Plum Viewing
Welcome to the latest edition of Plum Viewing, my weekly roundup of arts and culture to view online. Happy viewing!
Well, for Plum readers in the US, Happy Thanksgiving! I know it is a very different experience this year but once again our artists found ways to continue to entertain us and keep some traditions going, like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. This year’s parade route was significantly streamlined with performances taking place across NYC and in fact, across the country. Here’s a link to what we can all agree is a highlight: the company of Hamilton performing! Although, here’s a close second, Ms Dolly Parton, a true national treasure.
And, just because we can never have too much Hamilton, here’s the original cast performing Helpless with Jimmy Falon and The Roots. You will be smiling after watching this, I promise! In fact, I am now listening to the Hamilton soundtrack as I write this and there MAY be dancing soon. Why not!!
Ok, let’s stay in New York (in my mind, this is how all sentences start but I digress!) and visit our old friends at the Village Vanguard, the 100-year old jazz institution that definitely has a ‘if these walls could talk’ history. This weekend, we are being treated to Jason Moran & the Bandwagon. Described as part funk, part hip-hop, and contemporary composition, Jason brings a style of jazz that is truly unique. Performances are streaming Friday and Saturday at 8 pm ET and tickets are $10 and can be purchased here. And, if you want a sneak peek at Jason in concert, here he is performing on NPR.
Williamstown Theatre Festival has struck up an innovative collaboration with Audible to develop its first ever audio-only theatre season. And, boy, what a line-up it is, starting on Thursday, December 3 with A Streetcar Named Desire, starting with none other than Ms. Audra McDonald. It literally does not get better than this. Audra, as us Broadway geeks know, has won a record six Tony Awards and has literally embodied everyone from Julie Jordan in Carousel to Billie Holliday, which is no easy feat. I can think of nothing better than listening to Audra on one of my many mask covered walks. Learn how to subscribe here.
Let’s take a trip across the pond to the National Theatre to see the sensational play, Death of England. Britain’s second lockdown forced this play to open and close on the same night but God Bless the National Theatre for filming that one performance, which they are now making available for free on their YouTube channel starting today, 27 November. The Guardian gave it 4 stats and described it as “fine and furious”. You can read their full review here. This is not to be missed. You can find it here.
I was lucky enough to see An American in Paris on opening night in New York and I can say that I literally danced across Time Square afterwards to get the subway back downtown to meet Mr Fairs for dinner (oh, those were the days when we could actually go OUT for dinner…). A Gershwins’ classic, this is such a special musical with an incredible cast. Well, a new staging platform, Stage2view.com is letting us all experience this gem from wherever we are in the world. For just $5.99 we can rent this musical for a 48 hour period. What better way to break up a Monday evening than a virtual dance through Paris. You can register here.
Let’s end where we started, on Broadway (kind of). I’m not sure how James Corden did this but he managed to bring together our favs: Audra McDonald, Patti LuPone, Josh Groban, Kristin Chenoweth, and Josh Gad to take on Dan Mertzlufft’s newest TikTok craze, Thanksgiving: The TikTok Musical. It is eight minutes of pure delicious joyfulness!!
Enjoy!!
And, and 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.