Thinking Ahead to January and PNC Broadway’s OKLAHOMA!, Attack Theatre’s Curiosity: The Play Book, Pittsburgh Operas The Rose Elf, Liberty Magic’s The Evansons in Second Sight, and Corning Work’s The Tipping Point.
OKLAHOMA! like you have never seen before!
Less than three weeks until PNC Broadway’s presentation of OKLAHOMA!, the 2019 Tony-winning Best Revival of a Musical, opens at the Benedum on January 4th with performances through the 9th.
(I saw the revival on Broadway shortly after it opened, and it was simply fabulous. Sharon will have a more detailed preview for us before the shows opening on the 4th.)
This OKLAHOMA! is nothing like you’ve ever seen before, reimagined by the visionary director Daniel Fish and reveals a distinctly modern subtext to the classic 1943 musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.
Not a word of text was changed in the script, but the artistic choices employed in this production yield a new vision of a classic story.
For example, The “Dream Ballet” is the signature moment of any production of OKLAHOMA!. Choreographer John Higgenbotham set this version on one barefoot modern dancer wearing a sequined DREAM BABY DREAM t-shirt, an homage to de Mille’s original piece. The result is a striking, reimagined piece with a distinctly rocking modern take. In this production, it is a stark beginning to Act Two.
Compare the two dances here:
In OKLAHOMA! an Extravagantly Minimalist Dream Ballet
(featuring Gabrielle Hamilton, who dances the role on national tour)
Complete Agnes de Mille “Dream Ballet”
For tickets visit:
Attack Theatre Presents Curiosity: The Play Book at its new Lawrenceville Headquarters
From January 27th through February 5th, 2022, Attack Theatre will jumpstart your curiosity through dance, music, and storytelling with a WORLD PREMIERE, all-ages dance performance Curiosity: The Play Book. This creative adventure, which will take place at the company’s new studio in Lawrenceville (212 45th St.) explores how everyday life may get lost in the destination, but there’s beauty in the journey.
To develop Curiosity, the company has been creating “chapters” through improvisation followed by a process of refining. Sometimes these explorations begin with a conceptual question: “What stops our curiosity?” Other times, it’s a physical challenge: “What is it like to try to dance with an inflatable snowman?”
Choreographed by artistic directors Peter Kope and Michele de la Reza, with new media design by Dane Toney and original music by Dave Eggar; Curiosity seeks to “learn by wonder, move through play.” And explores an incurable and insatiable curiosity that is at the center of the company’s creative programs.
Attack Theatre’s Curiosity: The Play Book opens Thursday, January 27th, 2022, and runs Saturday, February 5th, 2022. For tickets and more information, visit attacktheatre.com.
Pittsburgh Opera to perform fairy tale opera The Rose Elf and world premiere of In a Grove at its Bitz Opera Factory headquarters (2425 Liberty Avenue in the Strip District) this winter.
The first opera is The Rose Elf, based on the fairy tale The Elf of the Rose by Hans Christian Andersen. Demonstrating that not all fairy tales have happy endings, a carefree Elf loses its innocence after witnessing a despicable crime, and resolves to give closure to the victim’s Beloved.
The Rose Elf’s opens Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 with performances through the 30th.
The second opera is the world premiere of In a Grove. In a Grove is based on the short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, which inspired Kurosawa’s renowned film Rashomon. Set in 1920s rural Oregon, In a Grove is an innovative murder mystery which shows the elusive nature of truth.
In a Grove’s opens on February 19th, 2022 through March 3rd.
Additional details about each opera can be found on the In a Grove and The Rose Elf web pages.
For tickets visit: https://www.pittsburghopera.org/tickets/https://www.pittsburghopera.org/tickets/
Liberty Magic The Evansons in Second Sight, January 5-30, 2022
What better way to kick off the start of 2022 than with an unforgettable evening of magic? The Evansons will finally appear at Liberty Magic after a long-awaited postponement.
During the early 19th Century, a small number of married couples gained significant notoriety with performances of Second Sight. The Evasons are one of the very few couples in history who have mastered the incredible artistry of two-person telepathy. They continue to travel around the globe as they share this rare and mysterious legacy.
From the moment they walk on stage, Jeff and Tessa Evason interact and engage with everyone in the audience. People are speechless when Tessa perceives birth dates, personal items, a serial number on any bill in a borrowed wallet, or even the name of distant loved ones — all while standing on stage wearing a blindfold.
For tickets visit:
https://trustarts.org/production/76414/list_performances\
Corning Works’ THE TIPPING POINT — what would it take for YOU to leave home?
Originally set to open in March of 2020 to sold-out audiences, Beth Corning has further developed and contextualized The Tipping Point, which is now set to open January 19th, 2022 to 30th at Carrick 25.
An artistic collaboration with the renowned international organization, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) a timely, multi-disciplinary, intimate, audience-immersive production that taps the growing global refugee experience in an attempt to bring pressing issues closer to home, personalizing the headlines, after a worldwide year of political and racial upheaval, moving the question from “WHAT IF” to “WHAT NOW?”
For tickets, click THE TIPPING POINT — what would it take for YOU to leave home?
Categories: Feature Stories
Leave a Reply Cancel reply