Who: Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Bill Pullman, Juliet Brett, Carol Kane
What: Live reunion reading by the New Group
Where: The New Group Off Stage
When: Thursday, August 27, $25, 7:00 (available through August 30 at midnight)
Why: In my November 2013 review of the New Group’s NYC premiere of The Jacksonian, I wrote, “Pulitzer Prize winner Beth Henley, who was born in Jackson, Mississippi, has crafted a gripping southern Gothic black comedy with sharp, unpredictable dialogue and heavily stylized direction by Robert Falls. An actor’s actor, Ed Harris gives an exceptional performance as the seemingly stalwart dentist who just wants to have a normal family. Amy Madigan plays Susan with a tension ready to explode at any moment. Bill Pullman is nearly unrecognizable as the bartender harboring more than a few secrets, while Glenne Headly has fun chewing some scenery as the scheming Eva. But it’s Juliet Brett who packs the biggest punch in a breakout role as Rosy.” Harris, his real-life wife, Madigan, Pullman, and Brett are reuniting for a live Zoom reading of the play on August 27 at 7:00; Headly, who passed away in 2017 at the age of sixty-two, will be replaced by Carol Kane. Tickets are $25, with ten percent of the proceeds benefiting Race Forward, which “brings systemic analysis and an innovative approach to complex race issues to help people take effective action toward racial equity”; the link will be available through August 30 at midnight. Part of “The New Group Off Stage,” the reunion reading series previously presented Sharr White’s The True and Jesse Eisenberg’s The Spoils. You can still catch the New Group’s “Why We Do It” conversation series with such guests as Cynthia Nixon, Bobby Cannavale, Edie Falco, Donja R. Love, and Suzanne Vega here.
this week in lectures, signings, panel discussions, workshops, and Q&As
PRIMAL INSTINCTS: NINTH ANNUAL THEATRE 68 ONE ACTS FUNDRAISING FESTIVAL
Who: Theatre 68
What: Live Zoom plays and talkbacks
Where: Theatre68 YouTube
When: Tuesday – Sunday through September 27, free (donations accepted), 8:00
Why: Theater companies all across the country have been trying to survive the pandemic lockdown with reunion readings, livestreamed archival shows, and new works over Zoom, with varying degrees of success. Some have been ingenious (Arlekin Players Theatre’s State vs Natasha Banina, the Public’s The Line, Larry Powell’s The Gaze), while others, well, not so much, which is just like regular theater experienced live and in person. One of the most daring experiments is being done by Theatre 68, which is based in North Hollywood and has a New York City chapter. Resident troupe the 68 Cent Crew Theatre is following up its Bi-Coastal Monologue Jam with its ninth annual One Acts Fundraising Festival, short plays being performed live Tuesday through Sunday nights at 8:00, with a bonus show Friday at 9:00; they go dark on Mondays, giving it a realistic, recognizable schedule that most brick-and-mortar theaters follow. The works are written, directed, and performed by members of the company, taking place live from wherever the actors are sheltering in place, and are followed by a talkback with cast and crew; the shows are not archived for later viewing on YouTube, although if you check out the troupe’s Facebook page, their are occasional links to help you catch up on a show you might have missed.
Theatre 68 rehearses Fear and Self-Loathing over Zoom for one-act festival
Titled “Primal Instincts,” the festival has completed one go-round of the seven plays, which are listed below. Watching them is an intimate experience, especially if you keep the chat box open as company members, friends, relatives, and theater lovers comment on the action, including artistic director Ronnie Marmo, who played the title character in Theatre 68’s I’m Not a Comedian . . . I’m Lenny Bruce, directed by Joe Mantegna. The plays were conceived prior to the pandemic but they work well just the same; stick around for the talkback and you might get to see one of the writers kvelling at how successfully a play they wrote for the stage has been transformed for this virtual presentation. Among the other tidbits you’ll discover is that Carly Wilkins’s Old Habits Die Hard was written for two female lovers but is performed here by a gay male couple and how the actors adapt their performances week to week by studying the previous shows, something they cannot do with such clarity and specificity onstage in a theater. Look out for Evenings, which brings some fun chills, while Doomed to Live offers one way out of our rather challenging human existence and Fear and Self-Loathing resurrects a famous gonzo journalist. By the time you’ve checked out all seven shows, you’ll feel like you’re part of the Theatre 68 family.
Tuesday, 8:00: Doomed to Live, a novel take on suicide, with John Varina, Louis Politan, and Snezhana Chernyavskaya, directed by Annie Lanzillotto, written by Maria Kirke
Wednesday, 8:00: Old Habits Die Hard, in which a cat threatens the relationship between two gay men in a new apartment, with Julian Guzman Abril and Riley Fee, directed by Lauren Winnenberg, written by Carly Wilkins
Thursday, 8:00: Evenings, a creepy fairy tale about pending motherhood, with Annie Lanzillotto, Janelle Gaeta, and David Erba, directed by Carly Wilkins and Riley Fee, written by Kathryn Loggins
Friday, 8:00: Carnivorous, which presents a vegan dilemma, with Samantha Bowen, Christian Leadley, and Alan Braunstein, directed by Janelle Gaeta, written by Megan Magee
Friday, 9:00: The Stork, featuring a bizarre bird-person, with Alexandra Dominguez, Kaya Simmons, and Jade Mason, directed by John Varina, written by Samantha Bowen
Saturday, 8:00: The Hooking Place, in which a lesbian is jealous of her partner’s upcoming night out with an ex-boyfriend, with Megan Magee and Jordan Gelber, directed by Ronnie Marmo, written by Annie Lanzillotto
Sunday, 8:00: Fear and Self-Loathing, where an editor tries to convince Hunter S. Thompson to get back to writing, with Marty Grabstein, Isa Goldberg, and Richard Bernstein, directed by Megan Magee, written by Christian Leadley
HARLEM DAY 2020
Who: Alvin Ailey Dance Company, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Doug E. Fresh, Harlem Music Festival All Star Band, Ray Chew, Alyson Williams, the Georgie Gee Orchestra
What: Harlem Week special event
Where: Harlem Week
When: Sunday, August 23, free with RSVP, 1:00
Why: The forty-sixth annual Harlem Week celebration has been a virtual potpourri of fun events that continue this weekend with an online 5K run, a vendor village, live music, a fashion show, dance parties, discussions, a story slam, film screenings, and foodie programs. The highlight could very well be Harlem Day on August 23, which features appearances by the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (performing “Chamber Music of the Harlem Renaissance” by Duke Ellington and Harold T. Burleigh, with clarinetist David Shifrin, pianists Gloria Chien and Wu Han, and violinist Chad Hoopes), Doug E. Fresh, the Harlem Music Festival All Star Band featuring Ray Chew with special guests, and Jazzmobile Great Jazz on the Great Hill with Alyson Williams and the Georgie Gee Orchestra. (Stevie Wonder had been on the bill for a talk with Fresh but that seems to no longer be happening.) Admission to Harlem Week is free with registration. Have a great day!
PERSPECTIVES ENSEMBLE PRESENTS CELLIST WENDY SUTTER: THE SIX BACH SOLO CELLO SUITES
Wendy Sutter will perform Bach’s Six Solo Cello Suites live from Judson Memorial Church on Sunday
Who: Wendy Sutter, Don Byron, Tim Page, George Stauffer, Kira Thurman
What: Live performance
Where: Judson Memorial Church (livestream)
When: Sunday, August 23, free with RSVP, Suites 1-3 at 3:00, Suites 4-6 at 6:00
Why: On August 23, New York Philharmonic and Perspectives Ensemble cellist Wendy Sutter will perform, as only she can, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Solo Cello Suites live in the Meeting Room at Judson Memorial Church; although no crowd will be present, you can watch the livestream for free with advance registration. She will play Suites 1, 2, and 3 at 3:00, followed by 4, 5, and 6 at 6:00. In addition, there will be live commentary by Don Byron, Tim Page, George Stauffer, and Kira Thurman.
RAY BRADBURY CENTENNIAL READ-A-THON
Who: Neil Gaiman, Susan Orlean, William Shatner, Carla Hayden, Charles Bolden Jr., Marlon James, Ann Druyan, Marjorie Liu, more
What: Livestreamed marathon reading
Where: Ray Bradbury marathon
When: Saturday, August 22, free, 4:30 (available through September 5)
Why: “It was a pleasure to burn.” So begins Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel, Fahrenheit 451, one of the most banned books ever in America. The protagonist is Guy Montag, whose job it is to burn down houses where he finds outlawed books. In honor of the hundredth anniversary of Bradbury’s birth — the novelist and screenwriter (The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes) was born on August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois, and passed away on July 5, 2012, in Los Angeles — a wide ranging group of people will read the book online, including writers, actors, scholars, and librarians. The stream begins August 22 at 4:30 and continues through September 5, with such participants as Neil Gaiman, Susan Orlean, William Shatner, Carla Hayden, Charles Bolden Jr., Marlon James, Ann Druyan, and Marjorie Liu reading the three parts of the book, “The Hearth and the Salamander,” “The Sieve and the Sand,” and “Burning Bright.”
2020 NEA JAZZ MASTERS TRIBUTE CONCERT
Who: Dorthaan Kirk, Bobby McFerrin, Roscoe Mitchell, Reggie Workman, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Mary Anne Carter, Randall Kline, James Carter, Gerald Clayton, Vincent Davis, Lisa Fischer, Morgan Guerin, Oliver Lake, Christian McBride, Jevon McFerrin, Madison McFerrin, Taylor McFerrin, Kanoa Mendenhall, Junius Paul, Steve Turre, the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars
What: Livestreamed tribute concert and discussion
Where: National Endowment for the Arts, SFJAZZ Center
When: Thursday, August 20, free, 8:00
Why: The National Endowment for the Arts will be honoring the 2020 class of Jazz Masters with a virtual tribute concert on August 20 at 8:00; this year’s honorees are Dorthaan Kirk, Bobby McFerrin, Roscoe Mitchell, and Reggie Workman, who will perform and receive their accolades from wherever they are sheltering in place. The evening will be hosted by 2017 NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater and also features appearances by NEA chairman Mary Anne Carter, SFJAZZ founder and executive artistic director Randall Kline, music director Terri Lyne Carrington, and musicians Ambrose Akinmusire, James Carter, Gerald Clayton, Vincent Davis, Lisa Fischer, Morgan Guerin, Oliver Lake, Christian McBride, Jevon McFerrin, Madison McFerrin, Taylor McFerrin, Kanoa Mendenhall, Junius Paul, Steve Turre, and the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars. Following the concert, Kline will moderate a live, interactive Q&A with the newly inducted masters in which the audience can ask questions on YouTube.
KAUFMAN MUSIC CENTER PRESENTS LISA BIELAWA’S BROADCAST FROM HOME
Who: Lisa Bielawa, Gregory Purnhagen, John Glover, Natalie Mallis, Edith Knight Magak, Benjamin Barham-Weise, Federico Ramirez, Seth Brenzel, Elizandro Garcia Montoya, Deborah Meadows
What: Livestreamed two-night concert and discussion
Where: Kaufman Music Center and Facebook
When: Thursday, August 20, and Friday, August 21, free with RSVP, 2:00
Why: Since April 9, composer, producer, and vocalist Lisa Bielawa has been presenting Broadcast from Home, a weekly series in which she creates a communal work based on testimonies about the coronavirus pandemic sent to her from the public, setting the text to music played by her, special guests, and the public as well. In such chapters as ”After-Lives,” ”Where Is Everybody?,” “The City Is Not the Same,” and ”The New Abnormal,” each of which can be individually heard here, she has collaborated with dozens of other musicians and sing coleader Gregory Purnhagen. “Broadcast from Home arose organically out of an unprecedented moment: worldwide stay-at-home orders in response to a global pandemic, and the universal feelings of shock, grief, disorientation, hope, and fear that overtook us as we navigated our strange new isolation, and then the surge of calls for justice in the midst of it all,” Bielawa said in a statement. “I am so grateful to the hundreds of people, sheltering in place from NYC to Nairobi to Melbourne to Rio de Janiero, who shared their personal experiences and raised their singing voices from their own homes to build this work with me. It stands as a document of the crisis through the lens of people’s most private experiences. Ironically, I have never felt more connected to people through my work than I did through this period of utter isolation. I’ve learned how transformative radical listening can be.”
On August 20 and 21, the cycle will be streamed in its entirety for the first time by Kaufman Music Center, along with live discussions between Rome Prize winner Bielawa and many contributors from around the world, moderated by John Glover. August 20 will feature Natalie Mallis, Edith Knight Magak, Benjamin Barham-Weise, and Federico Ramirez, while Seth Brenzel, Elizandro Garcia Montoya, Deborah Meadows, and Purnhagen will participate on August 21. Following the two-night event, Bielawa will take a break from Broadcast from Home and move on to Voters’ Broadcast, which looks at the current presidential campaign and upcoming election. “The organic moment of a monolithic, shared reality has begun to transform and fragment, as different parts of the world grapple and react,” she explained. ”Testimony submissions are slowing as people begin to take up the challenging work of reengaging with the world. It feels like the right moment for me to step back and observe, and rest. But I will continue to communicate with this community as we move into this new phase.”