Not To Be Missed This Week in The Arts

PHOTO: Joan Marcus | South Pasadena News | Cobie Smulders and Kevin Kline in Present Laughter

PBS.org continues its Great Performances series with Kevin Kline’s Tony Award-winning performance in Noël Coward’s “Present Laughter”, streaming July 31 – August 28. The play was first produced in 1942, with Coward himself in the leading role, and was most recently produced for a revival on Broadway in 2017

Filmed by BroadwayHD, the capture features Kevin Kline as Garry Essendine, an actor high on vanity in the midst of a mid-life crisis and caught between the many women in his life.

Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, the Noël Coward classic also stars Kate Burton, Kristine Nielson, Cobie Smulders, Bhavesh Patel, Reg Rogers, Matt Bittner, Ellen Harvey, Peter Francis James, Tedra Millan, and Sandra Shipley.

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The comedy won over audiences and critics alike, earning a Tony nomination for Best Revival of a Play and a Tony for star Kline and featured scenic design by Tony winner David Zinn, costume design by Tony winner Susan Hiferty, lighting design by two-time Tony nominee Justin Townsend, and sound design by Drama Desk winner Fitz Patton.

PHOTO: New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Taylor Stanley

Choreographer Kyle Abraham and New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Taylor Stanley join forces for a powerful new collaboration at LincolnCenter.org. Created at the close of a Pride Month unlike any other, Ces noms que nous portons (These names we carry) is a collaboration between queer artists of color, and the work celebrates those identities while honoring their history. Filmed at the Lincoln Center fountain amidst the Pride light installation, this riveting new solo is choreographed by Abraham and movingly rendered by Stanley. At once evocative and tender, this beautiful site-specific performance is not to be missed.

Co-Produced by New York City Ballet and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

The Wine & Song podcast is back this week! Episode 17 features Jim Salestrom, Sarah Rogo, Clara Baker, Tony Lucca, Dale LaDuke, and Chauncey Bowers; plus Words with Chauncey: Big Data. Tune in at BlueGuitar.club

PHOTO: Wagner’s Die Walküre at The Met.org

The Met is streaming Wagner’s Die Walküre Sunday, August 2. The second installment of Wagner’s four-part Ring cycle, Die Walküre is the most popular and most self-contained episode in the epic tetralogy. It combines the mythical machinations of gods and demigods with the deeply human love story of the brave hero Siegmund and the dignified Sieglinde, whose passion is undiminished even when they discover that they are long-lost brother and sister, separated at birth. It also features one of opera’s most touching father-daughter relationships—that between Wotan, king of the gods, and his warrior-maiden daughter Brünnhilde, leader of the Valkyries. Wagner’s score requires singers as superhuman as the characters they portray and features some of the most glorious orchestral music ever written, making for an unforgettable operatic experience. Check in with TheMet.org as they stream an opera every evening for 24 hours.

PHOTO: The company of Richard II at Shakespeare’s Globe

At the YouTube channel Swinging The Lens, you can view the Shakespeare’s Globe Theater’s 2019 production of Richard II, the Bard’s great play of England. This is a filmed version of the critically acclaimed first all women of colour Shakespeare on a UK stage.