Plum Viewing
Welcome to the latest edition of Plum Viewing, my weekly roundup of arts and culture to enjoy online.
Well, dear readers. I have a bit of news to share. For those who know me, you know that Plum Viewing is one of the many “extra” hats I wear (for my day job, I work full-time in communications). This week, I am thrilled to share that I have added another very fun hat to my collection: I am joining the wonderful team at Partial.Gallery. Proudly Canadian, Partial is an online gallery where as an art collector, you can discover your next favourite artist and as an artist, you can be introduced to a new, engaged audience of collectors. This combines my two favourite things — supporting and promoting artists and introducing gorgeous works of art to a new audience. Heaven.
Partial’s mission is: more art on more walls. And, again for those who know me, you know that I officially have more art than walls (much to Mr. Fairs’ dismay but he is a good sport!). Anyway, you will be hearing more about Partial in the coming weeks but please take a look at us here.
So with that, here are this week’s picks!
This Saturday, in honour of Juneteenth, we have Town Hall to thank for this gorgeous performance: Sweet Honey in the Rock, an a cappella ensemble based in Washington, DC. Performing together since 1973, their innovative and socially conscious music spans the sound and spirit of Africian culture and is magically presented for us to enjoy. We can see them perform via livestream for free. The concert starts at 8 pm ET. Learn more here.
Maison symphonique de Montréal is bringing us Voice of Women: An Ode to Life.
Under the direction of Quebec’s own Dina Gilbert, we go on a musical journey to listen to the timeless, and very distinct voices of women artists, performed by an entirely female roster. Canadian composers Ana Sokolović, Alexina Louie, and Barbara Croall are featured alongside French composer Lili Boulanger and English composer Elizabeth Maconchy in a selection of works anchored in diversity, featuring throat singing, violin, flute, and orchestra. Innu poet Joséphine Bacon gives a reading of her poetry on the themes of night, the seasons, and the cycle of life. It’s a free performance, streaming from June 15 to June 22 and you can reserve your ticket here.
We talked about the Show of Stars last week, part of Broadway’s Spotlight on Plays. Well, this week, I am back to share this joyous spotlight: Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline reading Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth. There are genuinely no words to properly capture this.
By way of background, here’s the very sweet story of Dear Elizabeth. “From 1947 to 1977, poets Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop exchanged more than four hundred letters. Even as they were worlds apart, their connection was palpable, and their correspondence would become one of the greatest in American literary history. Using these letters, Sarah brings theatrical life to the story of a 30-year friendship that lived almost entirely in writing. Dear Elizabeth gives voice to this deeply moving and intimate friendship between two of the greatest minds in American history.”
And, fun fact. There are a number of famous pen pal relationships. Catherine the Great and Voltaire; J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S Lewis; and a little more recent Carey Mulligan and Marus Mumford (he of Mumford and Sons) first met as pen pals. Awww.
Dear Elizabeth is available to watch until June 21. You can learn more here.
Let’s stay on Broadway for the premiere of a new play called (what else!) Off Broadway. Here’s the background: It is presented by Jeremy O. Harris (he of Slave Play fame) and directed by Robert O’Hara. Very much a play of its time, Off Broadway is set during the pandemic theater shutdown, and follows the staff of a non-profit theater as they come together on Zoom and scramble to stave off extinction. It has been described as “a scathing critique of an industry desperately trying to reinvent itself in the midst of a pandemic.”
The cast features a list of stand up actors who are known for bringing delicious devilishness to their roles, starting with of course with Dylan Baker who was so wonderfully awful as Colin Sweeney in The Good Wife.
It is available to stream for free from June 24–27. You can reserve your ticket here.
Canada’s own Against the Grain Theatre is back with another beautiful performance, Sāvitri by Gustav Holst. It is based on the ancient Indian legend of a princess who falls in love with an exiled prince (that old chestnut!) and it marks the directorial debut of AtG Founding Member & Associate Artistic Director, Miriam Khalil.
It premieres on June 23 at 7:15 pm ET and is available to stream for free. It features a pre-performance chat with cast and creators, hosted by Amanda Hadi. Register for your ticket here.
And, finally, we’ll stay in Canada with this gorgeous gem. In March, Toronto Symphony Orchetra’s Principal Oboe Sarah Jeffrey gave a dazzling performance of Mozart’s captivating Oboe Concerto. It was so enjoyable that, for a limited time, the TSO is releasing a recording of the entire concert as a TSO Live Streams replay.
TSO Concertmaster Jonathan Crow leads the Orchestra in this exquisite all-Mozart program, which also features one of the composer’s best-known early works — Symphony №29.
The concert is approximately 60 minutes and features 25 musicians from the TSO. It’s streaming from June 22 — June 29 and you can reserve your ticket here.
See you next week my lovely readers!
And, an ask: While we’re enjoying these wonderful performances, let’s remember that for the arts organizations producing this incredible content, this is their livelihood; not a hobby. If we can, now is our time to continue to support our incredible arts community!
And, if you’d like to receive Plum Viewing weekly, send me a note at maggiefairs@gmail.com and I will add you to my mailing list.