gilmore on drums; Jehbreal Jackson on vocals; Clovis Nicolas on double bass; Niya Norwood on vocals; Elena Pinderhughes on flute; Lucas Pino on tenor saxophone; Immanuel Wilkins on alto saxophone, Brad Allen Williams on guitar and the Argus Quartet / Metropolis Ensemble also participate.

This performance will be available on Carnegie Hall’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

RADIO PLAY:

The Dead Man – April 25th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

This World War I play by Sholem Asch is being heard in its first English-language translation. Caraid O’Brien took the original Yiddish text by Asch to create this radio play. The Dead Man tells the story of citizens in Poland trying to put their lives back together after the war. It is set in the rubble of a synagogue that has been destroyed. All the lingering effects of war have left their mark on the people in the community, but their persistent hope in a better future guides them through.

If you’ve seen Paula Vogel’s Indecent, it told the story of the Broadway performances of Asch’s play God of Vengeance.

This is a Zoom event and advance registration is required. It appears there will be only this one live performance of The Dead Man.

Those are my top picks. Again, I urge you to explore for yourself the complete line-up of Carnegie Hall’s Voices of Hope festival.

Happy exploring and let me know what you think of these picks and what you like most about the festival and its offerings.

Photo: Davóne Tines (Courtesy his Facebook page)

The post Carnegie Hall’s “Voices of Hope” – My Top Picks appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

But that’s not all! There are operas both old and new; dance both modern and ballet; vocalists singing standards and show tunes; several jazz concert options; contemporary classical music and witty banter to start your weekend off just right. We have nearly two dozen options for you!

With so many plays available, one of them was destined to be my Top Pick this week. It’s almost as if it had been written in the stars. Topping this week’s list is the Public Theater’s radio play and bilingual version of Shakespeare’s Romeo y Julieta with Juan Castano as Romeo and Lupita Nyong’o as Julieta.

So here are the Four Days of Best Bets: March 19th – March 22nd. The list begins with my Top Pick and is followed by events in the order in which they become available.

*TOP PICK* RADIO PLAY: Romeo y Julieta – Public Theater – Now Available

William Shakespeare’s best-known play is certainly Romeo and Juliet. In this radio play version you’ll get to hone in on exactly what makes this play so riveting: the story and the words. But there’s going to be a difference: this is a bilingual version called Romeo y Julieta.

Director Saheem Ali and Ricardo Pérez González have adapted Alfredo Michel Modenessi’s Spanish-language translation for this audio only production.

Starring as the title characters are Juan Castano as Romeo and Lupita Nyong’o as Julieta. Ivonne Coll plays the Nurse, Hiram Delgado is Tybalt, Irene Sofia Lucia is Mercutio, Julio Monge is Friar Lawrence and Javier Muñoz is Paris.

The rest of the cast includes Carlo Albán, Karina Arroyave, Erick Betancourt, Michael Braugher, Carlos Carrasco, John J. Concado, Guillermo Diaz , Sarah Nina Hayon, Kevin Herrera, Modesto Lacen, Florencia Lozano,  Keren Lugo, Benjamin Luis McCracken, Tony Plana and David Zayas.

The Public is making closed-captioning available in both English and Spanish and are also providing a script to use to follow along for those who might want that. Just be prepared for a tragic story that ends with these words:

“For never was a story more of woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

There is no charge to listen to Romeo y Julieta, but donations are encouraged.

PLAY: The Picture of Dorian Gray – now – March 31st

Oscar Wilde’s classic story of a man who sells his soul in order that his good looks don’t fade gets a contemporary spin in this new version of the story by Henry Filloux-Bennett. This updated approach has Dorian as a social media influencer who doesn’t want to see his fame fade. It’s just as much a Faustian deal here as in Wilde’s original.

Starring in this production are Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk), Alfred Enoch (seven of the Harry Potter films), Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous), Emma McDonald (Hamlet), Russell Tovey (Angels in America) and Stephen Fry (Wilde).

Tickets are £12 which at press time was equal to just under $17. There is a warning that there is strong language and references to mental illness and suicide. The production is recommended for audiences age 16 and higher.

PLAY: Women Without Men – Mint Theater Company – Now – March 21st

This is the first of several plays that New York’s Mint Theater Company has started streaming. Set in Ireland in the 1930s, Hazel Ellis’ play depicts the unmarried teachers at an all-girls school. It is their interactions with one another that reveals petty jealousies and very different personalities.

This production was staged in 2016 and was directed by Jean Thompson. Appearing in Women Without Men are Mary Bacon, Joyce Cohen, Shannon Harrington, Kate Middleton, Aedin Moloney, Alexa Shae Niziak, Kellie Overbey, Dee Pelletier, Beatrice Tulchin, Emily Walton and Amelia White.

There is no fee to watch the play. Registration; however, is required.

PLAY: Katie Roche – Mint Theater Company – Now – March 28th

Also from Mint Theater Company is this 2013 production of Teresa Devey’s 1936 play. Katie Roche tells the story of a servant girl who has big dreams and finds herself torn between two men.

The play had its premiere with Ireland’s Abbey Theatre and made its first appearance in the United States in 1937.

Starring are Margaret Daly, Patrick Fitzgerald, Jon Fletcher, David Friedlander, Jamie Jackson, John O’Creagh, Wrenn Schmidt, Diana Toibin. Jonathan Bank directs.

There is no fee to watch the play. Registration; however, is required.

PLAY: How to Catch Creation – Goodman Theatre – Now – March 28th

Half a century after a young woman’s girlfriend hits her with some very surprising news, four artists are coming to grips with the ramifications of that fateful day. That’s the premise of Christina Anderson’s How to Catch Creation which Chicago’s Goodman Theatre will be streaming on demand for two weeks.

This is not a reading of the play. Rather it is a capture of their 2019 production directed by Niegel Smith. The cast features Karen Aldridge, Ayanna Bria Bakari, Jasmine Bracey, Bernard Gilbert, Maya Vinice Prentiss and Keith Randolph Smith.

How to Catch Creation runs 2 hours and 15 minutes. There’s no charge to stream the production.

PLAY: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike – Broadway on Demand – Now – April 18th

You might think you need to know a lot about the work of Anton Chekhov to appreciate Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. While it certainly helps, it’s absolutely not essential. While the play does take place near a cherry orchard, there is familial conflict about what to do with a cherished home and the three siblings depicted all have names taken from Chekhov’s work, this comedy has proven popular around the world.

Durang had a rather circuitous route to Broadway with this play. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike had its world premiere at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton in 2012. One month after closing there it went off-Broadway to Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre. Two months after closing there it opened on Broadway and ultimately was named the Best Play at the Tony Awards.

One thing this play was able to do was keep its cast intact for all those moves. So the film that Lincoln Center is making available for free on Broadway on Demand features David Hyde Pierce, Billy Magnussen, Kristine Nielsen, and Sigourney Weaver.

I’ve seen this play two times and strongly recommend you allow yourself the time to relax, sit back and enjoy yourself.  In 2014 I interviewed David Hyde Pierce about the play and his direction of it when it played the Mark Taper Forum. You can read that interview here.

OPERA: Breaking the Waves – Los Angeles Opera – March 19th – April 12th

The 1996 Lars von Trier film Breaking the Waves told the dark story of a husband, who is recovering from an accident at work, who encourages his wife to have sex with other men during his recovery. It was a bold film that featured a shattering performance by Emily Watson.

Composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek created an opera based on this film. Their work had its world premiere at Opera Philadelphia in 2016.

The work won universal acclaim including these comments by Alex Ross in The New Yorker:

“The opera created a world: it had a tone, a profile. There was an uncommonly strong relationship between libretto and music: the work felt urgent, driven by conviction, essential.”

Los Angeles Opera had scheduled a live production of Breaking the Waves, but the pandemic got in the way. In its place they are making a film of the opera directed by James Darrah available for free streaming (registration is required).

The original cast returns: Kiera Duffy, John Moore, Eve Gigliotti, David Portillo, Zachary James and Marcus DeLoach.

As you might imagine with this subject matter, a word of caution. This production includes explicit language, nudity and sexual content, some of a violent nature. Recommended for mature audiences only.

CONVERSATION: Virtual Halston – Cast Party Network – March 19th – 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT

If you’re going to have an afternoon salon filled with ribald conversation and witty repartee, it helps to have two masters participating. In this week’s edition of Virtual Halston with Julie Halston, she’s got a great guest: playwright/author/screenwriter Paul Rudnick.

His plays include I Hate Hamlet, Jeffrey, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and the upcoming book for the musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada. His screenplays include The Addams Family, The First Wives Club and In and Out.

Actor Peter Bartlett, who received a Drama Desk nomination for his performance in The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, will also be joining.

JAZZ: A Night in New Orleans – Derek Douget – Lobero Theatre – March 19th

When winter turns to spring and Lent is approaching many people immediately think of New Orleans and its grand tradition of Mardi Gras. Even later in spring thoughts turn to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Mardi Gras didn’t happen this year and JazzFest is postponed until the fall.

So what’s a fan of that glorious music supposed to do?

Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara is riding to your rescue this weekend. Saxophonist Derek Douget and his band will bring all that wonderful music into your home beginning Friday evening with A Night in New Orleans.

Joining Douget are Victor Atkins on piano; Ashlin Parker on trumpet; Herlin Riley on drums and vocals; Jason Stewart on bass and Don Vappie on banjo/guitar and vocals.

Tickets are $15, but you’ll have to provide your own beads!

JAZZ: Cindy Blackman Santana and Guests – SFJAZZ – March 19th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM EDT

Drummer Cindy Blackman Santana is well connected. She’s recorded and toured with Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders, Joss Stone, Cassandra Wilson and more. She spent many years on the road as the drummer for Lenny Kravitz. She also toured with Santana and in 2010 Carlos Santana proposed to her.

But those aren’t the friends or guests that are part of this weekend’s Fridays at Five concert from SFJAZZ. She has recent Oscar-nominated composer/musician Terence Blanchard (Da 5 Bloods), guitarist Bill Frisell, the Kronos Quartet, saxophonist Joe Lovano and members of the SFJAZZ Collective joining for this concert from 2017.

There will be an encore presentation of this concert on Saturday, March 20th at 1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT. Tickets are available with a monthly digital membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60).

OPERA: Renée Fleming Live from the Met – PBS (check local listings) – March 19th from 2021

If you are a regular reader of Cultural Attaché you know that Renée Fleming is one of the most beloved sopranos in opera. Whether seen and heard in productions or recitals, she is regularly a fan favorite.

PBS is airing a recital Fleming gave from Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. last August.

The program includes works by George Frideric Handel, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Jules Massenet, Giacomo Puccini and Richard Strauss. Robert Ainsley serves as her accompanist.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Andrew Rannells Live from Lincoln Center – PBS (check local listings) – March 19th from 2018

In December of 2017 Andrew Rannells performed in The Appel Room at Lincoln Center. The concert was filmed and first broadcast on PBS in 2018. The show returns to PBS this weekend.

Rannells is best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance in The Book of Mormon and for his appearance on the HBO series Girls. He was recently seen as Whizzer in Falsettos (his second Tony Award nomination) and in Ryan Murphy’s stage production and the subsequent film of The Boys in the Band.

This is a fun concert that shows the boy can sing more than just show tunes! Fans will want to check it out.

BALLET: The Red Shoes – Ahmanson Theatre – March 19th – March 21st $10

As part of their continuing Digital Series and their relationship with Matthew Bourne, Center Theatre Group and the Ahmanson Theatre are offering up a filmed performance of Bourne’s ballet The Red Shoes.

The ballet is inspired by the Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger film from 1948 (which in itself was inspired by a story by Hans Christian Anderson).

Bourne uses the music of legendary film composer Bernard Herrmann (Citizen Kane, Psycho) for this ballet.

Ashley Shaw stars as a ballerina torn between her love for the composer who wrote her a ballet and the impresario who runs the ballet company and controls her career.

There will be five opportunities to stream The Red Shoes. Friday, March 19th at 8:00 PM PDT/11:00 PM EDT; Saturday March 20th at 5:00 PM PDT/8:00 EDT and 8:00 PM PDT/11:00 PM PDT and Sunday, March 21st at 1:00 PM PDT/4:00 PM EDT and 5:00 PM PDT/8:00 PM EDT.

Tickets are $10. This program will not be available for streaming outside the United States.

OPERA: Siegfried – San Francisco Opera – March 20th – March 21st

Conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles; starring Daniel Brenna, Greer Grimsley, Iréne Theorin, Ronnita Miller and David Cangelosi. This revival of Francesa Zambello’s 2011 production is from the 2017-2018 season.

This third opera in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen had its premiere in Bayreuth in 1876 where it was seen at the first-ever performance of The Ring Cycle.

The title character is front and center in the third opera in the Ring Cycle. He matures throughout the opera via the choices he makes. He encounters an enigmatic Wanderer, but doesn’t know this is Wotan in disguise. When Siegfried is able to reassemble pieces of Siegmund’s sword (Siegmund is his father) he uses it to kill Fafner who has the responsibility of protecting the gold that was stolen from the Rhinemadiens in Das Rheingold. He also comes into possession of the ring. But what will he do with it and how will that impact his pre-destined love for Brunnhilde?

Lisa Hirsch, writing for the San Francisco Classical Voice, said of the production:

“…perhaps the greatest strength of the production remains: a splendidly staged and remarkably sympathetic Siegfried that flew by. In 2011, part of its charm was the surprisingly sweet Siegfried of Jay Hunter Morris, a handsome man with a beautiful voice. With the young heroic tenor Daniel Brenna stepping into the role this year, some of the sweetness and charm is lost to a more conventionally brash portrayal of the character. Still, the opera really did come off as a scherzo, a comparatively light moment in the Ring despite the deaths of Mime and Fafner. The encounters between the Wanderer and Mime, Alberich, Erda, and Siegfried retain their tremendous emotional power and depth.”

VOCALS: Songs from the Heart – Ute Lemper – March 20th – 2:00 PM EDT/11:00 AM PDT

Whether in concert halls, recording albums or gracing the stage of a musical, Ute Lemper has easily become of our most passionate and accomplished performers.

That wide range of material she handles will be on display in Songs from the Heart on Saturday. The concert will be streaming from Europe and includes songs from the musicals Cabaret and Chicago; from The Threepenny Opera; songs made famous by Édith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich, a song Lemper composed and also a song by Joni Mitchell.

I’ve seen her in multiple concert performances and also in the Broadway revival of Chicago. She’s absolutely amazing.

Joining Lemper for this concert will be Vana Gierig on piano; Tim Ouimette on trumpet; Matt Parrish on bass and Todd Turkish on drums and percussion.

Ticket are $24.99 and allow for 48 hours of access.

JAZZ: Jeremy Pelt Quintet – Vermont Jazz Center – March 20th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

You’re probably asking yourself how often will I recommend a performance by Jeremy Pelt? As long as he keeps putting out great music like Griot – This Is Important! I will do so as long as possible.

This concert from the Vermont Jazz Center will focus exclusively on music from this new album.

Joining Pelt for this concert are Vicente Archer on bass; Victor Gould on piano; Chien Chien Lu on vibraphone and Allan Mednard on drums.

There is no charge to stream the concert; however donations are encouraged.

ONE PERSON PLAY: Anyone But Me – IAMA Theatre Company – March 21st – April 18th

Sheila Carrasco’s Anyone But Me is the first of two one-person shows by Latinx-American women that Los Angeles’ IAMA Theatre Company will start streaming this weekend. Carrasco stars in this show in which she depicts multiple women struggling to define themselves and realizing that where they are is not where they want to be.

Anyone But Me is directed by Margaux Susi.

Tickets start at $15 (based on your ability to donate to IAMA).

ONE PERSON PLAY: The Oxy Complex – IAMA Theatre Company – March 21st – April 18th

The second play, The Oxy Complex, is written and performed by Anna LaMadrid. The play is set in the not-too-distant future – specifically the 500th day of quarantine. They Oxy of the title is not Oxycontin (source of opioid addictions), but rather Oxytocin.

What is oxytocin? It is defined by Medical News Today as:

“…a neurotransmitter and a hormone that is produced in the hypothalamus. From there, it is transported to and secreted by the pituitary gland, at the base of the brain.

“It plays a role in the female reproductive functions, from sexual activity to childbirth and breast feeding.”

So what is LaMadrid exploring in her show? All the things a woman might miss while being quarantined for so long. There is a reason, after all, that Oxytocin is called the “love hormone.”

Michelle Bossy directs. Tickets begin at $15 (based on your ability to donate).

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bang on a Can Marathon Live Online – March 21st – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

For their spring live online marathon, Bang on a Can is showcasing performances from New York and Berlin.

Here’s the line-up:

3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Daniel Bernard Roumain Why Did They Kill Sandra Bland? performed by Arlen Hlusko; Arnold Dreyblatt; Mazz Swift and Rohan Chander △ or THE TRAGEDY OF HIKKOMORI LOVELESS from FINAL//FANTASY performed by Vicky Chow

4:00 PM EDT/1:00 PM PDT

Kristina Wolfe Listening to the Wind performed by Molly Barth; Miya Masaoka; Aeryn Santillan disconnect. performed by Ken Thomson and Adam Cuthbert

5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT

Ken Thomson Birds and Ambulances performed by Robert Black; Tomeka Reid Lamenting G.F., A.A., B.T., T.M. performed by Vicky Chow; Steve Reich Vermont Counterpoint performed by Claire Chase; Christina Wheeler and Molly Joyce Purity performed by David Cossin

6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT

Tyshawn Sorey; Jeffrey Brooks Santuario performed by Mark Stewart; Moor Mother and Bill Frisell

BROADWAY VOCALS: Jackie Hoffman – March 21st – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Jackie Hoffman in the original companies of Hairspray and Xanadu on Broadway. She’s always a joy to watch. Sadly I didn’t get a chance to see her in The Addams Family, On the Town or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

But you’ll get to see what makes Hoffman such a delightful and witty performer on Sunday.

She is Seth Rudetsky’s guest as part of his Concert Series. I can only imagine what stories she’ll have to tell and what songs she’ll choose to sing. We can all find out either in the live broadcast or in the encore showing (also on Sunday) at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT.

Tickets are $25.

DANCE: Uncharted Territory: Dancers in Isolation – Eryc Taylor Dance – Premieres March 21st – 6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT

Eryc Taylor has conceived a new work born out of the crisis that has hit us all in the last year. This work, Uncharted Territory: Dancers in Isolation, was created via Zoom, and focuses on New York City dancers.

The company features Nicole Baker, Chris Bell, Taylor Ennen, AJ Guevara, Eryc Taylor and Alex Tenreiro Theis. Each dancer choreographed their own work. The film is revealed in five separate segments which explore themes of death, mental instability, paranoia, sexual frustration and stillness.

The music was composed by Daniel Tobias.

There is no charge to watch the premiere, though donations are encouraged. Uncharted Territory will remain available online through March 28th.

PLAY: Yours Unfaithfully – Mint Theater Company – March 22nd – May 16th

Though written in 1933, Miles Malleson’s Yours Unfaithfully remained unperformed until Mint Theatre Company produced the show in late 2016.

It seems strange that a story about a married couple exploring an open relationship came from 1933. The all-too-virtuous husband (Max von Essen) is a writer seemingly unable to get inspired. His wife (Elisabeth Gray) runs a progressive school. She suggests opening up their relationship.

Alexis Soloski, in her review for the New York Times, said:

“Under the polished direction of Jonathan Bank, and in the hands of a fine team of designers, its arguments remain provocative, while its structure feels familiar, its tone decorous. Maybe that only makes it more unusual. It’s a bit like a sex farce with real sorrow instead of slammed doors, and something like a drawing room comedy with moral conundrums peeking out beneath the cushions. It is often very funny; it is also very nearly a tragedy.

There is no fee to watch the play. Registration; however, is required.

BROADWAY AND JAZZ VOCALS: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – March 22nd – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Jim Caruso celebrates 50 episodes of Pajama Cast Party with this Monday’s edition. Which makes the absence of his usual venue for his weekly in-person Cast Party, Birdland, all that more palpable.

But this is a party and the show will celebrate turning 50. Joining this week are singer/songwriter Ben Clark, Broadway/pop singer Joshua Colley (Les Misérables), singer/artist Jared Wayne Gladly, Broadway’s Jason Kravits (Relatively Speaking), Brazilian singer/songwriter Denise Reis and Braodway’s Dee Roscioli (Fiddler on the Roof).

That’s this weekend’s Four Days of Best Bets: March 19th – March 21st. But a few reminders before we go:

Los Angeles Philharmonic releases a new Sound/Stage episode entitled A Pan-American Musical Feast with special guest Chef José Andrés. The episode features performances of works by Tania León; Paul Desenne and Aaron Copland. For details on this episode and the whole series please go here.

The 92nd Street Y is still streaming last weekend’s performance by violinist Gil Shaham with The Knights. You can read details about their entire series here. Check out my recent interview with Shaham here.

The Metropolitan Opera concludes their Viewer’s Choice week with a 2006-2007 season production of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia on Friday; a production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin from the same season (and strongly recommended) and a production of Handel’s Agrippina from the 2019-2020 season on Sunday (also recommended). You can see details and clips from all three productions here.

On Monday the Met begins a weeklong celebration of Myths and Legends with a production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice from the 2008-2009 season. We’ll have full details on Monday with our preview of the the week’s full line-up.

I trust you’ll find something amongst the Four Days of Best Bets: March 19th – March 22nd to keep you entertained! Have a great weekend.

Photo: Artwork of the balcony scene from Romeo y Julieta by Erick Davila (Courtesy The Public Theater)

Correction: The name of Eryc Taylor Dance program is Uncharted Territory and not Unchartered Territory as we originally listed. Cultural Attaché has corrected the post above and regrets the error.

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Topping our list is a special celebration of Liza Minnelli’s 75th birthday. The stars are coming out in droves to celebrate the woman who forever put her mark on Sally Bowles, who famously served as Gwen Verdon’s understudy (look that one up!), captured Arthur’s heart and made us all try singing New York, New York just like she does.

We have an unbelievable 21 different shows for you this week. No one will be left out. Whether you like opera, dance, classical music, Broadway musicals, plays or jazz, there’s something great for you to watch this weekend.

But you’ll have to be careful with your time. You lose an hour this weekend. Sunday marks the return of Daylight Savings Time. So don’t forget to move your clocks one hour forward on Sunday. You don’t want to miss the start of these shows!

Here are your Best Bets: March 12th – March 15th starting with our Top Pick. The rest are in order of availability.

*TOP PICK*: A Love Letter to Liza Minnelli: 75th All-Star Birthday Tribute Celebration – March 12th – March 14th

You know it’s either a monumental birthday or you’re quite beloved if Lea DeLaria, Michael Feinstein, Joel Grey, Ute Lemper, Melissa Manchester, Seth Sikes, Billy Stritch, Haley Swindal, Lily Tomlin, Ben Vereen and more are performing to celebrate you.

It’s actually both for Oscar, Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress/singer Liza Minnelli.

The star of Bob Fosse’s Cabaret and the Broadway musicals Flora, the Red Menace, Chicago, The Act and The Rink turns 75 on Friday. And her friends are celebrating the best way they can during a pandemic – with an on-line event.

Offering their own memories of working and being friends with Liza are Jason Alexander, Sandra Bernhard, Charles Busch, Mario Cantone, Jim Caruso, Joan Collins, Craig Ferguson, Kathie Lee Gifford, Kathy Griffin, Jonathan Groff, Tony Hale, Julie Halston, John Kander, Nicholas King, Hoda Kotb, Nathan Lane, Michele Lee, Lorna Luft, Andrea Martin, John Cameron Mitchell, Kathy Najimy, Coco Peru, Parker Posey, Andrew Rannells, Chita Rivera and Michael York.

The show will stream only three times and only at these exact times: Friday, March 12th at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST; Saturday, March 13th at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST and Sunday, March 14th at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT. Tickets are $30 with 20% of all proceeds going to The Actors Fund.

PLAY: Three Days of Rain – Manhattan Theatre Club – Now – March 21st

In 2006 Richard Greenberg’s play Three Days of Rain was performed on Broadway by Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts and Paul Rudd. But that was not its first appearance in New York. In 1997, Manhattan Theatre Club offered the first production with Patricia Clarkson, John Slattery and Bradley Whitford.

That cast, along with original director Evan Yionoulis, have reunited for an online reading of Three Days of Rain that began on Thursday and will continue being available through Sunday, March 21st.

Three Days of Rain tells the story of a brother and sister who return to settle their father’s affairs after his passing. They are joined by their best friend, Pip. Upon discovering a diary they learn more about their parents than they ever expected to. What they learn helps them understand more about their own lives.

There’s no charge to watch the reading, but you do need to register at Manhattan Theatre Club’s website.

DANCE: After It Happened – Invertigo Dance Theatre – Now available

Laura Karlin choreographed this work for nine dancers that was performed at The Ford Theatre in 2016. Two musicians perform the score by composers Toby Karlin, Diana Lynn and Hyosun Choi.

The “it” that happened is a natural disaster in this work created in 2014. What the dancers discover, performing as the community dealing with the aftermath if the event, is that they must forge together to overcome the tragedy that has befallen them.

There’s no charge to watch After It Happened. You will find it on The Ford’s website and also on their YouTube channel and Facebook page. It will remain available for viewing for one year.

PLAY/DISCUSSION: Another Day’s Begun: Exploring Our Town – Pasadena Playhouse – Now available

Thorton Wilder’s Our Town is one of the most often-produced plays. Wilder won the Pulitzer Prize for this deceptively simple play in which the lives of the citizens of Grover’s Corners are shared and depicted. Along the way there are guest lecturers and even questions from the audience. Leading the whole show is the role of the Stage Manager. This is a spare show and a powerfully moving one.

Jane Kaczmarek will perform scenes from Our Town and lead a discussion with author Howard Sherman. His book gives this program its name. Also participating in performance are Youssef Kerkour, Keith Randolph Smith and Alexandria Wailes.

For trivia buffs, Frank Craven originated the role of the Stage Manager when the play debuted on Broadway in 1938. Marc Connelly played the part in a 1944 revival (that also featured Montgomery Clift as George Gibbs). In 1969 Henry Fonda headlined a production as the Stage Manager. Spalding Gray took on the part in a 1988 revival. Paul Newman played the part in a 2002 revival.

There’s no charge to watch this show.

RADIO PLAY: Moby Dick … in the Dark – Theatre in the Dark – Now – April 10th

If like many of us you’ve found it a big of a slog to get through Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, and the thought of listening to a full book on tape is also daunting, but you still want to know what all the fuss is about, Chicago’s Theatre in the Dark is presenting a radio play version that’s much shorter.

If you don’t know the story it is, at least on the surface, about one man’s relentless effort to capture the white whale that gives this story its title. He will stop at nothing with little concern of what it costs.

Corey Bradberry, who also directs, adapted Melville’s story. This will be a true radio play. There are no visuals. An original score by Nick Montopoli will be married with recorded sound, live foley effects and the performances of the cast.

Elizabeth McCoy plays Ishmael (and some other characters). Mack Gordon plays Starbuck, Stubb and other characters. Robinson J. Cyprian plays Captain Ahab and others.

All tickets are Pay-what-you-can. There is a $20-$30 suggested donation. Performances are available Thursday-Sunday until the last week where the performance schedule is Wednesday-Saturday. Tickets can be purchased here.

BALLET: Elite Syncopations – Royal Ballet – March 12th – April 11th

In October of 2020, when things were looking up for England during the pandemic, The Royal Ballet held a special performance called Back on Stage. While they were only briefly back on stage, one highlight from that evening will be available for streaming beginning this weekend.

Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations is set to the music of Scott Joplin (best known for the use of his music in the film The Sting). MacMillan debuted the 35-minute work in 1974. Even critics who weren’t as fond of it as others said it was impossible to watch this work and not have a smile on your face.

Tickets to stream Elite Syncopations are £3 which equates to approximately $3.60.

FAMILY FARE: The Musician: A Horror Opera for Children – The Belfast Ensemble – March 12th – March 14th

If I were a parent I might be scratching my head at a title that claims to be “A Horror Opera for Children.” The story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the inspiration for this world premiere work by Conor Mitchell. He is the composer, librettist and stage director of The Musician.

This is a film of a live performance for the Belfast Children’s Festival. It features a 16-piece orchestra and a four-person cast (Matthew Cavan, Paul Carey Jones, Rebecca Murphy and Sarah Richmond).

This work is recommended for kids ages 6 and above. Tickets are £5 which equates to approximately $6.00 (without service charges) and can be purchased here.

JAZZ: Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington & Esperanza Spalding – SFJAZZ – March 12th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Three mightily talented women take to the stage for this 2018 concert from SFJAZZ. Pianist Geri Allen, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and bassist Esperanza Spalding perform the music of Wayne Shorter, Bob Dorough and an Allen original in this Fridays at Five concert.

SFJAZZ has added a rebroadcast of these shows to their schedule. So if you can’t see the concert on Friday, you’ll have a second chance to see it on Saturday, March 13th at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST.

A gentle reminder that you need to sign up for either a one-month digital membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view these weekly concerts.

JAZZ: Jane Monheit Come What May Album Release Concert – Feinstein’s at Vitello’s – March 12th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Vocalist Jane Monheit has released her 12th album, Come What May, and she will be celebrating with a live concert streaming from Feinstein’s at Vitello’s in Los Angeles.

On the album she performs the standards Let’s Face the Music and Dance, The Nearness of You and my personal favorite song, Lush Life.

For those who want even more of Monheit, there’s an Encore After Show where she will join Brad Roen for a post-performance conversation.

Tickets for the concert are $36.75. Tickets for Encore After Show are $26.75. (Prices include service charges).

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – Debuts March 12th – 9:30 PM EST/6:30 PM PST

On paper this appears to be the most ambitious of LACO’s Close Quarters series. Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale is over an hour in length. Based on a Russian folk tale, the work tells the story of a a soldier who makes a deal with the devil. The devil offers him wealth in exchange for the soldier’s fiddle. As written The Soldier’s Tale calls for seven musicians, three actors and one or more dancers.

For this film LACO is collaborating with Robey Theatre Company. Ben Guillory will serve as the narrator. Julio Hanson plays the soldier. William Warren plays the devil.

Because this is part of James Darrah‘s exploration of new ways to present classical music, LACO has added another collaborator to this film: artist Huimeng Wang. I’m excited to see her contribution which is described on the website as: “Wang’s work features a grand piano being dramatically and violently destroyed by gunfire before being reborn with stunning deep red velvet flocking.”

For those who want to dive deeper into this work, there is a pre-broadcast talk with the three actors and LACO principal trumpeter David Washburn. The live conversation will happen at 8:30 PM EST/5:30 PM PST on March 12th in advance of the premiere. You must register to see the live conversation as it will be available on Zoom. If you’re unable to catch it live, it will be available for viewing afterwards.

There’s no charge for any of this programming. Donations to LACO are encouraged.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Sutton Foster in Concert – Live From Lincoln Center on PBS – March 12th – Check local listings

BROADWAY VOCALS: Stephanie J. Block in Concert – Live from Lincoln Center on PBS – March 12th – Check local listings

Two Tony Award stars appear in their own Live from Lincoln Center concerts this weekend.

Sutton Foster, who will be starring opposite Hugh Jackman in the upcoming revival of The Music Man, appears in a concert from April 2018. She has appeared in the musicals Thoroughly Modern Millie, Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein, Shrek the Musical, Anything Goes and Violet. She won her Tony Awards for Thoroughly Modern Millie and Anything Goes.

Joining her as a special guest in the concert will be Jonathan Groff (most recently seen on stage in an off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors.

Stephanie J. Block won her Tony Award for her performance as “Star” in The Cher Show. She made her Broadway debut as Liza Minnelli in The Boy From Oz (which also starred Jackman). She’s also appeared in Wicked, The Pirate Queen, 9 to 5, Anything Goes (she took over the role of Reno Sweeney when Foster left the production), The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Falsettos.

As with all PBS programming, best to check your local listings for exact airtime and dates.

JAZZ: Jeremy Pelt Quintet – SmallsLive – March 13th – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST and 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Jazz trumpeter Jeremy Pelt just released a new record entitled Griot – This is Important! It’s a combination of spoken word and instrumentals. It’s a stunning album.

Will selections from Griot be on the setlist for these two shows from Smalls in New York?

Whatever he chooses to play it will be with his incredibly beautiful phrasing and emotion.

Joining Pelt for these two shows are Vicente Archer on bass; Victor Gould on piano; Chien Chien Lu on vibraphone and Allan Mednard on drums.

There’s no charge to watch these shows. Those who can donate can make “reservations” for the show.

PLAY: The Year of Magical Thinking – Keen Company – March 13th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Writer Joan Didion shared her own experiences and thoughts after suffering several tragedies in her life in her book The Year of Magical Thinking. The emotional book was turned into an one-person show. Vanessa Redgrave starred in the play on Broadway in 2007.

This weekend the equally talented Kathleen Chalfant (Angels in America) will take on the role in a live streaming event for Off-Broadway’s Keen Company.

I saw Redgrave perform the show in the months after her own daughter’s (Natasha Richardson) tragic death in 2009. It’s an incredibly moving work. After a year with the pandemic and quarantines, I can only imagine how much more deeply and personally we will all respond to this work on Saturday.

Tickets are $25 and will include a post-show talkback with Chalfant and director Jonathan Silverstein.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: A Bartók Journey – Tesla Quartet – March 13th – 7:30 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Tesla Quartet musicians Edwin Kaplan (viola); Michelle Lie (violin); Serafim Smigelskiy (cello) and Ross Snyder (violin) are embarking this weekend on a six week series of exploring, rehearsing and performing all six of Béla Bartók’s string quartets.

This weekend beings, for obvious reasons, with the String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, op. 7. For those interested in watching them rehearse the work, they will be streaming that on March 12th at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST.

There’s no charge to watch any of the events of this six-week series. You do, however, need to register. You can do so in the link built into A Bartók Journey. You will also find details for the entire series there.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Narek Hakhnazaryan and Armine Grigoryan – Shriver Hall Concert Series – Debuts March 14th – 5:30 PM EDT/2:30 PM PDT

Cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan made a name for himself by winning the Cello First Prize and Gold Medal at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition. He will be performing as part of the Shriver Hall Concert Series with pianist Armine Grigoryan. She, too, is an award-winning musician.

On Sunday’s program will be Beethoven’s Seven Variations in E-Flat Major on Mozart’s “Dei Männem”; Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70; Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Cello; E. Bagdasaryan’s Nocture and A. Arutyunian’s Impromptu.

Tickets are $15. There will be a post-performance conversation. This concert will remain available through March 21st.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Emily Skinner – Seth Concert Series – March 14th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Broadway fans first became aware of Emily Skinner as one-half of the conjoined Hilton twins in the musical Side Show. Skinner received a shared Tony nomination for Best Actress with co-star Alice Ripley. (After all, how could you separate their performances?)

She continued dazzling audiences with performances in James Joyce’s The Dead, The Full Monty, Prince of Broadway and The Cher Show.

She is Seth Rudetsky’s guest for this weekend’s live streaming concert and conversation show. The program will air live on Sunday at 3:00 PM EDT. If you are unable to watch the show then, there is a rebroadcast on Sunday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT.

MUSICALS: Passing Through – Goodspeed Musicals – March 15th – April 4th

A young man decides he wants to walk from Pennsylvania to California with a sign on his backpack that says, “Walking to Listen.” Wouldn’t it be nice if more people wanted to listen these days? Anyway, along the way he documented his many encounters with people and their stories.

Upon hearing about Andrew Forsthoefel, who took this trip unsure about what to do with his life post-college, composer/lyricist Brett Ryback and book writer Eric Ulloa knew immediately there was a musical in this true story.

Passing Through is the result of their collaboration. Goodspeed Musicals presented a workshop production of the musical in the summer of 2019. A film of that production will be available for streaming on demand starting on March 15th and running through April 4th.

Max Chernin stars as Andrew. The cast includes Joan Almedilla, Reed Armstrong, Ryan Duncan, Linedy Genao, Charles Gray, Garrett Long, Mary Jo Mecca, Celeste Rose, Jim Stanek and the incomparable Jennifer Leigh Warren. Igor Goldin directed and the choreography is by Marcos Santana.

Tickets are $25 and allow for 72 hours of streaming. Your time begins when you first start watching Passing Through.

BROADWAY REUNION: The Bridges of Madison County – The Jesse Walker Show – March 15th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Jesse Walker will celebrate his 20th anniversary of his eponymous talk show with a reunion of the cast and creative team of the musical The Bridges of Madison County. Participating in the reunion are Kelli O’Hara, Steven Pasquale, Hunter Foster, Caitlin Kinnunen and Derek Klena. Composer Jason Robert Brown, librettist Marsha Norman and director Bartlett Sher will also be joining.

Brown won two Tony Awards for his original score and its orchestrations. O’Hara also received one of the show’s four nominations.

The Bridges of Madison County didn’t run as long as it should have, but its legions of fans will definitely want to tune-in to this reunion which will raise funds for The Actors Fund.

OPERA: For the Love of Opera: Celebrating RBG’s 88th Birthday – Lowell Milken Center of American Jewish Experience at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music/National Museum of American Jewish History/Opera Philadelphia – March 15th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

Liza’s not the only one being feted. So is the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It wasn’t just law that she loved, it was also opera. To celebrate what would have been RBG’s 88th birthday, a program of arias from operas that address issues of social justice, equality and more will be performed.

The program is set to include arias from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore; Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Mozart’s Le nozze de Figaro and Cosí fan tutte, Verdi’s Falstaff, Menotti’s The Consul and a song from the Flaherty and Aherns musical Ragtime.

Performers are Joshua Blue (tenor), Norman Garrett (baritone), Michelle Rice (soprano) and Ashley Marie Robillard (soprano). Pianists Stephen Karr and Grant Loehnig will accompany on piano.

The event will be presented via Zoom, so you will need to register to see it. The program will become available on demand shortly after its conclusion on the various venues’ social media pages.

VARIETY: Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party – March 15th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM EDT

If you want even more of jazz vocalist Jane Monheit, you’ll want to join this week’s edition of Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party. She’ll be singing songs from Come What May and sharing stories with Caruso. The two are longtime friends. Monheit is a semi-regular performer when Cast Party happens live at Birdland in New York. (I’ve seen here there myself.)

Also joining this week at magician Dana Daniels, actor/singer Shu Q and Broadway actor Michael Winther (the upcoming Flying Over Sunset).

The show is free to watch and is always a delight.

Are you overwhelmed yet? I hope not, because I have a couple reminders before we go:

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Violinist Gil Shaham and The Knights perform works by Beethoven and Boulogne in a concert that began streaming from New York’s 92nd Street Y on Thursday. The concert will remain available through March 18th. (Next week I’ll have an interview with Shaham. Check back for that.)

OPERA: The Metropolitan Opera concludes its week celebrating Verismo Passions with Umberto Giordano’s Fedora on Friday and his Andrea Chénier on Saturday and Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca on Sunday. Monday they will launch Viewer’s Choice week with the 2009 production of Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann

Liza’s Birthday, RBG’s Birthday…and whole lot in between. Maybe this time you really did get lucky! After all, life is a cabaret old chum! Have a great weekend!

Photo: Liza Minnelli in the film version of “Cabaret” (Courtesy Liza Minnelli’s Facebook page)

The post Four Days of Best Bets: March 12th – March 15th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Quite a few of this week’s offerings are concerts. We have jazz, classical, Broadway vocals and one jazz/dance combination.

I’ve made a change to help you navigate my listings. Before each title there is a category that defines the genre of the listing. So if you only want to find jazz concerts, just look for JAZZ. For ballet or dance, look for DANCE. And in the case of our hybrid event, you’ll find DANCE/JAZZ combined. All listings are in order of when they become available.

Topping our list this week is the world premiere of a new work by composer Nico Muhly that is being performed by organist James McVinnie on Saturday.

Here are my choices as your Best Bets at Home: December 4th – December 6th.

PLAY: The Night of the Iguana – La Femme Theatre Productions – Now – December 6th

Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana gets an all-star reading from New York’s La Femme Theatre Productions.

Williams based the play on his own short story that in and of itself was inspired by his cousin. The Night of the Iguana had its Broadway debut in 1961.

Reverend Shannon has been forced out of his church after a sermon where he demonized God. He’s relegated to serving as a tour guide and accused of statutory rape of a 16-year-old girl.

While escorting a group of women to Acapulco and staying at a cheap motel, Shannon battles the pressures from the outside world and the demons within himself.

Dylan McDermott stars as Reverend Shannon; Phylicia Rashad plays Maxine; Roberta Maxwell as Judith Fellowes; Austin Pendleton as Nonno and Jean Lichty as Hannah, with Keith Randolph Smith, Carmen Berkeley, Eliud Kauffman, Julio Macias, Stephanie Schmiderer, Bradley James Tejeda and John Hans Tester. Emily Mann directs.

Tickets are range from $10 – $250 depending on your ability to pay. This reading serves as a fundraiser for The Actors Fund.

DANCE: in the absence of things – Baryshnikov Arts Center – Now – December 15th

In this ten-minute experimental dance short film, Somi Kakoma explores the impact the pandemic is having on her and her creative process.

Instead of being on the road, she returned home to Illinois and found herself wrestling with the the desire to create and perform and the need to just live.

Movement, art songs, spoken word and more are utilized to tell her story. Kakoma’s mother provides some of the film’s narration. There is also music from a recent live album, Holy Room – Live at Alte Opera with Frankfurt Radio Big Band in the film.

CLASSICAL: Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus – The Philharmonia Orchestra of London – Beginning December 4th – 2:30 PM EST/11:30 AM PST

In February of this year, the Los Angeles Philharmonic had one of their most exciting concerts when Esa-Pekka Salonen, Simon McBurney and Gerard McBurney collaborated on The Weimar Republic: Salonen Conducts The Seven Deadly Sins.

Starting on Friday, Salonen and Gerard McBurney are once again collaborating on a concert. The Philharmonia Orchestra of London is performing Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus.

Most concertgoers are familiar with the work’s overture; far fewer are familiar with the complete score Beethoven composed for this ballet that had its world premiere in Vienna in 1801.

McBurney has written a new script for this concert. There will be animation by Hillary Leben whose work has been seen in performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Silk Road Ensemble and more.

When you add that the narration will be performed by Stephen Fry, what else do you need?

The link takes you directly to The Philharmonia Orchestra of London’s YouTube page where this performance can be seen.

DANCE/JAZZ: waiting – 92nd Street Y – December 4th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Dancer/choreographer Sidra Bell was working on waiting in anticipation of its world premiere performance in June of this year. That was postponed due to the pandemic.

The work is a collaboration with jazz composer/saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins.

Wilkins’ debut album, Omega, was named the Best Jazz Album of 2020 by the New York Times this week.

What is being shown is a work-in-progress of waiting. Sidra Bell and Immanuel Wilkins will participate in a post-performance Q&A.

Tickets are $10.

JAZZ: Christian McBride – Village Vanguard – December 4th – December 5th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Bassist Christian McBride is joined by Marcus Strickland on saxophone; Josh Evans on trumpet and Nasheet Waits on drums for these two performances from New York’s Village Vanguard.

McBride’s most recent album is The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four Icons.

On this record McBride celebrates Rosa Parks, Malcom X, Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King, Jr.

He just received two Grammy Award nominations recently for Round Again (which finds him recording with Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau and Brian Blade) and also for Trilogy 2 (which is a live recording with Chick Corea and Blade). He can’t win both awards unless there is a tie – he’s competing against himself.

Tickets are $10 for each performance.

JAZZ: Robert Glasper Acoustic Trio – The Kennedy Center – December 4th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM EST

Composer, pianist, producer Robert Glasper is equally comfortable working in the hip-hop world (Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, Maxwell, Common) and the jazz world (Terence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride).

He has released albums that find him collaborating with such artists as Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Phoelix and Herbie Hancock.

For this concert at The Kennedy Center he’s working in the trio configuration with Vicente Archer on bass and Justin Tyson on drums. As befits an artist who works in multiple genres, the trio will be joined by DJ Jahi Sundance.

I believe Glasper is one of our most interesting musicians and this should be a terrific concert.

After the performance, Glasper will be joined by Jason Moran for a conversation. Moran is the Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz.

Tickets are $20 and the program will remain available for renting beyond this premiere showing.

PLAY/MAGIC: The Future – Geffen Stayhouse – December 4th – January 31st

It seems like only yesterday that magician Helder Guimarães just concluded his run of The Present with the Geffen Playhouse. He’s back with a new show and given its title I’m wondering if a trilogy is being planned.

The Future finds gambling at the core of Guimarães’ storytelling and perspective is the fulcrum through which we will view the story and guide its direction.

Frank Marshall returns as director. Will there also be a show next year called The Past?

Tickets are $95 with a majority of the performances already sold out. If you’re interested, act quickly. To do otherwise might gamble away your chance to get a look into The Future.

JAZZ: Pink Martini – SFJAZZ – December 4th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

This week’s Fridays at Five concert from San Francisco Jazz is a holiday concert by Pink Martini that was performed at the venue last December.

This seventeen-member ensemble successfully blends musical styles to create a sound all their own. For instance, did you ever think this rhythm would be part of “We Three Kings?”

Having watched many a concert from this Fridays at Five series, I’m always pleased with how good these shows look and how great they sound.

The concert will air only at this one time. Tickets are $5 for a one-month subscription or $60 for a one-year subscription.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Vanessa Williams: Live from the West Side – Segerstrom Center – December 5th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

In the third and final concert from the Women of Broadway series Live from the West Side, Vanessa Williams take to the stage.

Williams was a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as The Witch in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods revival from 2002.

She made her Broadway debut when she joined the cast of Kiss of the Spider Woman as Aurora/Spider Woman in 1994. Her other Broadway credits include 2010’s Sondheim on Sondheim and the 2013 revival of The Trip to Bountiful.

Beyond her Broadway career she’s had best-selling albums and singles including The Colors of the Wind from the Disney animated film Pocahontas.

Tickets are $30 and allow for additional viewings for 72 hours.

JAZZ: Arturo Sandoval Live from the Broad Stage – The Broad Stage – December 5th – December 13th

In October of this year, trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and a small ensemble of musicians came together to film a live concert at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. The end result is 60 minutes of Latin jazz sure to entertain.

Sandoval is a 10-time Grammy Award winner who was born in Cuba. There isn’t enough space to list all the recordings he’s made and all the musicians with whom he’s recorded. But perhaps the names Bennett, Estefan, Keys, Monk and Sinatra might sound familiar.

Joining him are Will Brahm on guitar; Ricard Pasillas on percussion; Johnny Friday on drums; John Belazaguy on bass and Max Haymer on piano.

Tickets are $10 for non-members. Free for members.

JAZZ: Barbara Morrison: Standing on Their Shoulders – The Wallis – December 5th – 11:00 PM EST/8:00 PM PST

No jazz vocalist can claim not to have been influenced by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. Singer Barbara Morrison is no exception.

In this concert, part of the virtual version of The Sorting Room from The Wallis, Morrison will put her own stamp on the songs these women made famous.

Tickets are $25 and allow for viewing for 24 hours. There are more concerts in this series and package deals are available for viewing either half or all six of The Sorting Room series.

CLASSICAL: James McVinnie Live from Concert Hall ‘Latvija’ in Ventspils – December 6th – 12:00 EST/9:00 AM PST

In February of 2018 I saw and heard organist James McVinnie give the world premiere performance of Register by Nico Muhly. It was an amazing performance of truly fascinating music.

It wasn’t their first collaboration. Muhly wrote 2013’s Cycles for McVinnie. Muhly and McVinnie have collaborated again on Nativity Cycle.

This music was written specifically for this concert and for McVinnie by Muhly.

The composer was inspired by plainsong. That term refers to unaccompanied church music sung in medieval modes and free rhythm. The text is taken from liturgical material.

Each of Muhly’s pieces will include the plainchant at the end, but expect him to transform the original music into something that is at times, much simpler and at other times, much more complex. All of which suits McVinnie’s talents.

Tickets are €8 which is just under $10 as of press time. This does not include any service charges. There is a note on the website that says ticket prices will increase as the concert dates get closer.

JAZZ: Billie Holiday: A Concert Celebration – 92nd Street Y – December 6th – December 9th

On November 21st, the Emmet Cohen Trio was joined by singers Catherine Russell and Veronica Swift for a celebration of the music of Billie Holiday filmed at New York’s 92nd Street Y. That concert will start being available on Sunday at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST and remain available for renting through December 9th.

Also joining the concert is saxophonist Tivon Pennicott who joins for a special tribute to the collaborations Holiday had with Lester Young.

I wasn’t familiar with Swift before reading about this concert. She’s quite good. It will be exciting to see where she goes with her career.

The members of Cohen’s trio are Yasushi Nakamura on bass and Kyle Poole on drums. (Cohen, of course, plays piano.)

Tickets are $15.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Eva Noblezada Live from Adelphi – Adelphi PAC Concert Hall – December 6th – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST

Eva Noblezada has appeared on Broadway in two musicals: She played Kim in the 2017 revival of Miss Saigon. She originated the role of Eurydice in the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown. She was Tony nominated for both performances. In other words, she’s gotten a nomination for every role she’s performed on Broadway. She hasn’t yet snagged one of the trophies, but just you wait.

You’ll be able to see what makes her so engaging in this live concert on Sunday. I’ve seen her in Hadestown. She’s very talented and this should be a great opportunity to see her shine.

Tickets are $15.

CLASSICAL: McGill/McHale Trio – Shriver Hall Concert Series – December 6th – 5:30 PM EST/2:30 PM PST

Clarinettist Anthony McGill and his flautist brother Demarre met pianist Michael McHale when they were artists-in-residence at Bowling Green University. The trio first performed together in 2014 and they’ve been making music together ever since.

For this program, which took place at New York’s 92nd Street Y last December, the trio will celebrate dance. The concert features works by Chris Rogerson, Francis Poulenc, Antonin Dvořák, Guillaume Connesson, Claude Debussy and Paul Schoenfield.

There will be a post-performance Q&A with the artists available after the concert.

Tickets are $15 and allow for continued viewing through December 9th.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Ana Gasteyer with Seth Rudetsky – December 6th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Columbia, Elphaba and Mrs. Peachum are all familiar characters to fans of musicals. Martha Stewart, Celine Dion and Hillary Rodham Clinton are familiar to most people.

Saturday Night Live veteran Ana Gasteyer has played them all.

Her Broadway debut came in the 2001 Broadway production of The Rocky Horror Show. Several years later she played that oh-so-green woman in Wicked after having appeared in a new production of The Threepenny Opera with Alan Cumming.

She joins Seth Rudetsky for his concert series this weekend. The live performance takes place on Sunday. If you are unable to watch that performance, it will be re-streamed on Monday, December 7th at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST.

Tickets for either performance are $28.50 (which includes service charges).

That concludes my selections of the Best Bets at Home: December 4th – December 6th. But there are always going to be a few reminders:

Ute Lemper’s Rendezvous with Marlene has a final streaming performance on Saturday, December 5th at 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST.

Larry Powell’s The Gaze…No Homo continues with new episodes at The Fountain Theatre’s website.

Greenway Court Theatre’s If I Should Wake makes both parts available for the first time beginning on Friday. The show ends its streaming on December 10th.

All concerts that are part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Sound/Stage series remain available for streaming. The Solitude episode, featuring works by Thomas Adés and Duke Ellington, will only be available through December 15th.

The Metropolitan Opera concludes its Stars in Signature Roles week with Elīna Garanča in Bizet’s Carmen on Friday; Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle and Tatiana Troyanos in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos on Saturday and Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti and Cornell MacNeil in Puccini’s Tosca on Sunday.

Now we’ve truly come to the end of the Best Bets at Home: December 4th – December 6th. Enjoy your weekend and enjoy the culture!

Photo: James McVinnie (Photo ©Magnús Andersen/Courtesy of McVinnie’s website)

The post Best Bets at Home: December 4th – December 6th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

The shows range from topical dramas exploring current events to the first of December holiday events to a salute to Broadway and some outstanding jazz. Of course, there’s more than that, too.

Our weekend’s top pick is Jason Moran and The Bandwagon performing at the Village Vanguard in New York as they do every Thanksgiving weekend.

So here are your Thanksgiving Weekend Best Bets:

Until the Flood – Center Theatre Group Digital Stage – Now

The Kirk Douglas Theatre began this year with Dael Orlandersmith’s one-person show Until the Flood. The Center Theatre Group has teamed up with theaters around the country to make a film of Until the Flood available for viewing.

In her show, Orlandersmith looks at how the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson impacts the Black and white members of the community and how they processed this tragedy.

The film is from the Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre in New York. They, along with Center Theatre Group and the following theaters, are making Until the Flood available: A Contemporary Theatre—Seattle, Washington; DCPA Theater—Denver, Colorado; The Goodman Theatre—Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee Repertory Theater—Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Portland Center Stage—Portland, Oregon and Repertory Theater of St. Louis—St. Louis, Missouri (who commissioned and produced the play).

There is no charge to watch Until the Flood.

Holiday on Strings! – Playhouse Live – Now – January 3rd

Playhouse Live now has their third Bob Baker Marionette Theatre show. Like the previous Halloween-themed show in October, this classic show is timed for holidays – the winter ones!

A wizard takes Demetrius Nova Twinklestar III on a whirlwind tour of the holiday galaxies. Amongst the locations on their itinerary are Santa’s workshop, the world of Charles Dickens (author of A Christmas Carol), a Hannukah celebration, a visit from a certain reindeer with a red nose and some charming and endearing North Pole animals.

Holiday on Strings! was filmed in front of a live audience (no doubt pre-pandemic). The rental fee is $14.99.

On a separate note, the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre is facing possible closure. The theatre was established in 1963 and has provided millions of children and adults countless hours of pleasure (myself included in grade school and later again as an adult). They recently moved out of their long-time location into a new space in Highland Park. If you are interested in reading more about BBMT and/or making donation, please go here.

The Last Five Years – Broadway on Demand – November 26th – November 29th

The Jason Robert Brown musical that follows the life of a relationship between a writer and his wife going, literally, in opposite directions, is being presented in a performance filmed live at Southwark Playhouse this weekend.

If you don’t know this wonderful musical, Cathy (Molly Lynch) tells the story of their relationship in reverse starting at the end and moving towards when they first met. Jamie (Oli Higginson) tells the story chronologically from the moment when they first locked eyes through to its end. As a result, the two only meet in the middle of the story.

In Jonathan O’Boyle’s production, each performer plays accompaniment on the piano when the other is singing. The cast is supported by a four-piece band.

Ava Wong Davies, in her review for The Independent, said of this conceit, “It’s an ostensibly simple trick, but one which pays dividends. O’Boyle extracts a seam of melancholy from the piece which undercuts even the most ebullient numbers – there’s a pearly beauty to the golden days of their early courtship. After all, relationships are filled with ghostliness, even when you’re in them – that creeping, niggling sense that you will never fully understand the other person, the feeling of a partner morphing out of a familiar shape into something unrecognisable. 

Tickets are $17.90 (which includes the service charge).

Nutcracker Online – SF Ballet – November 27th – December 31st

It’s that time of year and our first Nutcracker is available starting on Friday. San Francisco Ballet’s 2008 production will be available for streaming throughout the holidays.

Though a staple of ballet companies around the world, The Nutcracker was not considered a success when it debuted in St. Petersburg in 1892. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1960s that it became embraced.

In the ballet, Clara is enamored with a nutcracker that her godfather has brought to a Christmas eve celebration. Others aren’t so interested and Fritz actually breaks the nutcracker. After all the guests have left for the evening – and just as midnight strikes – Clara checks in on the broken nutcracker. That’s when the world of toys, mice, fairies, Christmas trees and her beloved nutcracker come to magical life.

The music was written by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky.

This production was choreographed by Helgi Tomasson. The company features Elizabeth Powell as Clara, Yuan Yuan Tan as the Snow Queen, Pierre-François Vilanoba as the Snow King, Vanessa Zahorian as the Sugar Plum Fairy with the grand pas de deux danced by Maria Kochetkova and Davit Karapetyan.

Tickets are $49 and allow viewing for 48 hours. There are also interactive components included. Tickets are available here.

Jeremy Pelt & Jeb Patton – Mezzrow – November 27th

Jazz trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and pianist Jeb Patton will perform two sets from Mezzrow in New York on Friday, November 27th. The first set is at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM EST with the second set at 8:30 PM EST/5:30 PM PST.

Pelt’s album The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 1 is one of my favorite albums of the year. Hopefully the title implies a second volume will be forthcoming.

Patton cut his professional teeth playing with saxophonist Jimmy Heath. His most recent album is 2019’s Songs of the Saxophone.

There’s no charge to watch the performances. Mezzrow does make reserved Sponsor Seats available for each set priced at $40.

Jason Moran and The Bandwagon – Village Vanguard – November 27th – November 28th

If you’ve read any of my coverage of jazz musicians, you are well aware of how much I respect and enjoy pianist/composer Jason Moran. One of my favorite ways of enjoying his music is with his ensemble The Bandwagon.

Moran has been performing with bassist Taurus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits for over twenty years.

Their first recording together was 2000’s Facing Left. Three years later he officially titled an album The Bandwagon and it found the trio performing live at the Village Vanguard.

They return to New York’s legendary jazz club this weekend for two performances – as they usually do each Thanksgiving weekend.

If you are wondering why you can’t find new releases on streaming services, it is because Moran has been releasing his new material independently. 2018’s Looks of a Lot is his most recent release with The Bandwagon.

Tickets are only $10 for each of these performances.

Gregory Porter – SFJAZZ – November 27th – 8:00 PM PST/5:00 PM PST

This week’s Fridays at Five concert from SFJAZZ finds singer Gregory Porter performing in a concert from August 2019.

At the time of this concert Porter was supporting his album, Nat “King” Cole & Me and was working on his 2020 album, All Rise.

Porter’s silky smooth baritone voice works magic on classic material and he has the ability to skillfully blend jazz and soul. He has two Grammy awards – both for jazz albums – and received his seventh nomination earlier this week for All Rise in the category of Best R&B Album.

SFJAZZ’s Fridays at Five concerts only stream once at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST. (Or happy hour as we call it on the West Coast.) You must have either a one-month membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view the shows.

The Prestidigitalist – November 27th – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST

International magician David Goldrake has developed a streaming magic show that takes many of the illusions that have made him an international star and Las Vegas headliner and combined them with newly created illusions to form the basis for his show The Prestidigitalist.

Your first question might be, what’s a prestidigitalist?

Honestly, it’s not a real word. It’s something Goldrake made up combining prestidigitation (nimble fingers) and digital (reflecting the way the world is enjoying entertainment these days).

I’ve seen Goldrake perform many times. Most of the performances I saw were at the Magic Castle. I also saw his Las Vegas show, Imaginarium. Earlier this year I was invited to see a workshop production of the show that became The Prestidigitalist.

While I haven’t seen the show as it currently stands, I know he’s quite talented and a truly engaging performer.

Tickets are $25 and the show is presented via Zoom. If you are unable to see The Prestidigitalist this weekend, there is another performance on December 11th.

Lea Salonga in Concert – Great Performances on PBS – check local listings

Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga performs a ninety-minute concert from the Sydney Opera House on PBS’ Great Performances.

Salonga made her Broadway debut as the ill-fated Kim in the musical Miss Saigon. It was for that performance that she earned her Tony Award.

Additional Broadway credits include Les Misérables, Flower Drum Song, Allegiance and the recent revival of Once on This Island.

The concert will include songs from several of these shows, if not necessarily exclusively songs she performed in them. Salonga will also perform songs from Mulan and Aladdin.

Concurrent with this concert on Great Performances, Salonga is releasing a recording of the full concert on November 27th on Broadway Records.

L’Elisir d’Amore – San Francisco Opera – November 28th – November 29th

Conducted by Bruno Campanella; starring Ramón Vargas, Inva Mula, Giorgio Caoduro, Alessandro Corbelli and Ji Young Yang. This James Robinson production is from the 2008-2009 season.

Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (“The Elixir of Love”) had its world premiere in Milan in 1832. The libretto by Felice Romani. L’Elisir d’Amore was inspired by Eugène Scribe’s libretto for Daniel Auber’s Le philtre.

In this opera, Adina and Nemorino are the couple at the center of the story. Nemorino is madly in love with Adina, but she toys with his love. In an act of desperation he purchases an “elixir” that he believes will make her fall in love with him. He pretends not to love her anymore which leads, of course, to the planning of their wedding. But will it take place? It’s a comic opera, of course it will!

Joshua Kosman, in his San Francisco Chronicle review, said one performance stood out. “…tenor Ramón Vargas gave a ravishing performance as Nemorino – his tone bright and fluid, his technique effortlessly precise and his comic presence winning but unobtrusive.

“Practiced hands know to look forward to ‘Una furtiva lagrima,’ the lyrical showpiece that Nemorino sings shortly before the final curtain, and Vargas’ rendition didn’t disappoint – it was marked by lustrous sound and generous, arching phrases, as well as a dazzlingly long-held approach to the final cadence.”

A Toast to Broadway – The Ridgefield Playhouse – November 28th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Connecticut’s The Ridgefield Playhouse is throwing a party that fans of musicals will want to see. A Toast to Broadway finds nearly 20 performers coming together to celebrate the Great White Way.

Tony Award winners Stephen Schwartz (Isabel Stevenson Award), Debbie Gravitte (Jerome Robbins’ Broadway) and Harvey Fierstein (Hairspray, Torch Song Trilogy) will be joined by Kelli Barrett (Rock of Ages), Ann Hampton Callaway (Tony nominee for Swing!), Sam Gravitte (Wicked), Morgan James (Postmodern Jukebox), LaKisha Jones (The Color Purple), Mark Kopitzke (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Jesse Leprotto (Newsies), Alli Mauzey (Wicked), Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) Seth Rudetsky, Jarrod Spector (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Scarlett Strallen (Mary Poppins) and Julius Thomas III (Hamilton).

Tickets are $35 with a portion of the proceeds going to The Actors Fund.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol – On the Stage – November 28th – January 3rd

One of the best and most thrilling evenings of theatre I had in 2018 was seeing Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays (I Am My Own Wife, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) in a one-man version of Charles Dickens’ classic holiday story, A Christmas Carol.

This was riveting theatre that found Mays giving one of his finest performances ever.

He was cloaked in a production that was exciting and creative from director Michael Arden (Once on This Island). Mays, Arden and Susan Lyons adapted the story.

On the Stage will stream the show throughout the holidays. This is a newly filmed performance of A Christmas Carol. The runtime is 91 minutes. Tickets are $50 with an additional $7.50 in service charges. Your ticket allows you to watch the show for 24 hours.

Multiple theaters around the country are participating in A Christmas Carol. As the show was originally developed and produced at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, the link in the title goes to their website.

For One Knight Only – Acting for Others – November 29th – 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST

You have to be either a Knight or a Dame to be part of For One Knight Only. Thankfully the line-up of talent for this one-night only show (it is originating from England) includes two dames and three knights.

Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Ian McKellan and Maggie Smith will come together for 90 minutes of storytelling, conversation and conviviality.

For One Knight Only is a fundraiser for Acting for Others which is providing support to out of work professionals involved with the performing arts in the United Kingdom.

The good thing is you don’t need to be a knight or dame to watch the show. Everyone is invited. Tickets are £45 which equates to approximately $60.

Patti Murin and Colin Donnell – Seth Rudetsky Concert Series – November 29th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

We’ve selected shows by Andy Karl and Orfeh and just last week Kelli Barrett and Jarrod Spector. Welcome to another Broadway couple: Patti Murin and Colin Donnell.

Murin is best known for originating the role of Anna in the Broadway version of Frozen.

She made her Broadway debut in another film-turned-Broadway musical, Xanadu. She also originated the title role in 2011’s Lysistrata Jones.

Donnell made his Broadway debut in Jersey Boys. He was Billy Crocker in the Tony Award-winning 2011 revival of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes. His chemistry with Sutton Foster was so good in that show that he also appeared with her in the 2014 production of the musical Violet.

But his best chemistry is with Murin. They were married in 2015.

They are the headliners in this weekend’s Seth Concert Series from Seth Rudetsky (who joins as accompanist and host).

Tickets are $28.50 (which includes service charges). The concert is expected to run 90 minutes. If you cannot see the concert live on Sunday, there will be an encore streaming on Monday, November 30th at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST. The show will then be available on demand for a couple weeks.

Are you stuffed with all the Thanksgiving Weekend Best Bets you can handle? I hope not, because I have a few reminders of what else is available for your viewing pleasure.

There is another opportunity to see Ute Lemper’s Rendezvous with Marlene on Wednesday, November 25th at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST.

All three plays that make up The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro are available for streaming from Center Theatre Group. The plays are Oedipus El Rey, Mojada and Electricidad.

All episodes of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Sound/Stage series remain available for viewing. Their shows include classical music, jazz, R&B and rock. Amongst the performers are J’nai Bridges, Andra Day, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Kamasi Washington. Gustavo Dudamel hosts all episodes and conducts most of the shows.

The theme at the Metropolitan Opera this week is family drama. So if you aren’t having enough drama at home, be sure to check out the operas available through Sunday.

That’s our complete list of Thanksgiving Weekend Best Bets.

I wish you, your friends and families the best possible weekend. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Enjoy the culture!

Photo: Jason Moran and The Bandwagon (Courtesy jasonmoran.com)

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Lemper, who is an acclaimed singer and actress, wrote Dietrich a note apologizing for all the comparisons to the legend she received after appearing as Sally Bowles in a 1987 production of Cabaret in Paris. That lead to a phone call from the legend and the two women spoke for over three hours.

As Lemper told Mark Shenton in a 2019 interview for LondonTheatre.co.uk, “I didn’t expect an answer, but a month later she found me and called me. I was staying in a hotel at the time, she called and left a message at reception. They told me Madame Dietrich called – I thought it was a joke – but they told me she said she’d try again in ten minutes, and she did. I was completely overwhelmed – I wasn’t really ready to talk to her! But the good thing was that she didn’t want a conversation, she wanted to talk and I listened.”

That phone call serves as the spine for Rendezvous with Marlene. Lemper debuted the show last year at the Arcola Theatre in London. The show combines stories about Dietrich’s career, her politics, her open sexuality and her love of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke.

Of course, it wouldn’t be an Ute Lemper performance unless there is music. And there is. Amongst the songs performed in the show are Lili Marleen, Just a Gigolo and Falling in Love Again. If the recording is any indication there are approximately 75 minutes of music in Rendezvous with Marlene.

The film was shot at Club Cumming. Press notes describe this is “less a filmed concert and more of a theatrical film.”

There will be four dates when you can stream Rendezvous with Marlene. They are:

November 10th: 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

November 19th: 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST

November 25th: 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

December 5th: 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST

One more quick connection between Lemper and Dietrich. In 1992 Lemper appeared in a stage production of Blue Angel. Dietrich passed away six days before opening night.

Tickets are $30 for the first date and $25 for all others. Tickets can be purchased here.

Photo: Ute Lemper in Rendezvous with Marlene (Photo by Russ Rowland/Courtesy Club Cumming)

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The focus of this Live with Carnegie Hall event will be next year’s Voices of Hope: Artists in Times of Oppression festival. Lemper, who will perform at Carnegie Hall in April of 2021, will be commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of concentration camps.

The songs she will perform as part of that concert, and, no doubt, part of this live-streaming event, will focus on songs written during the Holocaust that celebrate rebellion, hope, defiance and so much more.

When I interviewed Lemper in 2015 for an appearance at The Wallis in Beverly Hills, she was already tackling some of this material. She told me why these songs were important to her.

“Many composers made it out of Germany, but there were a huge number that didn’t,” she says. “There was a [concentration] camp for the cultural elite, and composers were encouraged to keep writing to show off that the Nazis had a humane camp. There was unbelievable creativity in those years—a huge number of works created. But everyone there was sent to Auschwitz to be killed. Most of it is in Yiddish. The stories are completely, unbelievably heartbreaking. Some of them reflect the suffering, the slaughter of children, and the horrors of the camp. Others were entertaining as they were asked to write material to entertain the audiences and the Nazis who came to the show.”

Her performance was extraordinary and the years since that concert have given her more time to explore material, dig deeper into the songs she already knew and the end results will, I assure you, be very moving.

Don’t worry if you didn’t watch Ute Lemper: Live with Carnegie Hall today. You can watch the full show on Carnegie Hall’s website.

Photo of Ute Lemper by Steffen Thalemann/Courtesy of Carnegie hall

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“I wander off through time and my life and how music and culture identified me,” she says of the show. “It is a concert that represents the core of my musical journey. A lot of people went from Berlin to Paris to New York. It is my journey, too, but in a post-war time. It could be a journey of continent to continent and culture to culture but staying truthful to the root of who I am.”

The show features songs by Kurt Weill, Jacques Brel, Astor Piazzolla, and some of Lemper’s own compositions. “Hopefully it can touch some kind of dimensions of truth,” Lemper says. “You could touch some kind of deeper understanding in the audience with this material. I’m interested in digging into life and its losses and solitudes and failures and impossibility to understand this complicated and long journey.”

Lemper includes a special section in her show that recognizes the 70^th anniversary of the end of World War II. “Many composers made it out of Germany, but there were a huge number that didn’t,” she says. “There was a [concentration] camp for the cultural elite, and composers were encouraged to keep writing to show off that the Nazis had a humane camp. There was unbelievable creativity in those years—a huge number of works created. But everyone there was sent to Auschwitz to be killed. Most of it is in Yiddish. The stories are completely, unbelievably heartbreaking. Some of them reflect the suffering, the slaughter of children, and the horrors of the camp. Others were entertaining as they were asked to write material to entertain the audiences and the Nazis who came to the show.”

In addition to appearing in Cabaret, Lemper appeared on Broadway in the long-running revival of Chicago in 1998 as Velma. Theatre music has always been close to her heart. On her 1995 recording, City of Strangers, Lemper included her reliably eclectic mix of songs. Amongst them were four songs by Stephen Sondheim. On her rendition of “Losing My Mind” from Follies, she genuinely sounds like she’s about to lose her mind. “My music director came in from Paris and he wrote these crazy arrangements,” she reveals. “We were invited to Sondheim’s house, and we played “Ladies Who Lunch,” and he almost fell off his chair. He was so shocked by this arrangement. We didn’t know if it was for good or bad.” She lets out a huge laugh. “Sondheim is such a fantastic writer who is, like no one else, able to combine dialogue and words with music kind of in a European manner. I like the universe of chord changes, and harmonics. They are completely in my pocket.”

When asked about that first record,Life Is a Cabaret, and her thoughts on her career since its release, Lemper becomes a bit philosophical. “In one way it does seems like yesterday because things happen so quickly and time passes so rapidly,” she says. “Yet the fire that I carried in myself is still the same fire I have today. I really enjoy what I’m doing and feel completely free and young at heart. I’m in a timeless, ageless zone with me and my body. I don’t care how many wrinkles I have on my face. The only thing I don’t have is a big future in front of me. I’m very grateful and privileged to have thirty years of experience. Anything could have happened. Life is a carousel rather than a cabaret. It’s a fucking roller coaster.”

Photo of Ute Lemper by Lucas Allen

Originally published at Los Angeles Magazine’s website on December 16, 2015.

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