Jim Munson - Page 8

If you've been spending some of your pandemic downtime attempting to declutter your life and have found yourself struggling to let go of certain items of no discernable value or use, Jeff Greenwald has got just the show for you. On May 29th, the acclaimed travel writer and performer will bring his new show, 108 Beloved Objects, to The Marsh, inviting audiences to rethink how we interact with the material world. When his travel assignments dried up due to the COVID pandemic, Greenwald used that as an opportunity to embark on an inward journey around his Oakland flat, ultimately picking out 108 objects that evoked personal passages. Greenwald parts with these items and introduces an element of chance by inviting five audience members to pick one object that catches their eye from a grid of 16 images. Whether it's a toy camera or a dolphin tooth necklace, each item has its own fascinating tale to tell, leading to a series of unexpected encounters and surprising destinations that are humorous, thought-provoking and deeply personal. Immediately following the performance Greenwald will be joined by The Marsh Founder/Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman for a Q&A. 108 Beloved Objects will be streamed at 7:30pm (PDT) on Saturday, May 29. For more information, visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream. BroadwayWorld spoke with Greenwald last week from his flat in Oakland, California. This past, essentially homebound year has definitely been a strange one for someone like him who makes his living largely as a travel writer. We talked about how his original impetus to declutter his life led to this new solo show, his thoughts on why we get so attached to certain objects and what their ultimate function might be, and his challenges as a self-professed non-actor to become a successful solo performer. As might be expected for such an inveterate traveler, Greenwald is an inherently interesting interview. He is very comfortable chatting with folks (like me) whom he's never met, readily offers up little bits of insight gleaned from his exposure to so many different cultures, and isn't reticent to gently question some of his interviewer's assumptions. He also has an understated sense of humor that often lies just below the surface of his actual words.

If, like me, you’re not all that familiar with art songs by Black composers, Candace Johnson is here to show you what you’ve been missing out on. On May 22nd and 23rd, the acclaimed soprano and actress will perform her new show Music to My Ears - Hearing Adolphus Hailstork to kick off The Marsh’s new solo performance musical series The Art Songs of Black Composers on its digital platform MarshStream. Dr. Johnson will be joined by San Francisco Symphony pianist Marc Shapiro to shine a light on celebrated modern composer Hailstork’s song cycle Ventriloquist Acts of God, blending singing with theatrical storytelling to depict a university professor and her students discussing how to hear the music – and each other – in a whole new way. Immediately following the performance, Johnson and Shapiro will be joined by The Marsh Founder/Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman for a Q&A. Music to My Ears - Hearing Adolphus Hailstork will be streamed at 7:30pm PDT on Saturday, May 22 and 5:00pm PDT on Sunday, May 23. Prior to those performances, Johnson and Dr. Adolphus Hailstork will appear on Stephanie’s MarshStream at 7:30pm PDT on Thursday, May 20 to discuss his work. Additional information can be found at www.themarsh.org/marshstream.

Have you heard the one about Rachmaninoff and Anastasia? Well, Hershey Felder has quite a tale to tell you! On Sunday, May 16th, acclaimed pianist/performer Felder will portray the iconic Russian composer in Nicholas, Anna & Sergei, his latest world premiere livestream from Florence, Italy. Nicholas, Anna & Sergei explores the little-known story of a strange meeting of Russian piano virtuoso Rachmaninoff and Anna Anderson, a woman who claimed to be Princess Anastasia, the sole surviving member of the Romanov Dynasty. Set in the Beverly Hills house in which Rachmaninoff died in 1943, Nicholas, Anna & Sergei is a mesmerizing memory play imbued with the composer's most-beloved music. Presented by Hershey Felder Presents Live from Florence in conjunction with TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, the show was written by Felder and directed by Felder and Italian film artist Stefano DeCarli. It promises Felder's uniquely entertaining blend of live performance, filmed elements, sumptuous visuals, gorgeous music, compelling drama and fascinating cultural history, all leavened with bits of wry humor. The production will also include guest stars such as world-famed soprano and actor Ekaterina Siurina as Natalia Alexandrovna Rachmaninoff, Klezmerata Fiorentina violinist Igor Polesitsky as Dr. Golitzin, and theatre and film actor J. Anthony Crane (who played the title role in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's Cyrano) as Tsar Nicholas II. Helen Farrell will play Anna Anderson. Nicholas, Anna & Sergei will stream live at 5pm PDT, on Sunday, May 16, 2021 (with streaming on-demand access through May 23). To purchase tickets or find more information, visit TheatreWorks.org. Ticket sales directly benefit TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. BroadwayWorld spoke with Felder last week from his home in Florence while he was in the whirlwind of creating this world premiere. We talked about the craziness of producing these incredibly complicated multimedia livestreams during Covid times, how Rachmaninoff's music and story resonates so deeply for him, and his plans for a whole new season of offerings. Felder is always a delight to talk to - instantly engaging, funny, warm and knowledgeable - and any conversation with him is apt to go off on a number of unanticipated tangents. For example, who knew that Rachmaninoff was tickled pink by Mickey Mouse playing his Prelude in C #? Felder's use of language is also uniquely musical. But then, what else would you expect from a Canadian who grew up speaking English, Yiddish and French, and is now creating his latest work in Italy surrounded by a team of Russians?

San Francisco Ballet's revisiting of Helgi Tomasson's 'Romeo & Juliet' is, in a word, gorgeous. The dancing, the design and especially the music – all gorgeous. The penultimate program of its 2021 Digital Season is available for streaming through May 26th in a top-notch 2015 video capture featuring a nigh on perfect cast. Not all narrative ballets transfer effectively to a video format, but happily this one does, due to its focus on interactions between pairs and small groups, and its relative lack of the kind of mathy, geometric corps de ballet set pieces that can look somewhat diminished and underwhelming on a TV or computer screen.

The latest offering in 42nd Street Moon’s 2021 Moonbeams series is a new virtual production of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill starring Doris Bumpus as the legendary Billie Holiday. Written by Lanie Robertson and directed by Brandon Jackson with musical direction by Marcus McCauley, the play is both a celebration of Holiday as a musical icon and an exploration of her experience as a Black woman in America. Ultimately, it is a testament to the power of the human spirit to persevere in spite of incredible adversity. Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill is available to stream through May 30, 2021. For further information and to purchase tickets, visit 42ndstmoon.org/moonbeams. BroadwayWorld caught up with Ms. Bumpus earlier this week in Miami, where she was celebrating her 28th wedding anniversary. The Michigan native grew up singing in church, taking on her first solo at the tender age of five. The actor/singer/producer has her own production company, D’Sunflower Productions, and also has a pair of EP’s on iTunes, including her most recent release, “God Bless the Child,” which pays tribute to Billie Holiday. Her wide-ranging Bay Area theater credits include playing Dorothy Gale in 'The Wiz' and Effie White in 'Dreamgirls,' receiving a Pan Arts Award for Best Lead Actress for both. 42nd Street Moon audiences will remember her as Jewel in 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.' In conversation, Bumpus is easily chatty and ebullient, and her joy in being a working actor is palpable.

The latest offering of San Francisco Ballet's 2021 Digital Season shows off the wondrous artistry of the company's dancing more than anything. This mixed rep program of 3 very different ballets originally made on the company provides a dazzling showcase for the dancers' versatility, technique and musicality.

Actor-writer-lawyer Mark McGoldrick is someone with an unusually compelling life story. A self-described former “fuckup” whose youth was largely spent in a haze of drug use and delinquency, McGoldrick was involved in a horrifying accident that could have cost him his life and did leave him paralyzed. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, McGoldrick used this tragedy as an opportunity to reset his life. He went to Harvard Law School and became a public defender for Alameda County, representing people, mostly of color, charged with the same offenses of his earlier days. A number of years ago, he felt the compulsion to start putting his riveting stories onstage by writing and performing solo shows. McGoldrick is now chronicling his story over four monthly episodes in Countercoup, The Marsh’s first broadcast series. Countercoup will be presented the first weekend of each month, May 1 – August 8, 2021 with a new installment performed each weekend at 7:30pm (PDT), Saturdays and 5:00pm (PDT), Sundays. BroadwayWorld recently spoke with McGoldrick while he was on a break from his day job as a public defender in downtown Oakland. We discussed how he was able to recover from personal tragedy and to harness his innate mouthiness to use it for the greater good, how his stage work can affect his loved ones, ongoing issues with our justice system, and some unanticipated benefits from the Covid pandemic for folks with disabilities. As expected, he was fascinating to talk to – keenly intelligent and brutally honest with a sly sense of humor, but also deeply thoughtful, considerate and ultimately quite hopeful. He has a propensity to speak in long, complex sentences that manifest his experience as a public defender.

While the theatre world continues to engage in much-needed conversations about how to make our art form more inclusive and equitable, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is offering a tangible example of what that can look like. Its New Works Festival Online will stream an advance look at tomorrow's boundary-breaking plays and musicals from an astoundingly diverse array of theatre makers. Transforming the Tony-winning company's annual festival into a virtual experience, New Works Festival Online offers digital audiences an extraordinary opportunity to view new plays and selections from new musicals, and learn more about the development process in conversations with the playwrights. New Works Festival Online runs April 23 - May 15, 2021 with performances streaming live. Streaming access is available at pay what you can pricing ($10 minimum for a festival pass) at theatreworks.org. BroadwayWorld recently spoke with Giovanna Sardelli, TheatreWorks Artistic Associate and Director of New Works, from Las Vegas, where she was born and raised and has been spending most of the pandemic away from her actual home in New York. Sardelli has made a career out of championing new works and seeking out voices we may not have heard before, and her enthusiasm for her work is infectious. Any conversation with her is bound to convince you that you need to venture away from the tried and true and take a chance on a playwright you may be unfamiliar with. Not only will it expand your horizons, but you will also be moved and entertained.

honor of Black leaders who shaped and defined American history, The Marsh is presenting Darryl Van Leer’s riveting The Escape of Frederick Douglass on its digital platform, MarshStream. Van Leer wrote and stars in the acclaimed production, which brings to vivid life the early years of African American rights activist Frederick Douglass, from his youth as an unruly boy caught in a slave training camp to his gripping and suspenseful train ride to freedom. Immediately following the performance, Van Leer will be joined by The Marsh Founder/Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman for a Q&A. The Escape of Frederick Douglass will be streamed on Saturday, April 24 at 7:30pm PDT. For more information, please visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream. BroadwayWorld up with Van Leer last week from his home base in Nashville, Tennessee. An actor with some notable film & TV credits, Van Leer is perhaps best known for his stage works about political and cultural leaders, including musical performers such as Ray Charles and Little Richard. We discussed The Escape of Frederick Douglass and how he went about bringing such an iconic historical figure to life, and his thoughts on finding hope in difficult times. Van Leer has made it his mission to take inspiration from these great historical figures and pass it on to his audiences.

San Francisco’s revered 42nd Street Moon kicks off its 2021 “Moonbeams” season with Jason Graae in Perfect Hermany, a tribute to the late, great Jerry Herman, writer of such classic musicals as Hello, Dolly!, Mame and La Cage Aux Folles. The title Perfect Hermany is an unusually apt one as Graae is the perfect interpreter of Herman’s work, having starred in a much-lauded production Herman’s The Grand Tour in LA and toured for years with Herman in Hello, Jerry!, a revue of Herman’s work. Perfect Hermany is available for streaming on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through May 2, 2021. For additional information and to purchase tickets, visit 42ndStreetMoon.org. Among his many credits, Graae has appeared on Broadway numerous times, toured extensively as The Wizard in Wicked, performed with major symphonies across the country, recorded dozens of musical theater albums and has enjoyed a long association with 42nd Street Moon. He is known for the improbable combination of his antic, go-for-broke comedic style and the impeccable musicianship of his soaring tenor. He is the type of performer who can make you bust a gut one moment, and then melt your heart the next.   BroadwayWorld caught up with Graae last week from his home base in LA soon after he had completed filming Perfect Hermany. We talked about his long association with both Herman and 42nd Street Moon, his favorite Herman songs, a couple of key roles that somehow got away from him and a few he still hopes to have a go at. Graae is always a blast to talk to. It seems the guy just is incapable of not being funny, but he is also thoughtful and kind, and sort of a walking treasure trove of theatrical lore. The following conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

You may not be aware of World Voice Day, but it’s celebrated every April 16th to demonstrate the enormous importance of the voice in the daily lives of all people. I can’t imagine a better person to observe it with than Candace Johnson, who leads CJ’s FitnesSing!™ on the MarshStream platform every Friday at 12:00 noon PT, free of charge. Her unique method combines physical activity with vocal training, and if either of those things gives you some trepidation, you needn’t worry. She blends the two seamlessly and makes it all accessible to students at all levels. In a single hour you’ll get some exercise, you’ll sing, and you’ll learn a lot about the voice and different vocal styles. And most of all, you will likely have a blast. Johnson is definitely a “people person” whose enthusiasm for is infectious. A soprano acclaimed for her vocal clarity and expressive interpretation, Johnson has concertized widely, including guest appearances at Carnegie Hall and The Manhattan Center. She earned her doctorate in voice performance from the University of Michigan and is on the music faculty at UC Berkeley. BroadwayWorld caught up with her recently to find out how she came up with her innovative approach. She also talked about her background growing up in the South as a girl who sang from a young age but didn’t initially see a path for herself as a serious student of voice. She was eventually able to fuse her Black music heritage with her classical training to find her true voice. Johnson is a delightful conversationalist, fun and upbeat yet also open and honest about her own struggles, and warm and empathetic in her responses. And she has an uncanny ability to make even the nerdiest aspects of vocal health sound like fun.

The latest program in San Francisco Ballet’s 2021 digital season is the glorious return of George Balanchine’s Jewels. BroadwayWorld reviews the thrilling production now streaming through April 21, 2021.

Virtuoso pianist, actor and writer Hershey Felder certainly knows how to handle any curveballs life throws him. Stuck in Florence, Italy (poor guy!) for the duration of Covid, he is using his Tuscan surroundings to enrich his new show about native son Giacomo Puccini. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and Opera San José are coming together to offer viewers the world premiere livestream of Hershey Felder, PUCCINI, a new work by and starring Felder, along with guest stars from the opera world - baritone Nathan Gunn, sopranos Gianna Corbisiero and Ekaterina Siurina, and tenor Charles Castronovo. Presented by Hershey Felder Presents Live from Florence, Hershey Felder, PUCCINI tells the story of a young musician captivated by the world of opera, particularly by Puccini’s eternally popular works La Bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly. Sumptuously filmed and performed on location in Lucca, Italy in the very home where Giacomo Puccini was born, Hershey Felder, PUCCINI combines theatre, music and film to create a uniquely moving experience for audiences. The show will be streamed live at 5pm PST on Sunday, March 14, 2021 (with streaming on-demand access through March 21). To buy tickets or find more information, visit TheatreWorks.org or Operasj.org. Ticket sales directly benefit the arts organization through which they are purchased. BroadwayWorld spoke with Felder earlier this week from his home in Florence while he was in the midst of making final tweaks to the show. He is super fascinating and just plain fun to talk to. His knowledge of, and love for, the arts runs so deep that that I always come away from any conversation with him having learned something, having been entertained and having been moved. Much like the experience of seeing one of his shows, in fact. Underscoring everything is his irrepressible sense of humor and musical way with words.

There is a lot to love in San Francisco Ballet’s recently unveiled Program 03 of mixed repertoire, even if it takes a bit of a dip in the middle. The program gets off to a smashing start with Alexei Ratmansky’s Symphony #9, which is part of his justly celebrated Shostakovich Trilogy. Next up is Danielle Rowe's world premiere dance film 'Wooden Dimes' set in the world of 1920's vaudeville. The program comes to a rousing close with Yuri Possokhov's 'Swimmer' an imaginative take on the John Cheever short story. Program 03 is available to stream through March 24th.

When Lorraine Hansberry Theatre announced last September that Bay Area theatre luminary Margo Hall had been appointed as its first female Artistic Director, it felt like a promise of good things to come. Six months later, the venerable company is back up and running full steam ahead with its first staged production since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s [hieroglyph], available to stream on-demand March 13th through April 3rd. Hall directed this as a co-production with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre’s long-time collaborator San Francisco Playhouse, and would seem to be the perfect director to bring it to life. Dickerson-Despenza is a Tow Playwright-in-Residence at New York’s Public Theater who centers her writings on Black women’s land legacies and distinct experiences of environmental racism. Telling the raw, honest story of a 13-year-old girl struggling Post-Hurricane Katrina, wrestling with being displaced to a new city while secretly coping with the PTSD of an assault at the Superdome, [hieroglyph] is part of Dickerson-Despenza’s 10-play Katrina cycle focused on the effects of Hurricane Katrina and its state-sanctioned, man-made disaster rippling in & beyond New Orleans. Hall describes the play as “tragically beautiful.” Patrons may support the organization of their choice by purchasing tickets from Lorraine Hansberry Theatre at lhtsf.org or from San Francisco Playhouse at sfplayhouse.org. BroadwayWorld spoke with Hall last week, just as she was preparing to meet her cast in person for the first time after weeks of Zoom rehearsals. Speaking to her, I got the distinct impression of someone who is exactly where she needs to be right now. This may be her first stint as an artistic director, but in so many ways she has been preparing for this role her entire life. Her decades of experience as an actor, director, playwright, professor and activist all coalesce to serve her in her new role. We talked about her hopes to expand Hansberry’s purview, the need to create culturally-specific theatre, and the exigencies of producing theatre and TV (she is also acting in the new “Blindspotting” series!) during Covid times. Throughout our conversation, I was struck by the sheer joy she exudes for making theatre and for finding herself in a place where she can create new opportunities for Black theatre artists.

There are just some people on this planet who naturally operate on a more creative level than the rest of us, and mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn is clearly one of those people. She is bringing her wildly inventive musical science show Science Fair: An Opera with Experiments to The Marsh on Saturday, March 6th.  Conceived and performed by Chinn with pianist Erika Switzer, Science Fair pairs luscious operatic vocals with light-hearted humor and science lectures. Chinn herself describes it as “a classical cabaret of science songs with science communication staging, including live experiments and slide shows, a little audience participation and a general sort of Bill Nye fun.” Science Fair will be available for livestream at 5:00pm PST on March 6th, followed by a post-performance Q&A with The Marsh Founder/Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman. Chinn will also appear two days prior to that on Stephanie’s MarshStream at 7:30pm on Thursday, March 4th to discuss this innovative work. For more information, visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream. BroadwayWorld caught up with Chinn last week from her home in the Hudson Valley, where she had just moved from New York City only two days earlier. A Northern California native with degrees from the Eastman and Yale Schools of Music, Shinn has enjoyed an unusually eclectic career, with credits as varied as touring around the world in Phillip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach, playing Lady Thiang in The King & I on the West End, and performing with the experimental Wooster Group in New York. Given her resume, I had thought she might be fascinating to talk to, and she did not disappoint. I mean, what other opera singers do you know who do science in their spare time, just for fun? We talked about how Science Fair came to be, her passion for the creative process, and our evolving understanding around issues of racial and gender equity. In conversation, she is candid and accessible, brainy and funny, and always very, very thoughtful. Underlying everything is her enduring joy in pushing the boundaries of what it means to create musical art.

Indian American actress and playwright Dipti Mehta’s award-winning work, HONOUR: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan kicks off Women’s History Month at The Marsh, which will focus the spotlight on female performers throughout the month of March. Offered via a MarshStream livestream, HONOUR incorporates original music, the dazzling colors of India, and a riveting plot worthy of Bollywood. Described as Memoirs of Geisha meets Slumdog Millionaire, it is a vibrant coming-of-age story set in the red-light districts of Mumbai. Centering on a mother-daughter duo, it examines inter-generational prostitution and why it exists, and addresses the issues of sex trafficking and human rights. This compelling work was named “Best Solo Show” at New York’s FRINGE in 2016 and was hailed as “beautiful and devastating” in a five-star review by Time Out NYC. Following the performance, Dipti will join the Solo Arts Heal host to discuss raising awareness and how to make a difference in the community of sex workers. HONOUR: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan will be streamed at 7:30pm PST on Wednesday, March 3. For more information, visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream. The performance will also be archived and available to watch on demand via The Marsh’s YouTube channel. BroadwayWorld recently spoke with Mehta while she was spending some time in Mumbai before heading back to her current home base in New York. To say that she has led an atypical life would be an understatement. An ardent feminist from a very young age in Mumbai, she became an actress and radio host in her teens before coming to America to get her doctorate Molecular & Cellular Biology and work in cancer research at Sloan Kettering. In recent years, she has returned to her true passion of theater with a focus on telling stories we haven’t heard before. In a wide-ranging conversation, we talked about the genesis of HONOUR, her unorthodox career path, and the current status of South Asian representation in the arts.

For oh-so many reasons, it seems there is finally a feeling of optimism in the air as we emerge from the dark days of 2020. San Francisco’s 42nd Street Moon has decided to capitalize on that with their star-studded virtual Gala You Can’t Stop the Beat, which streams on Sunday, February 28th beginning at 6:00pm PST. You Can’t Stop the Beat will be hosted by Broadway actor and beloved “Moonie” Jason Graae and feature performances from a number of Tony winners and nominees. Musical theatre luminaries Liz Callaway, Michael Maguire, Faith Prince and Emily Skinner, plus dozens of other musical theater artists from the Bay Area and beyond will perform numbers from favorite musicals such as Hairspray, Come From Away, Bye Bye Birdie, Hamilton and many more. All proceeds from the virtual gala will support programs that are critical to the expansion of Moon’s programming and continuation of their mission - including MoonSchool’s education and outreach programs and the renovation of their home at the Gateway Theatre. To learn more about the event or to make a donation, visit www.42ndstmoon.org/annualgala. BroadwayWorld recently caught up with Daniel Thomas, who shares duties as Moon’s Co-Executive Director with Daren A.C. Carollo. Thomas’ current hopefulness and gratitude for having made it through a difficult year is palpable. Putting this particular gala together has clearly been a joy, and Thomas is confident that Moon audiences have much to look forward to in the coming year.

San Francisco Ballet just released the second program of its 2021 digital season and it’s a knockout. The mixed-rep program of 3 very different contemporary ballets beautifully shows off the breadth and depth of the company’s artistry. Watching it, I kept saying to myself, “God, they’re good!” The headliner of the program is 'Colorforms,' a stunning world premiere by Myles Thatcher.

Mary Goggin has quite a story to tell in her play Runaway Princess, and perhaps the most astonishing thing is that it’s all true. She left home at 13 to escape her strict Irish Catholic upbringing, then spent years in drug addiction and prostitution before becoming sober and finding her true calling as an actor, and ultimately emerging back into the light of survival, motherhood and daily joy. Laced with an uncommon blend of brash humor and understated pathos, Runaway Princess received three awards at the United Solo Festival 2018 in New York City (Best Storyteller, Solo Critics Choice, Best Seller) as well as the Best Actor Award at the Galway Fringe 2019 and the Fringiest Award at the Baltimore Fringe 2019. On Wednesday, February 17th at 7:30pm PST, Goggin will appear on the Marshstream Solo Arts Heal series to present excerpts from the play and discuss how she overcame the pain, struggle and loss to discover her own resilience and pursue a blissful life. For further information, visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream. The episode will also be archived and available to watch later on The Marsh’s YouTube channel. BroadwayWorld spoke with Goggin from her home base in the Bronx. Ever the dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker, she is gutsy, warm and brutally honest. She also appears to have somehow survived her painful past without an ounce of self-pity, or the need to moralize or proselytize.