To be or not to be - Hamlet Click here to watch This is the funniest piece I’ve seen all week, maybe all year. If you can name all the participants you’re a true theatre fanatic….and, from me, that’s a supreme compliment. My Favourite Broadway - The Leading Ladies Click here to watch In September of 1998 there was a concert at Carnegie Hall that has become legendary. It was a benefit for Equity Fights AIDs and it was a parade of the female stars of Broadway shows, old and new. Introduced by Julie Andrews, this show is stuffed with fantastic divas and fabulous singers (and the dresses aren’t bad either) all singing their hearts out. Some of these great singers, like my friend Rebecca Lukar and Marin Mazzie and Elaine Stritch, are no longer with us and their performances on this show make me miss them even more. Some others whom you may not remember perfectly are on hand here to remind you how great they were. And some, who were already on Broadway but who hadn’t yet made it to the heights they occupy now are here to demonstrate why and how they were about to make it. These ladies didn’t get to be the cream of Broadway babes for nothing and to a show business fan they are all irresistible. The English Concert – Wigmore Hall Click here to watch The English Concert, under their first conductor, Trevor Pinnock, were one of the first orchestras dedicated to performing baroque and classical music on period instruments, their repertoire from then to now ranging approximately from Monteverdi to Mozart. Their numbers vary according to their repertoire but their quality never does. This lovely evening of early music - Bach, Erlebach and Purcell – was one of Wigmore Hall’s free livestreams this week. It’s now available until April 1. This is truly music, which, as William Congreve wrote, some 400 years ago, “hath charms to soothe the savage breast.” I have the feeling that we all need our savage breasts soothed right about now. Cool – WSS - American Dance Machine for the 21st Century Click here to watch When I see the cream of Broadway and ballet dancers plying their craft in their kitchens or in the street because they can’t dance in the theatre, I don’t know whether to weep or applaud. Both, probably. That they are dancing at all is a tribute to the spirit of their art. Here they are on the streets of New York in Cool from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. The original choreography is by Jerome Robbins, brought back to vibrant life by the same director, Joshua Bergasse, who did that remarkable Music and the Mirror we looked at three weeks ago. It’s still available if you want to look at it again on an earlier blog. New York is deserted, London is deserted, and dancers are still dancing, bless them. Schubert Meets Col.Bogey: Marche Militaire Click here to watch Here’s a little piece of gentle classical fun in honour of the 104th birthday of that versatile and prolific composer, the late John Gardner. His friend Roger Vignoles plays on the piano with four hands (all them his) a witty, spot-the-tune version of Schubert’s Marche Militaire as you’ve never heard it before. Unless, that is, you’re familiar with the late John Gardner’s spoof? No, I thought not. Once again, there’s a prize for Identifying all the musical quotes. Well, not really, no prize, but you will be awarded the title of ‘music nerd’ which is, I promise, high praise. Ron Carter – Radio Free Birdland Click here for tickets The great jazz double bass player, Ron Carter, one of my favourite ever jazz musicians, is the most recorded jazz bassist in history. Here is his perfect quartet, his long-time collaborators pianist Renee Rosnes, saxophonist Jimmy Greene, and drummer Payton Crossley. In this Birdland concert he leads them through a comprehensive tour of jazz repertoire with which he has been associated throughout his career as a leader and member of Miles Davis's groundbreaking 1960's "second quintet." Don’t miss it. Mar 6-13 $20 Midnight:Not a Sound From the Stages – Kerry Ellis Click here to watch Memory, first sung by Elaine Paige in the musical Cats, and by some way its most famous song, had several sets of lyrics before its composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, settled on the version by the show’s director, Trevor Nunn. Distinguished lyricists Don Black and Tim Rice each wrote words for the Puccini-like melody but, almost at the last minute, Nunn came up with the winner. Now, in this time of empty theatres and deserted concert halls, Jon Monie has written a heartfelt new lyric to reflect the current situation. I think it’s pretty good but that might be because it’s sung by stage and cabaret singer Kerry Ellis who wrings every drop of emotion from an already emotional plea. This recording will benefit the excellent charity Acting for Others which provides financial and other support for theatre workers, people who are currently unable to work because of the pandemic. Stravinsky Violin Concerto - NY City Ballet Click here to watch. The 1972 ballet that George Balanchine made to Stravinsky Violin Concerto is often described as a neoclassical masterpiece and who am I to deny that piece of conventional wisdom but this ballet is very peculiar. Its four movements have nothing to do with one another in content or mood. The first and fourth are group dances, featuring the sculptural shapes and improbable positions so beloved of its choreographer and abiding genius, George Balanchine, while the two central movements are mesmerising but very different pas de deux. Plotless, as are most of Balanchine’s works, this one seems more plotless than most because it’s almost impossible to discern the connection, if there is one, among the four movements. The featured dancers in this production are Sterling Hyltin, Ask la Cour, Sara Mearns, and Taylor Stanley and they are, as usual, impossibly wonderful. Sterling Hyltin has said that when she dances this ballet she makes up a story to tell herself while she dances which allows her to conjure the necessary emotion. I’m not surprised. March 11- 18 Dream – Royal Shakespeare Company Click here for tickets This is something new from the Royal Shakespeare Company, a presentation loosely based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. To be truthful, I’m not sure exactly what to expect. The RSC describes it as “a live, shared experience between actors and online audience members. The latest gaming and theatre technology comes together with an interactive symphonic soundtrack in a pioneering collaboration. A dreamlike journey into a forest with Puck, you encounter four sprites, Moth, Peaseblossom, Cobweb and Mustardseed. But storm clouds gather on the horizon, threatening destruction.” There are two kinds of ticket, depending on what device you’re watching on and whether you want to interact with the presentation or just look at it. £10 for the interactive ticket, Free for the other kind. Mar 12-20 Matthew Bourne – New Adventures Festival Click here for tickets This is a Festival of Mathew Bourne’s ground-breaking ballets, each one a stunningly new twist on a ballet classic. Bourne is a true original, dating back to his extraordinary Swan Lake, with all-male predatory swans, and continuing with his revolutionary The Car Man to music from Bizet’s Carmen, his wartime Cinderella, and Romeo and Juliet. Bourne has rethought the famous old warhorses we thought we knew and reimagined them in a different time and place while retaining much of the music and the plots and all of the emotional content. Starting on March 5 at 6 PM ET with Swan Lake and then continuing on subsequent Fridays through April 4 with The Car Man, Cinderella, and Romeo and Juliet. Each will be available on demand for 10 days. $15 for each ballet or you can buy access to the whole set for $50. Mar 5-Apr 4 Corona Conga – Heart of Art Click here to watch Get up. Go on, get up and dance. Or sway. Or shuffle. Or sashay. I defy you not to move when you hear Sol and the Tribu doing their thing. Cuban rhythms, irresistible beat. You know you want to.
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AuthorRuth Leon is a writer and critic specialising in music and theatre. Archives
May 2024
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