Our top pick of New In Music This Week: June 2nd is:

BROADWAY: CAMELOT OBCR (Broadway Records)

Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical Camelot received 5 Tony nominations including Best Revival of a Musical. The musical tells the story of King Arthur (Andrew Burnap) and the knights he pursues for his round table. Amongst them is Lancelot Du Lac (Jordan Donica) who falls for Arthur’s beloved Guenevere (Phillipa Soo). The show is filed with such songs as I Loved You Once in Silence, If Ever I Would Leave You, How to Handle a Woman and the title song.

I haven’t seen this production, but Donica apparently steals the show with his incredible singing. That’s reason enough to follow this recording wherever it wants to take us.

Our other choices as the best of what’s New In Music this Week: June 2nd are:

CABARET: ACOUSTIC SONDHEIM: LIVE FROM BROOKLYN – Eleri Ward (Ghostlight Records)

Every day a little death. Apparently with this final volume of her trilogy, Ward is going to move on from Stephen Sondheim‘s music. But before she does she’s releasing this live in studio recording with special guest Bobby Conte (Company). Ward has a good thing going with these recordings and I’m looking forward to whatever she does next.

Her lo-fi recordings of Sondheim’s music had me losing my mind with how beautiful they were. It will be agony not to have more recordings of this musical theater genius from Ward, but I know things now about unique ways to bring color and light to his music.

CLASSICAL: MUSIC FOR A NEW CENTURY – Daniel Hope and the New Century Chamber Orchestra (Deutsch Grammophon)

Violinist Hope has assembled a fascinating line-up of music to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the New Century Chamber Orchestra. Pianist Alexey Botvinov joins for a performance of Philip Glass‘s Third Piano Concerto. The remaining three works are having world premiere recordings on Music For a New Century. They are Tan Dun’s Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra with Percussions; Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Lament for Solo Violin and String Orchestra and Jake Heggie’s Overture Joyfully. The latter three works were all commissions by the NCCO.

CONTEMPORARY OPERA: BLACK LODGE – David T. Little (Cantaloupe Music)

Last year Opera Philadelphia gave the premiere of this modern opera by David T. Little. Press materials describe Black Lodge as a metal/punk-infused opera. If you’re expecting Puccini, this won’t be for you. But if you want a work that pushes the envelope of what the form can do, Black Lodge is definitely for you.

The libretto is by poet Anne Waldman and the story of a man trying to escape from the torment of demons of his own design has echoes of William S. Burroughs and David Lynch. Black Lodge is performed by Timur and the Dime Museum with the Isaura String Quartet. Fasten your seat belts, this is going to a bumpy ride..but a seriously fascinating one. Little is amongst our finest contemporary composers.

JAZZ: SLOW DRAG – Donald Byrd (Blue Note Records)

This is one of two of the June reissues of vinyl only reissues of classic jazz albums remastered from the original master tapes. Slow Drag was originally released in 1967 and found the trumpeter joined by bassist Walter Booker, drummer Billy Higgins, saxophonist Sonny Red and pianist Cedar Walton. This proved to be one of Byrd’s last hard bop albums.

The six songs on this album are the title track, Secret Love, Book’s Bossa, Jelly Roll, The Loaner and My Ideal. His version of Secret Love is definitely different than the version many people know by Doris Day.

JAZZ: TORRENT – Satoko Fujii (Libra Records)

Pianist Fujii doesn’t just play the key on the piano, she plays the whole damn thing. Inside, outside, it’s all fair game for her adventurous music. You can’t call what she does traditional jazz for she incorporates multiple genres into her music. the end result is endlessly fascinating and definitely unique.

Each tracks sounds exactly likes its title: from the opening title track to the closing track, Wave Crest. Rather amazingly, all six tracks were completely improvised during the recording session. Titles were only added after they had all been recorded. If you’ve never heard Fujii before, this is a great way to get introduced to her superb talent.

JAZZ: THE JUNGLE – Wynton Marsalis (Blue Engine Records)

In 1997 Wynton Marsalis became the first recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in Music for a work that was jazz. He won the award for Blood on the Fields, an incredible work that defied easy categorization.

He’s back with another epic work: his Symphony No. 4 which also defies a single genre to define it. One ting that does define it is it is resolutely a work that has New York City at its heart. There are six movements in the symphony which definitely gives the listener a feeling of being in NYC.

The symphony concludes with a 15-minute final movement entitled Struggle in the Digital Market which sums up one of the points Marsalis is making with this work: the challenge of being alive in our modern day world.

This is a recording of a performance from 2019 with Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Nicholas Buc.

JAZZ: TIME FOR TYNER – McCoy Tyner (Blue Note Records)

This is the second of the two June vinyl-only releases. This was pianist Tyner’s 3rd Blue Note album and it was released in 1969. Tyner used an interesting combination for his quartet on this album: vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Herbie Lewis and drummer Freddie Waits.

The six tracks on the album are African Village, Little Madimba, May Street, I Didn’t Know What Time it Was, The Surrey With the Fringe on Top and I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face. The first three are originals and the last three come from the musicals Too Many Girls, Oklahoma! and My Fair Lady.

That’s it for the best of what’s New In Music This Week: June 2nd. What are you listening to? Leave a message in the comments section. Enjoy the music and enjoy your weekend.

Main Photo: Part of the album art for Camelot

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CABARET

Two shows stood out for us this year. The first was Kim David Smith’s Mostly Marlene which we saw at Joe’s Pub in New York City. His gender-bending tribute to Marlene Dietrich was massively entertaining. This performance has apparently been recorded and will be released next year. Check it out. He’s got a great voice.

The other show was Eleri Ward‘s concert – also at Joe’s Pub. Her lo-fi renditions of Stephen Sondheim‘s songs seemed like just the tonic we needed during the pandemic when she first started posting videos filmed in her apartment. Ward ultimately received a recording contract and has her second album coming out next year on Ghostlight Records. She also opened for Josh Groban on his tour this year.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

This was a year in which Duke Ellington was acknowledged as being more than a jazz musician and composer. With that acknowledgment came long overdue recognition of Billy Strayhorn. The Los Angeles Philharmonic performed two different Ellington concerts in January called Symphonic Ellington and Sacred Ellington in January (with Gerald Clayton – whose Bells on Sand was one of the year’s best jazz albums – appearing as a soloist for the first and a member of the ensemble for the latter). In December the perennial holiday classic The Nutcracker was performed. But rather than playing just Tchaikovsky’s music, the LA Phil also performed the Strayhorn/Ellington arrangements of music from the second half of the ballet.

J’Nai Bridges singing Neruda Songs by composer Peter Lieberson was also a highlight at the LA Phil. So, too, was seeing Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas performing Prokofiev’s 5th Symphony and also his own Meditations on Rilke was a great way to have begun 2022.

Composer Osvaldo Golijov‘s Falling Out of Time had a COVID-delayed LA debut when this staggeringly powerful work was performed at the Wallis in Beverly Hills.

JAZZ

Easily topping our list this year are Cécile McLorin Salvant’s concerts at Blue Note in New York City. We saw two shows and had we had the time and the ability we would have seen them all. Salvant performed music by Handel, original songs, a song from Gypsy and more. It was a truly memorable show. Her most recent album, Ghost Song, is one of the year’s best.

A close second were the two shows we saw Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap perform. We first saw this remarkable pair at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood. We caught a second show at the Oasis Music Festival in Palm Springs.

Terence Blanchard at the Ford Theatre and Wynton Marsalis performing All Rise at the Hollywood Bowl also easily make our list.

MUSICALS

You might quibble with us about one of these, but here goes:

Our favorite musical of the year was the Tony Award-winning musical A Strange Loop at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City. Bold, adventurous, thought-provoking and moving, this is everything a musical should be – at least to us. The show is still running but only until January 15th. We strongly recommend seeing it. For tickets and more information, please go here.

The revival of Little Shop of Horrors was absolutely delightful. Two hours of entertainment that makes you forget about everything else going on in the world. When we saw the show Lena Hall was playing “Audrey” and Rob McClure was “Seymour.” Hall is still in the show and her new Seymour is Tony Award-winner Matt Doyle. The show has an open-ended run. For tickets and more information, please go here.

Into the Woods, which began its life at New York City Center’s Encores series, was pure pleasure from the first note to the last. If you are or will be in New York, you can still catch it at the St. James Theatre until January 8th. A US tour begins in February. For tickets and more information, please go here.

David Byrne’s American Utopia doesn’t quite qualify as a musical per se, but it was another utterly enjoyable show. We also saw Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story at the Hollywood Bowl with live orchestral accompaniment by the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. That performance made Spielberg’s under-seen film even more powerful than when we first saw it in theaters.

OPERA

For the first time we finally saw a production at the Metropolitan Opera. Ariadne auf Naxos is not necessarily our favorite opera, but soprano Lise Davidsen’s powerfully strong voice could probably be heard in the lobby of the Met even with the doors closed. It was a staggering performance we will not soon forget.

Countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński gave an incredible recital at Broad Stage in Santa Monica. It was our first time seeing him and we can’t wait for the opportunity to see Orliński in an opera production. We also have to give him special mention for his patience. Someone’s cell phone alarm went off and either the owner was oblivious to the noise or didn’t care. Orliński stopped the show, sat downstage and said he’d wait it out.

Getting the opportunity to revisit the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Tristan Project late this year was a treat. We had experienced it when it first happened and its return was more than welcome (and perhaps a bit overdue). This collaboration with Bill Viola, Peter Sellars and the LA Phil remains breathtaking.

Kevin Puts and Greg Pierce turned Michael Cunningham’s novel The Hours into a mesmerizing and emotional new opera. Written for Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato and Kelli O’Hara, this is an opera we experienced through the Met Live in HD simulcast.

Intimate Apparel by composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Lynn Nottage was absolutely first-rate at Lincoln Center. Nottage did a wonderful job adapted her own play for this opera. Gordon wrote a stunning score. The end result is an opera that is equally as powerful as the play.

PLAYS

We’ve always loved Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. But until the new Broadway revival, we never had such a visceral and emotional response to Willy Loman’s story. That’s largely attributable to the impeccable performances of the entire cast including Wendell Pierce, Sharon D. Clarke, McKinley Belcher III, Khris Davis and André De Shields. By now you know this is a Black Loman family. That gave Miller’s piece an added resonance that no doubt contributed to the tears streaming down our faces. The use of music was brilliant. The show is still running at the Hudson Theatre in New York through January 15th. For tickets and more information, please go here.

Perhaps nothing moved us as much as the last 15 minutes of the first half of Matthew López’s The Inheritance at the Geffen Playhouse. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. If the second part of this mammoth work doesn’t end up resonating as strongly as the first, it was still a powerful day in the theater (It’s nearly 7 hours long).

Watching Holland Taylor as the late Ann Richards (former Texas governor) at the Pasadena Playhouse was an opportunity to watch a master class in acting.

That’s our complete list of the Best of 2022! What will inspire and move us in 2023? Come back to find out and to meet the artists, creators, performers and more who make it happen.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Photo: Cécile McLorin Salvant at Blue Note New York (Photo by Craig L. Byrd)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Liza Powel O’Brien is also contributing a piece.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Serving as the host for the event is one of my favorite singers and people, Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will be welcoming a slew of guests including playwright and actress Anna Deavere Smith, dancer Charles “Lil Buck” Riley, vocalist Veronica Swift, conga player and vocalist Pedrito Martinez, trumpeter Michael Rodriguez and pianist Sean Mason.

The program calls for performances of songs by Willie Nelson, George and Ira Gershwin and Lou Donaldson and Gus Kahn. Compositions by Carlos Henriquez, Marsalis, Mason and Ted Nash (from his Presidential Suite) are also set to be performed.

Just as his wife Hillary made a special appearance at Classic Stage Company’s Tell the Story tribute to the musical Assassins last week, former President Bill Clinton is a special guest at Innovation + Soul.

There are two honorees being celebrated at this event. The first are Karen and Charles Phillips who are receiving the Ed Bradley Award for Leadership in Jazz.

Composer/songwriter and Oscar-nominee Jon Batiste (whose new album WE ARE is terrific) is the recipient of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Award for Artistic Excellence.

So how can you watch Innovation + Soul? Tickets are $30 to stream the performance. For $35 you get to stream the performance and an audio recording of the event. You’ll have to act quickly if you want to see this show as it will only be available through Sunday, April 25th. Tickets are available here.

As a side note, if you want to see more of what dancer Lil Buck can do, let me remind you that Metamorphosis, a collaboration between Movement Art Is (a dance company he founded with Jon Boogz) and Third Coast Percussion, becomes available today as part of Carnegie Hall’s Voices of Hope festival. You can find those details here.

Photo: Dee Dee Bridgewater in Innovation + Soul (Photo courtesy Jazz at Lincoln Center)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tickets are $20.

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

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

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

Now that should make for some great conversation!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tickets to watch his concert are $15.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tickets are free, but registration is required.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post Four Days of Best Bets: March 26th – March 29th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

My top pick this weekend sadly fits into something blue. New York’s legendary Birdland is struggling to stay open under the weight of the pandemic. They have assembled a massive line-up of talent for their virtual concert event on Sunday. Though it is our last listing, it definitely heads our list.

Here are my Best Bets: January 22nd – January 24th:

BALLET: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – San Francisco Ballet – Now – February 10th

William Shakespeare’s play (1595/1596) served as inspiration for composer Felix Mendelssohn (1826 & 1842) and then choreographer George Balanchine (1962) who created the ballet that is now being streamed by San Francisco Ballet.

The ballet company first performed the work in 1985. The production being streamed is from last year. This is the same production that gave one performance before the pandemic closed theaters.

Fans of the play be advised, this is not a strict adaptation of Shakespeare’s writing. The first act is very loyal to his story, but the second act is fully focused on a wedding ceremony.

Performing in this production are Julia Rowe as the Lead Butterfly; Cavan Conley as Puck; Esteban Hernandez as Oberon; Sasha De Sola as Titania; Sasha Mukhamedov as Hippolyta with Frances Chung and Ulrik Birkkjaer performing the Pas de Deux.

Tickets are $29 for 72 hours of access. You can also sign up for their 2021 Digital Season for $289 which will allow streaming of all content with access to subscription only bonus features.

JAZZ: Catherine Russell – SF JAZZ – January 22nd – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

This weekend’s concert in the Fridays at Five series from SFJAZZ features vocalist Catherine Russell. You may remember I interviewed her last February when she was touring behind her album, Alone Together. Her appearance at SFJAZZ comes from September 2019 and was part of the same tour.

In addition to her career as a jazz vocalist, Russell has performed rock ‘n’ roll with numerous stars notably David Bowie.

You will need either a one month digital membership with SFJAZZ ($5) or an annual digital membership ($60) to watch the concert.

OPERA: Soldier Songs – Opera Philadelphia – Now Available

Composer David T. Little interviewed multiple soldiers for Soldier Songs, a 60-minute work for baritone and amplified musicians he composed in 2006. Johnathan McCullough performs and directs this new film for Opera Philadelphia. This is a powerful work made even more powerful by this film which was written and produced by James Darrah.

I’ve seen Soldier Songs performed live and I’ve seen this film. If you want to be moved and challenged, I strongly urge you to check this out.

Single tickets to stream the film are $25. You can also join Opera Philadelphia Channel for $99 for one year’s access to all currently available and upcoming programming.

JAZZ: Wayne Shorter Quartet 18th Anniversary Concert – Panama Jazz Festival – January 22nd – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

The closing weekend of the Panama Jazz Festival has two concerts well worth watching. The first comes from 2018 and features the Wayne Shorter Quartet: saxophone legend Shorter, guitarist John Patitucci, percussionist Brian Blade and pianist Danilo Pérez. Health issues have forced Shorter to stop performing, therefore this is a great opportunity to see him with his band. There is a minimum $5 donation required to watch the concert.

OPERA: Sondra Radvanovsky and Piotr Beczała– Męt Stars Live in Concert – January 23rd – 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST

If you’re a regular follow of the Metropolitan Opera’s weekly streaming productions, the names Sondra Radvanovsky and Piotr Beczala are certainly familiar. Just this week alone they appeared in productions of Norma (Radvanovsky) and Lucia di Lammermoor (Beczala).

They are teaming up for this weekend’s Met Stars Live in Concert which will be coming from Germany’s Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal with Vincenzo Scalera accompanying on piano.

Italian opera figures prominently in the program which is scheduled to include selections from Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, Luisa Miller and Un Ballo in Maschera; Giordano’s Andrea Chénier; Puccini’s Manon Lescaut and Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Also on the program are selections by Cilea and Moniuszko before concluding with three arias from Dvořák’s Rusalka.

Tickets are $20 and the concert will remain available for streaming for 14 days.

PLAY: The Approach – Project Arts Centre, Dublin – January 23rd – January 24th

Cathy Belton, Derbhle Crotty & Aisling O’Sullivan star in this play by Mark O’Rowe which explores the mysteries of humans as seen through the eyes of three women whose personal relationships and the complications therein reveal, gradually, the interconnectedness of them all.

Critics have raved about this production.

Projects Arts Center in Dublin is making live performances available for viewing this weekend. That means, they will only be streamed once at the scheduled times. The play runs 60-70 minutes. There will be a 30-minute post-performance conversation after Saturday’s show.

On demand tickets will be available for one week after the conclusion of the last live performance.

Saturday’s performance is at 2:15 PM EST/ 11:15 AM PST. Sunday’s performance as at 3:45 PM EST/12:45 PM PST. Tickets range from £15-£50 based on your ability to pay. ($20.51 – $68.36 at press time)

OPERA: Samson and Delilah – San Francisco Opera – January 23rd – January 24th

Conducted by Patrick Summers; starring Olga Borodina and Clifton Forbis. This revival of the Nicholas Joël production is from the 2007-2008 season.

The biblical tale of Samson and Delilah serves as the inspiration for Saint-Saëns’s opera. With a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire, Samson et Dalila had its world premiere in Weimar in 1877.

Franz Liszt, who previously served as the Music Director at Weimar, was instrumental in getting the opera its world premiere.

When the governor of the Philistines, Abimelech, belittles the Hebrews into believing that they are helpless to his power and that of the temple of Dagon. Everyone believes him except Samson, who leads a rebellion against Abimelech and kills him. He meets Dalila who tells Samson that his accomplishments have wooed her and that she’s in love with him. Though others try to warn him about Dalila, he succumbs to her charms. But is she truly in love with Samson or does she have other ideas in mind?

Joshua Kosman, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, raved about Borodina’s performance. “Her tone was lithe and lustrous, with a sinewy strength that cut easily through the orchestral texture. She shaped melodic phrases into intricately expressive form, concealing their focus and clarity behind a deceptively casual air. And she did it all without sacrificing any of the character’s alluring ease.”

There is no charge to watch Samson and Delilah. It will only be available beginning Saturday at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST through Sunday at 11:59 PM PST.

PLAY READING: Rabbit Hole – The Reading Series – January 23rd – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Grief has overcome a family and as they try to navigate their loss, the person who caused this torment enters their lives.

The Reading Series is presenting a live reading of the play with Tony Award-winner Celia Keenan-Bolger (To Kill a Mockingbird) in the role of the mother, Becca. Jawan M. Jackson is reading the role of her husband, Howie. Lauren Molina reads the role of Izzy, Becca’s sister. Mary Testa reads the role of Nat, Becca and Izzy’s mother. Andrew Barth Feldman reads the role of Jason, the source of the family’s grief. Allison Tanney directs.

There is no charge to watch this reading; however donations to The Actors Fund are encouraged.

JAZZ: Rubén Blades with the Roberto Delgado Salsa Big Band – Panama Jazz Festival – January 23rd – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

The final concert of the Panama Jazz Festival this year is this 2018 performance from the San Sebastian Jazz Festival. With 37 albums so far, Bladés long established himself as one of the foremost performers and songwriters of salsa and Latin jazz.

Delgado’s band is from Panama and has two Grammy Awards. He and Blades collaborated on 2017’s Salsa Big Band album and 2015’s Son de Panama.

If you don’t want to sit still on Saturday night, this is your best option. Plus there’s no charge to watch the concert.

CABARET: Sheléa: A Tribute to Alan and Marilyn Bergman – The Sorting Room at The Wallis – January 23rd

If you know the songs The Summer Knows, The Way We Were, The Windmills of Your Mind (and if you haven’t heard Dusty Springfield’s version of that song, do so now!) and You Don’t Bring Me Flowers, then you know just a fraction of the songs written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Together they have three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and two Grammy Awards.

Singer Sheléa will be performing a tribute to the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame inductees in this program from The Sorting Room at The Wallis. In 2019 she released the album Pretty World, which featured the duo’s songs. Amongst the guests on that album are Stevie Wonder and Kirk Whalum. She’s also been mentored by Quincy Jones, who produced her PBS concert special.

Tickets to watch the performance are $25.

TOP PICK: JAZZ/CABARET: Save Birdland – January 24th – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

New York’s Birdland serves as a home for jazz musicians and vocalists, Broadway stars and fans of both. It’s existence, like so many others, is threatened by the pandemic. Birdland is one of my personal favorite places to visit whenever I’m in New York.

This Sunday a telethon and virtual concert will take place to raise money for them.

This isn’t just any run-of-the-mill club, so it is only fitting that they have a stellar line-up of participants and performers for the event on Sunday: Monty Alexander, Lucie Arnaz, Iain Armitage, Kenneth Ascher, Colleen Ballinger, Erich Bergen, Terence Blanchard, Stephanie J Block, Matthew Broderick, Scott Bradlee, Brenda Braxton, Ken Burns, Gunhild Carling & Her Darlings, Ron Carter, Jim Caruso, Peter Cincotti, Emmett Cohen Trio, George Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Elvis Costello, Jeff Daniels, Clive Davis, Diana DeGarmo, Aisha De Haas, Natalie Douglas, Michelle Dowdy, Christine Ebersole, Kurt Elling, Kevin Eubanks, Giancarlo Esposito, Whoopi Goldberg, Mandy Gonzalez, Tim Guinne, Amanda Green, Julie Halston, John Heginbotham, Sara Hickman, Perez Hilton, Clint Holmes, Sunny Holiday, Demetia Hopkins-Green, Joe Iconis and Family, Sheila Jordan, Stacey Kent, Tory Kittles, Amy Hillner Larsen, Warren Leight, Amanda Lopez, Melissa Leo, Norm Lewis, Tzi Ma, Manhattan Transfer, Wynton Marsalis, Lauren Marcus, Karen Mason, Marilyn Maye, Audra McDonald, Jane Monheit, Susie Mosher, Anson Mount, Bebe Nuewirth, Leslie Odom, Jr., Arturo O’Farrill Quintet, Mandy Patinkin, Christine Pedi, Wendell Pierce, John Pizzarelli, Martha Plimpton, Randy Rainbow, Chita Rivera, Justin “Squigs” Robertson, Mercedes Ruehl, Catherine Russell, Victoria Shaw, Dee Snyder, Billy Stritch, Veronica Swift, Mary Testa, Steve Tyrell, Lillias White, Frank Wildhorn, Steve Wilson, Amra-Faye Wright, Ace Young, Karen Ziemba, Glenn Zaleski and remarks from President Bill Clinton. 

There is a Go Fund Me page set up where donations are being accepted to Save Birdland.

That’s my official list of the Best Bets: January 22nd – January 24th.

But before I go, just in case you don’t have enough opera from which to choose, a reminder that the Metropolitan Opera is streaming a 1985 production of Puccini’s Tosca on Friday; Massenet’s Manon on Saturday (in addition to the concert listed above) and Wagner’s Die Walküre on Sunday.

I hope you find plenty to enjoy from my Best Bets: January 22nd – January 24th this weekend. Have fun!

Main Photo: Kurt Elling performing at Birdland (Photo by R. Paternite/Courtesy Tom D’Angora)

The post Best Bets: January 22nd – January 24th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Actor Keith David serves as the narrator. Samuel L. Jackson, Delroy Lindo, Derek Jacobi and Harry Connick, Jr. are amongst the additional voices. Footage and interviews with the biggest names in jazz music are incorporated throughout the documentary.

There are ten episodes in Jazz:

Gumbo (Beginnings to 1917) – Airing January 7th

As you would expect with a title like Gumbo, the series begins in New Orleans, a melting pot of a city in the late 1800s and early 1900s that gave rise to Jelly Roll Morton, Buddy Bolden and Sydney Bechet who took that rich brew of culture and began creating what we now call jazz.

The Gift (1917-1924) – Airing January 14th

The period known as the “Jazz Age” plays like a tale of two cities: Louis Armstrong moving from New Orleans to Chicago and Duke Ellington moving from Washington, D.C. to Harlem.

Our Language (1924-1928) – Airing January 21st

In the “Roaring 20s” not only do we follow Armstrong and Ellington, but are introduced to Bix Beiderbecke, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Bessie Smith and famous jazz venues like New York’s Cotton Club.

The True Welcome (1929-1935)- Airing January 28th

The Depression hits, but jazz has taken on a life of its own. With New York as the hub of jazz, Fats Waller and Art Tatum are fast-rising stars; Ellington is writing more serious music and bandleader Chick Webb adds a young female singer to his band by the name of Ella Fitzgerald.

Swing: Pure Pleasure (1935-1937) – Airing February 4th

The Depression is ongoing and people want and need entertainment. They want to dance and swing music offers them exactly what they crave. Benny Goodman becomes the “King of Swing” and Billie Holiday starts to make a name for herself.

Swing: The Velocity of Celebration (1937-1939)- Airing February 11th

The depression finally comes to an end, but the second world war is looming. Swing music loses a little of its momentum until Count Basie and his band enter the scene. By the start of the war in Europe, Coleman Hawkins is creating quite a stir.

Dedicated to Chaos (1940-1945) – Airing February 18th

The United States enters the war and bandleaders like Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw are entertaining folks at home and the troops overseas. Back in New York, with a cabaret tax hitting jazz clubs that have dancing pretty hard, club owners find a way around the tax by embracing ensembles that are smaller and don’t play music that inspires dancing. Be bop is born with artists like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.

Risk (1945-1955) – Airing February 25th

The war is over and the cold war is beginning. Amidst it all young artists like Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk are making names for themselves and changing forever the direction of jazz.

The Adventure (1956-1960) – Airing March 4th

Early jazz pioneers are dying off and a new breed is capturing the spotlight: Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Sarah Vaughan. While Davis continues his rise to superstar, Ornette Coleman is experimenting with free jazz.

A Masterpiece by Midnight (1961-The Present) – Airing March 11th

It’s tough to imagine wrapping up what was then 40 years of history in a single episode, but Burns does that in the final episode with the introduction of Dexter Gordon and Wynton Marsalis; the unlikely bumping of The Beatles off the pop charts by Louis Armstrong and the deaths of some very significant pioneers of the music.

When it first aired, Ben Ratliff, writing for the New York Times, had mixed feelings about the success of the series, but nonetheless said, “jazz is presented as part of American history — not just artistic history, but the history of our wars, social programs, taste in clothing, civil laws, migrations, economic ups and downs. It sometimes seems that there is more film in the documentary containing no jazz musicians than film that does. But nonmusical moments in Jazz build up to demonstrations of how Americans felt in their bones about jazz.”

As with all PBS programming, be sure to check with your local listings for exact air times and dates in your city.

Photo: Louis Armstrong, Newport 1955 (Photo ©Herman Leonard/Courtesy PBS)

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So let’s get right to my Jazz Best Bets for the Holidays:

Adam Shulman Plays Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas – SFJAZZ – December 24th – December 26th

This week’s Fridays at Five performance is running for three days. Appropriately it finds pianist Adam Shulman playing composer Vince Guaraldi’s music for A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The beloved half-hour cartoon first aired in 1965 and is considered amongst the best of all holiday specials. Shulman’s performance was recorded in December 2019.

Joining Schulman are bassist John Wiitala and drummer James Gallagher.

As with all Fridays at Five programming you need to have either a monthly membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view the show. If you pop down to the end of these listings you’ll see what they have in mind for New Year’s Day (which would be included in either membership.)

Norwegian Digital Jazz Festival – Big Ears Festival – December 25th – January 1st

For eight consecutive nights, Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee is making available the Norwegian Digital Jazz Festival.

The line-up is as follows (note that all times are EST)

Dec 25 – Double Bill: Bugge Wusseltoft, solo (7pm) + Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity (8pm)

Dec 26 – Tord Gustavesen Trio (8pm)

Dec 27 – Double Bill: Bendik Hofseth’s Woodland (7pm) + Mathias Eick Quintet (8pm)

Dec 28 –  Double Bill: Silje Nergaard (7pm) + Ketil Bjørnstad, solo (8pm)

Dec 29 – Double Bill: Mats Eilertsen, solo (7pm) + Trygve Seim ‘Rumi Songs’ (8pm) 

Dec 30 – Double Bill: Hedvig Mollestad Trio (7pm) + Eivind Aarset Quartet (7pm) 

Dec 31  Double Bill: Beady Belle (7pm) + Arild Andersen Group (8pm) 

Jan 1  Double Bill: Elephant9 (7pm) + Nils Petter MolværTrio (8p)

Tickets are $8 per performance or all performances for $50. You must purchase the ticket for a given show on or during its scheduled streaming. Once you do, you’ll have 48 hours to replay the concert(s).

This is a great way to get introduced to some stellar jazz musicians you might not know.

Bill Charlap & Wynton Marsalis – Village Vanguard – December 25th – December 27th

Originally streamed in September, this Village Vanguard concert with pianist Bill Charlap and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is being re-streamed for the holiday weekend. This was an absolutely delightful concert and I strongly recommend spending the $10 to see these two brilliant musicians trading leads and sharing the stage.

Once you purchase a ticket to view the performance, you’ll have 24 hours to watch it.

Jeremy Pelt & George Cables – Mezzrow – December 26th – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST & 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and pianist George Cables perform from New York’s Mezzrow for two live-streaming concerts on Saturday.

Pelt is a sublime musician whose album The Art of Intimacy Vol. 1 is one of my favorite jazz albums of the year. Cables is a jazz legend who has been recording beautiful music since the early 1970s. Together they are amazing. (Did you catch them together Live From Dizzy’s in October?)

There’s no charge to watch this concert.

Jane Monheit – Feinstein’s at Vitello’s – December 30th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Jazz vocalist Jane Monheit will be performing live from Feinstein’s at Vitello’s. She’s recorded a dozen albums (and also has a Greatest Hits record out). Her most recent record was 2016’s The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald. Monheit has been singing and recording professionally for almost half her life.

Tickets to watch the live stream are $36.75 (which includes a service charge). There is also an Encore post-show event which is available for $26.75 (also including service charges). This will feature Monheit in conversation with Brad Roen.

Chris Potter Quartet – Village Vanguard – December 31st – January 3rd

New York’s Village Vanguard is ringing in the New year with a concert by the Chris Potter Quartet. Potter plays saxophone and is joined by David Virelles on piano; Joe Martin on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums.

Since 1993 Potter has been releasing one critically-acclaimed album after another. His most recent release was There Is a Tide which came out earlier this year.

As a sideman, he’s recorded with Dave Holland, Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, John Patitucci and Steely Dan.

Ticket prices had not been announced at press time. Usually these shows are $10.

NYE in NOLA – Tipitina’s – December 31st – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST

Actor John Goodman is the host for a New Year’s Eve concert that’s going to have a little bit of everything and a whole lot of fun. A different artist will perform each hour from various venues around New Orleans as each time zone enters 2021.

Kicking the show off is Samantha Fish from Chickie Wah Wah. In the second hour leading up to New Year’s on the East Coast will be Anders Osborne live from DBA. The Central Time zone will have Galactic performing from Tipitina’s as their musical guide. The Mountain Time zone will have Rebirth Brass Band from The Maple Leaf. Finally the West Coast will start the New Year with the music of Dumpstaphunk from The Howlin’ Wolf.

Popping in along the way will be special guests Ani Di Franco, George Porter, Jr., Kermit Ruffins and Big Sam.

If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, you know this will not allow you to go quietly into that New Year. Get yourself some beads, perhaps a costume or two, certainly some cocktails and let the good times roll.

Tickets are $29.99.

Emmet Cohen Trio – Live from Dizzy’s – December 31st – 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST

Jazz pianist Emmet Cohen will be performing with Russell Hall on bass and Kyle Poole on drums in this New Year’s Eve concert from Dizzy’s at New York’s Lincoln Center Jazz. Joining the trio will be saxophonist Houston Person and vocalist Samara Joy.

On the program will be music by George Gershwin, Cole Porter and some holiday classics.

Cohen has found a way to continue performing throughout the pandemic with multiple livestream concerts. He’s proven time and time again what a talented jazz pianist he is.

Tickets have a suggested price of $10. Additional donations are encouraged.

Hiromi: New Year’s Eve Countdown in Tokyo – Blue Note – December 31st – 11:00 PM EST/8:00 PM PST

Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi performs in this fundraiser for Blue Note New York from Blue Note Tokyo. The concert is scheduled to run about 75 minutes which means it will continue into 2021 making it a true New Year’s Eve concert.

Her most recent album is 2019’s Spectrum. It’s an ambitious solo album that includes her own version of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. In this version she takes some interesting liberties with Gershwin’s composition. (Marcus Roberts did the same thing and has a very different take on his Portraits in Blue recording). It’s definitely worth listening to and probably not going to be included in this New Year’s Eve show.

Tickets are $20 but additional donations are encouraged. Viewing will be available after purchase of a ticket through January 1st.

Maceo Parker – SFJAZZ – January 1st – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Saxophonist and R&B legend Maceo Parker will make sure you enter 2021 with some funk in your step with this concert from 2015.

Parker regularly makes SFJAZZ his home for New Year’s Day. And what a great way to keep the party going.

He’s recorded 18 albums including this year’s Soul Food: Cooking with Maceo. He’s had an amazing career recording with James Brown, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Parliament, Prince and the Red Hot Chili Peppers – to name just a few.

Amongst the musicians joining Parker for this concert are Nikki Glaspie (Beyoncé, Dumpstaphunk, Nth Power) and P-Funk bass master Rodney “Skeet” Curtis.

As with all Fridays at Five programming you need to have either a monthly membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view the show. If you pop up to the top of these listings you’ll see what they have in mind for Christmas weekend (which would be included in either membership.)

Lastly I want to direct you to QwestTV (owned by Quincy Jones). There is an incredible archive of concert performances, documentaries and profiles available. This library will certainly appeal to any serious jazz fan. There’s an end-of-year promotion that allows for two months of access for less than one dollar. You can sign up for that here.

The New Yorker recently ran a story about how impressive and valuable this library is.

That’s all for my Jazz Best Bets for the Holidays! I hope you have swingin’ holidays!

I have other Holiday Best Bets for you in Classical Music, Dance and Muscials/Cabaret if you want even more choices.

Photo by Les Anderson

The post Jazz Best Bets for the Holidays appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Music seems to be the best way to express holiday cheer (in a year when we truly need it) and multiple venues are using music to do just that. Fans of plays do not fear, we have a few options for you and there’s also a preview of a musical-in-development that was 10,000 years in the making.

Here are my Best Bets at Home: December 18th – December 20th:

MUSICAL: Iceboy! – PlayhouseLive – Now Available

As part of their original programming, Pasadena Playhouse’s PlayhouseLive offers a look into a musical in development called Iceboy!

Them musical tells the story of a Broadway star, Vera Vimm, who adopts a 10,000 year old Neanderthal, IceBoy. After being thawed out he becomes a fast-rising star whose popularity and fame begins to eclipse Vimm’s career.

Megan Mullally (Young Frankenstein) plays Vimm; Adam Devine plays Iceboy. Nick Offerman (Annapurna) and Laura Bell Bundy (Legally Blonde) are also in this preview. Three-time Tony nominee Kevin Chamberlin directs.

IceBoy! was written by by Mark Hollmann (Tony Award-winner for Urinetown), Erin Quinn Purcell (Duet!) and Jay Reiss (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee). This 22-1/2 minute preview features four songs from the musical.

This is free to view, but you do need to register at PlayhouseLive.

MAGIC/PLAY: Elephant Room: Dust from the Stars – Center Theatre Group Digital Stage – Now – December 20th

Some show are just so out there that you have two choices: you go with it or you resist. According to the New York Times, it might be futile to resist the charms of Elephant Room: Dust from the Stars.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, writing for the paper, said, “The show, part of the Fringe Festival in Philadelphia, packs a lot in just over an hour and is the most resourceful, gleefully entertaining new theater piece I have seen during the pandemic. Yes, it all happens on Zoom. Yes, there are tricks, some of them involving the audience. And yes, it’s possible to laugh alone in front of your computer.”

That’s good information to have because the video about the show might leave you scratching your head (or thinking you’ve wandered into magic-meets-Spinal Tap):

Perhaps you have. This meta-show, which appears to be taking place in our present-day world, will hopefully explain just what the meta is for.

Tickets are $10 for non-members/free for members. Performances take place on Friday, December 18th at 7:00 PM PST; Saturday, December 19th and Sunday, December 20th at 1:00 PM PST and 7:00 PM PST.

INTERNATIONAL HOLIDAY MUSIC: Nochebuena en Casa – The Soraya – December 18th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Acclaimed writer/director/producer Dan Guerrero is your host for this at-home version of The Soraya’s annual holiday concert.

The artists performing include Ballet Folklórico de Los Ángeles, Aida Cuevas, Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuéllar, Suzanna Guzmán and José “Pepe” Martínez Jr. with Susie García. Some of them will welcome you into their homes for their performances, others were filmed safely on the stage at The Soraya.

There is no cost to watch this festive show which begins streaming on Friday, December 18th at 5:00 PM PST.

JAZZ: Kenny Barron: Quartets – Village Vanguard – December 18th – December 19th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

When Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz needed a pianist they turned to Kenny Barron. The eleven-time Grammy Award nominee, who has recorded with more artists than this page can hold, has two performances this weekend from New York’s Village Vanguard.

He is performing in quartet formation, but the two performances will feauture slightly, but significantly, different line-ups.

At the core of both performances will be Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass and Jonathan Blake on drum. Rounding out the quartet on Friday will be vibraphonist Steve Nelson (who appeared on Barron’s 1982 recording Golden Lotus). For Saturday’s performance saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins joins Barron. Omega, by Wilkins, was named Best Jazz Album of 2020 by the New York Times.

Tickets for each concert are $10.

GOSPEL MUSIC: Blind Boys of Alabama Holiday Show – SFJAZZ – December 18th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

This week’s Fridays at Five concert from SFJAZZ is a bit of a departure from their regular jazz programming, but the concert being shown is an annual holiday tradition at the venue.

Blind Boys of Alabama will perform a concert of gospel and holiday music as only they can. If you’ve never heard them, you should. They are terrific.

The five-time Grammy Award-winning ensemble perform in this concert from 2018. They have recorded two Christmas albums: the 2003 Christmas release, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and their 2014 Talkin’ Christmas, which was a collaboration with blues great Taj Mahal.

The concert will stream only once at the allotted time. To view the Fridays at Five concerts you need either a monthly membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60).

PLAY READING: A Christmas Carol – Primary Stages – December 18th – December 22nd

Pulitzer Prize finalist Theresa Rebeck has co-written (with Erin Daley) a new version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol which will have a live-reading on Friday, December 18th as a fundraiser for New York’s Primary Stages and their programming aimed at younger audiences.

Starring as Scrooge is four-time Tony-nominated actor Raúl Esparza (Speed-the-Plow; Company).

Joining him are Mary Bacon (Rock ‘n’ Roll), Abadi Bacon Leynse, Kimberly Chatterjee (Life Sucks), W. Tré Davis (Seared), David Mason (Seared), Krysta Rodriguez (Spring Awakening) and Matthew Saldivar (Bernhardt/Hamlet). Rebeck is directing the reading.

The Friday, December 18th, performance is live at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST. Tickets for the live reading are $100. Beginning December 19th, and through December 22nd, the reading will be available for free viewing.

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bach’s Brandenburg 5 – Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – December 18th – 9:30 PM EST/6:30 PM PST

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra continues their Close Quarters series with this concert that features Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major and Claude Debussy’s Syrinx.

Music Director Jaime Martín will perform Syrinx which is a brief work by the French composer for solo flute.

Featured musicians performing the Bach will be Martín on flute; Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane on fortepiano and Tereza Stanislav on violin.

Joining them will be Margaret Batjer, Susan Rishik and Josefina Vergara on violin; Erik Rynearson and Robert Brophy on viola; Andrew Shulman and Armen Ksajikian on cello and David Grossman on bass.

This series involves newly-created visuals to accompany each performance. This fourth episode of the Close Quarters series features the art of Ardeshir Tabrizi.

The concert is free and can be watched on the LA Chamber Orchestra website, their YouTube channel or their Facebook page.

JAZZ: Cyrus Chestnut & Dezron Douglas – MEZZROW – December 19th – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST and 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Jazz pianist and bassist Dezron Douglas team up for two shows from New York’s Mezzrow. They last performed together at sister club Small’s in July. (You can watch that and many other archived videos from Smalls and Mezzrow with a membership.)

Chestnut has released 34 records. He and Douglas have recorded together since 2007’s Cyrus Plays Elvis. They have five other recordings together. Douglas, amongst his many performances, appears in Beyonce’s Homecoming.

I’m a fan of both musicians. Though somewhat crudely filmed, you always get great music from these performances live at Small’s and Mezzrow.

There is no charge to watch the concert. However, those who have the means can purchase tax-deductible “reservations” for $50 for each set.

JAZZ: Big Band Holidays – Jazz at Lincoln Center – December 19th – December 26th

Every year Jazz at Lincoln Center celebrates the holidays with a big band concert filled with seasonal songs. This year is no exception, but it will be virtual instead of live.

Wynton Marsalis leads the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in the concert. Special guests include Rubén Baldes, Kurt Elling, Ashley Pezzotti and Catherine Russell.

Premieres at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST on December 19th and will remain available for streaming through December 26th. Tickets are $25 for non-members; $20 for members.

PLAY: Interviewing Miss Davis – Fountain Theatre – December 19th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you who Miss Davis is. (Okay, I will.) Bette Davis, of course. This play by Laura Maria Censabella is based on her experiences.

Just after leaving college with dreams of being a writer, she gets a job interview with the screen legend to be her assistant. Would this job be a fast track to her dreams or sideline her aspirations?

And what of her possible new employer? A woman who famously said, “In this business until you’re known as a monster, you’re not a star.”

Karen Kondazian plays Davis in this reading. Wonjung Kim plays the woman being interviewed and Aleisha Force is the longtime assistant who is leaving Davis.

There is no charge to watch Interviewing Miss Davis. There will be a Hollywood holiday theme party along with the reading.

FILMED RADIO PLAY: It’s a Wonderful Life – Laguna Playhouse – December 19th – January 1st

Who doesn’t watch It’s a Wonderful Life during the holidays? Well, even if you are one of those who doesn’t consider the play a seasonal tradition, you might want to check out this version from the Laguna Playhouse.

Nick Cearley and Lauren Molina, who are known together as The Skivvies, have filmed a radio play version that has been adapted by Joe Landry to suit their talents. Since The Skivvies usually perform in their underwear, I’m not sure I can guarantee which talents Landry is relying on.

One thing that does serve as a foundation for his work is the screenplay from the original Frank Capra movie written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Capra and Jo Swerling.

For the uninitiated, It’s a Wonderful Life tells the story of George Bailey. He’s suicidal and it’s only because of the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence, that Bailey learns just how valuable his life has always been. The film starred Jimmy Stewart and features the classic line, “every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.”

Maybe in this version every time a bell rings a cast member removes an article of clothing.

Tickets are $20.

VOCALS CONCERT: Audra Mae: Songs of Joy and Peace with Dylan Meek – The Sorting Room at The Wallis – December 19th – 11:00 PM EST/8:00 PM PST

Christina Aguilera, Avicii, Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion and Miranda Lambert are just some of the performers who have recorded songs written/co-written by Audra Mae. The singer-songwriter, who happens to be the great great niece of Judy Garland, is also a singer with multiple albums of her own.

She performs a concert of holidays songs and is joined by Dylan Meek, a singer/jazz pianist who was mentored by Johnny O’Neal. The concert is part of The Sorting Room series from The Wallis in Beverly Hills and is produced in conjunction with For the Record Live.

Mae has two special guests joining for the show: Darren Criss and Tracie Thoms.

Tickets are $25 and will allow for streaming for 24 hours from the start time.

BROADWAY VOCALS: Adam Pascal with Seth Rudetsky – December 20th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Broadway fans, and particularly Rent-heads, know Adam Pascal from his role as Roger in the original production of Jonathan Larson’s Rent. His other Broadway credits include the Elton John and Tim Rice musical, Aida, Cabaret, Chicago, Memphis, Something Rotten! and most recently, Pretty Woman.

He’s Seth Rudetsky‘s guest for this week’s concert and conversation. Pascal knows Rudetsky well. He appeared in his musical, Disaster!

This replaces the concert with Pascal that was originally scheduled for November.

If Sunday’s live stream doesn’t work for you, they will re-stream the concert on Monday, December 21st at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST.

Tickets are $25.

Those are my Best Bets at Home: December 18th – December 20th. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Enjoy your weekend. Happy Holidays!

Photo: Jesse Vargas and Megan Mullally in Iceboy (Photo by Jeff Lorch/Courtesy Pasadena Playhouse)

The post Best Bets at Home: December 18th – December 20th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

This weekend’s choices range from several jazz performances to a topical one-woman show to a powerful dance performance and some great classical music.

If you’re looking for Halloween-themed events in our Best Bets, I want to point you to our special column dedicated to all things spooky you and your family can enjoy this weekend.

Here are our selection of the Best Bets at Home: October 30th – November 1st:

Reena Esmail’s Piano Trio – The Wallis – Now – November 19th

The world premiere of composer Reena Esmail’s Piano Trio took place last November in Seattle. It is a work that finds both Indian and Western classical music combined. As Esmail said about the work, “Imagine if you could say a single sentence, but it could be understood simultaneously in two different languages – that is what I aim to create through my music.”

Over the course of the next four weeks The Wallis will present a performance of one movement of her Piano Trio combined with insights and observations from Esmail and the three musicians performing the work. They are Vijay Gupta on violin, Peter Myers on cello and Suzana Bartal on piano.

Each movement will be streamed via Zoom. After that initial stream each movement can be found on The Wallis’ YouTube channel. Since the streaming events are on Thursdays, this week we have included a link to the YouTube page. If you want to watch subsequent performances on Zoom, you can go here to register for those.

Esmail is one of our most talented and interesting composers. This is going to be well worth your time if you love chamber music.

Kamasi Washington – Los Angeles Philharmonic – October 30th – November 29th

Jazz musician/composer Kamasi Washington takes to the Hollywood Bowl stage for a performance of the music he wrote for the film Becoming. This concert is part of the LA Phil’s Sound/Stage series and is free and available on their website. Becoming is the documentary about Michelle Obama’s book tour.

Along with the recently released Andra Day concert, this is a performance without the LA Phil.

Washington and his band perform his score. In addition to the performance, Washington will also be seen in an interview.

Of his work for Nadia Hallgren’s film, Washington told Rolling Stone Magazine, “Nadia asked me to write a song that would capture what the movie was saying about Michelle Obama. She’s a down-to-earth, brilliant queen who lives next door. She’s aware of who she is and what she has done, but she’s also aware of the people around her. So I tried to give that song a sense of depth and lightness. I thought, ‘If Michelle was going to write a song, what would it sound like?’”

Washington is one of our most exciting jazz musicians. I wouldn’t miss this.

Trio 3 & Vijay Iyer – Blue Note – October 30th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT – $10 Restream 11:00 PM EDT/8:00 PM PDT

New York’s Blue Note will live stream a concert on Friday featuring the supergroup Trio 3 and they are joined for this performance by pianist/composer Vijay Iyer.

The members of Trio 3 are Oliver Lake on alto sax, Reggie Workman on bass and Andrew Cyrille on drums. Iyer joined them for 2014’s Wiring.

Each musician has a lengthy career as both a leader and as a sideman. It is the combination of the three of them that makes truly unique music.

Nate Chinen, in writing for the New York Times about a 2015 performance at the Village Vanguard, said of Trio 3, “One misperception about the jazz avant-garde is that it’s essentially reactive, a single-minded pushback against conventions of form. Whatever lump of truth or slander you might find in that idea, Trio 3, which is playing at the Village Vanguard, provides scant supporting evidence for it. 

“An alliance of eminent composer-improvisers now in their 70s — the alto saxophonist Oliver Lake, the bassist Reggie Workman and the drummer Andrew Cyrille — Trio 3 belongs squarely to the jazz avant-garde, both in process and pedigree. But there was no rebellious undercurrent in the group’s first set on Wednesday night, which moved briskly through its allotted hour, propelled by cooperative forces.”

Adding Iyer to this trio will make for a truly wonderful concert.

Tickets are $15. There is also a re-streaming of the performance at 11:00 PM EDT/8:00 PM PDT.

Lila Downs – SFJAZZ – October 30th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

This week’s Fridays at Five concert from SFJAZZ features Lila Downs in a concert from May 2019 at the venue in support of her album, Al Chile.

Downs, who is from Oaxaca, rose to fame with her participation in the soundtrack to Julie Taymor’s 2002 film, Frida. She is the winner of one Grammy and three Latin Grammy awards.

As a friend said to me recently in an e-mail, “Hope you are able to watch Lila Downs! I love her and saw her concert in Portugal a couple of years ago!! Lively!!!”

Even though the clip we have from this concert is a ballad, expect lively for much of the performance.

Membership is required to watch the concert. Either a $5 monthly membership or a $60 annual membership. Tips are also encouraged during the streaming of the concert which will be split between the artists and SFJAZZ.

A Swingin’ Sesame Street Celebration – Jazz at Lincoln Center on PBS – October 30th

Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra have played with a veritable who’s who of jazz artists throughout their careers. But this weekend’s show on Jazz at Lincoln Center on PBS finds them sharing the stage with some of the biggest stars in the world.

Elmo, Bert & Ernie, Big Bird, Grover, Oscar the Grouch and more Sesame Street characters join the orchestra to sing songs from the show in A Swingin’ Sesame Street Celebration.

The one-hour concert, which took place October 2019, is scheduled to air on October 30th. As with most PBS programming, best to check your local listings for exact start times.

So if you want to go where the air is sweet….

Kristina Wong for Public Office – Center Theatre Group – October 30th – November 29th

We often wonder why our elected officials seem to lack a sense of humor. Or why they lack any awareness of the absurdity of it all. That isn’t the case with Kristina Wong who both serves in office and is also a performance artist with a wicked sense of humor.

She combines both those seemingly disparate sensibilities in a new one-person show called Kristina Wong for Public Office.

The 75-minute comedy performance becomes available at 11:00 PM EDT/8:00 PM PDT from Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles.

Kristina Wong for Public Office examines the role an artist, who is also a politician, can play in the democratic process. She also examines what that process is like, the history of voting and what it takes to run a campaign – all filtered through Wong’s unique perspective.

Tickets to watch Kristina Wong for Public Office are $10.

Four Quartets: 2018 Premiere – Fisher Center at Bard – October 31st – November 1st

In February of this year choreographer Pam Tanowitz’s Four Quartets was performed at UCLA’s Royce Hall. This work is a collaboration with Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, American painter Brice Marden and actress Kathleen Chalfant.

For two days this weekend Bard College will stream the 2018 premiere of Four Quartets. The work is inspired by T.S. Eliot’s monumental work.

Four Quartets is comprised of four different poems written by Eliot over a period of six years. They are Burnt Norton, Easy Coker, The Dry Salvages and Little Gidding. Thematically Eliot is exploring mankind’s place in the world and our relationships with both time and God.

Four Quartets is comprised of four different poems written by Eliot over a period of six years. They are Burnt Norton, Easy Coker, The Dry Salvages and Little Gidding. Thematically Eliot is exploring mankind’s place in the world and our relationships with both time and God.

The result of this collaboration has earned worldwide acclaim. Rightly so, it is a beautiful and powerful work.

Tickets range from $5 for Bard Students up to $25 to stream Four Quartets. (Pricing is based on your individual ability to afford tickets.)

There is another option as well. On Friday, October 30th at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT, you can join the premiere of a documentary, There the Dance Is (In the steps of Pam Tanowitz’s Four Quartets). The film features interviews with the dancers, Tanowitz and Chalfant.

Prior to the screening there will be a live Q&A between Tanowitz and Alistair Macaulay of the New York Times. You will also gain early access to stream the performance of Four Quartets. Tickets are $100.

Modern Beauty – Pittance Chamber Orchestra – November 1st – 6:00 PM EST/3:00 PM PST

Pittance Chamber Orchestra is comprised of musicians from the LA Opera Orchestra. This weekend they begin rolling out a three-part performance series called Modern Beauty. The performances were all filmed during the pandemic and feature Grammy Award-wining pianist Gloria Cheng.

The first performance finds Cheng and bassoonist Judith Farmer performing Sonata for Bassoon and Piano by Billy Childs. Included in this performance will be comments from Childs.

Part two of the series will stream on November 8th and the third part will stream on November 15th.

There is no charge for the performances, but donations are strongly encouraged.

En 3×4 – Quinteto Astor Piazzolla – November 1st – 6:00 PM EST/3:00 PM PST

One could argue that Astor Piazzolla redefined the tango with his compositions and his playing. Quinteto Astor Piazzolla celebrates his work in this performance filmed live in Buenos Aires for CAP UCLA.

On the program are seven different compositions: Verano Porteño, Camorra III, En 3×4, Soledad, Milonga del Ángel, Adios Nonino and Libertango.

The members of Quinteto Astor Piazzolla are Pablo Mainetti on bandoneón, Nicolás Guerschberg on piano, Serdar Geldymuradov on violin, Daniel Falasca on bass and Armando de la Vega on guitar.

There is no charge to watch the performance. However, donations are encouraged.

American Youth Symphony Fall Concert – November 1st – 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Since its inception in the early 1960s, the American Youth Symphony has afforded Los Angeles-based students the opportunity to perform symphonic works as part of a fully-functioning orchestra. They regularly perform live concerts (commonly at Royce Hall) throughout the year.

Obviously 2020 is a different year. For their Fall Concert, Music Director Carlos Izcaray has assembled a combination of remotely-lead performances and two in-person filmed performances.

On the program is Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments performed by the AYS Virtual Wind & Brass Ensemble, Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst performed by the AYS String Ensemble, the world premiere of Izacary’s Bloom, performed by a Percussion Trio and Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge also performed by the AYS String Ensemble.

Through the performance both Montgomery and Izacary will discuss the creation of their two compositions.

Tickets are free, but require registration. The link in the title will take you to details and provide access to register for the concert.

Beth Malone with Seth Rudetsky – November 1st – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM EST

Tony Award-nominee Beth Malone is best known for her performance as Adult Alison in the musical Fun Home. She recently appeared in the 2018 revival of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. Earlier this year she starred as the title character in the off-Broadway production of The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

She is Seth Rudetsky’s guest this weekend for music and conversation about her life and career.

If you are unable to catch the live performance of Beth Malone‘s appearance, there is a re-stream on Monday, November 2nd at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST. Tickets are $25 for either date.

They are also making a VIP Upgrade available three hours prior to the live performance that allows a behind-the-scenes look at the sound check and prep for the live show. That’s an additional $25 and is only available on November 1st and requires the purchase of a ticket to the performance.

Those are our selections are your Best Bets at Home: October 30th – November 1st. As always, we offer a few reminders:

This weekend’s operas from the Metropolitan Opera are Boris Godunov on Friday, The Ghosts of Versailles on Saturday (which I strongly recommend) and Satyagraha on Sunday (another strong recommendation).

Table Top Shakespeare At Home features Cymbeline on Friday, Julius Caesar on Saturday and Antony and Cleopatra on Sunday.

You can stream all three plays in the Donmar Warehouse’s Shakespeare Trilogy on Film this weekend. St. Ann’s Warehouse is making Julius Caesar, Henry IV and The Tempest available.

The reading of David Mamet’s Race continues through Sunday.

Have a safe and enjoyable Halloween weekend. I hope you enjoy our Best Bets at Home: October 30th – November 1st.

Photo: Kamasi Washington (Courtesy of the artist)

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