August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork THE PIANO LESSON returns to Broadway in the event of the season, starring Academy Award® winner Samuel L. Jackson, Screen Actors Guild Award® nominee John David Washington, and Tony® and Emmy® nominee Danielle Brooks, directed by Tony nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson.
A battle is brewing in the Charles household. At the center lies the family’s prized heirloom piano. On one side, a brother plans to build the family fortune by selling it. On the other, a sister will go to any length to keep it and preserve the family history. Only their uncle stands in between. But even he can’t hold back the ghosts of the past.
THE PIANO LESSON is the play for now. It reaches into the souls of the present, revealing startling truths about how we perceive our past—and who gets to define our legacy.
Samuel L. Jackson, David John Washington, Danielle Brooks, Trai Byers, April Matthis, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Nadia Daniel, Jurnee Swan, Shirine Babb, Charles Browning, Peter Jay Fernandez, Sharina Martin, Warner J. Miller, Doron Jepaul Mitchell, Kim Sullivan
The Met begins the New Year with a vital new production of one of opera’s most enduringly powerful works. Acclaimed English director Carrie Cracknell makes her Met debut, reinvigorating the classic story with a staging that moves the action to the modern day and finds at the heart of the drama issues that could not be more relevant today: gendered violence, abusive labor structures, and the desire to break through societal boundaries. Dazzling young mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina leads a powerhouse quartet of stars in the complex and volatile title role, alongside tenor Piotr Beczała as Carmen’s troubled lover Don José, soprano Angel Blue as the loyal Micaëla, and bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen as the swaggering Escamillo. Daniele Rustioni conducts Bizet’s heart-pounding score. Later in the season, another cast of world-class singers takes over, with mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine reprising her captivating portrayal of the title role, tenor Michael Fabiano as Don José, soprano Ailyn Pérez as Micaëla, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as Escamillo, and Diego Matheuz making his company debut on the podium. Please note that video cameras will be in operation during the January 23 and January 27 performances as part of the Met’s Live in HD series of cinema transmissions. The Met gratefully acknowledges the support of Adrienne Arsht, the Berry Charitable Foundation, and Elizabeth M. and Jean-Marie R. Eveillard
After a sold-out run at Pioneer Works last summer, this hilariously bleak tale of human arrogance in today’s age of consumerism-driven climate change is back by popular demand! Dynasty Handbag’s Titanic Depression is a parody of James Cameron’s Hollywood hit “Titanic,” the live multimedia event combines animation, video, soundscapes, and improvisation, bringing to life the story of the unsinkable ship that strikes an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sinks. This disaster became a potent symbol of the haves versus the have-nots. Handbag plays various characters in the film, such as “Rose,’’ who sparks a torrid, interspecies romance with “Jack,” a mute octopus escaping the warming seas by stowing away on the ship disguised as a giant ladies hat. While the iceberg melts in balmy weather before the Titanic reaches it, the vessel goes down anyway in a tour de force of nonsensical, collective doom—a tragicomedy of our own making that no amount of metal straws or fastidiously-sorted recycling will fix. Don’t miss out on this unforgettable performance that will leave you thinking about the consequences of our actions. At a time of climate crisis on seemingly every front, “levity arises out of the sheer pressure cooker of the era we are collectively experiencing,” as Handbag has noted. Presented in partnership with Under the Radar, Mark Russell, Festival Director & ArKtype, Festival Producer. More information at utrfest.org
Family Happiness continues Juliana May‘s decade-long investigation into body control and the complicated system of victimhood and perpetration. Pitting Post-Modern and Modernist choreographic strategies such as task and symbolism against pop cultural references of the 80s and 90s, this dance-text-song triptych delivers a space for culpability and catharsis.
With maximalist movement, oddball humor, and unrelenting theatricality, Deepe Darknesse (pronounced dee-pee dark-ness-ay) is a physical theater performance combing dance, theater, and experimentation that will leave you breathless. Created by choreographers Lisa Fagan and Lena Engelstein, the show is a transmogrification regimen of their own design where they push their physical limits to the max and take the audience on a journey of curiosity, wonder, and the unexpected. Deepe Darknesse is a Rube Goldberg machine of “curiositas improspera” or unhappy curiosity. The performers strive to become something “better” (a bird?), but their attempts backfire in unexpected ways. The show’s three worlds tangle into a Gordian knot, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, the underrated 1960s Italian songstress Cocki Mazzetti takes the stage, overshadowing the climax and leaving you wanting more. Deepe Darknesse is an abacus whose beads slide between animal, machine, and person. The performers exert extreme effort and use hack rituals to push the needle towards their desired outcome. In a journey of self-discovery and exploration that touches the core of what it means to be human. Join us for a performance that will leave you awestruck, questioning, and laughing all at once.
2021-2022 YoungArts Fellow Awardee Roderick George | kNoname Artist presents the world premiere of “Venom,” a work inspired by his research of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the 1980s and his relationship with today’s political climate. “Venom” exposes how the queer community faced silencing, isolation, being forced into hiding, and death through fear, media, family dynamics, and ‘God’s reckoning.’ As a queer Black man from Houston, Texas, George recognizes that his existence lies on these individuals’ backs. He pays homage to his community’s ability to uplift each other through trauma, using the underground nightlife as a sanctuary from the ugly world. The work is named ‘Venom’ because of the negative impact of society on the LGBTQIA + community and the psychological effects. While demonstrating an organized isolation of individuals, many continued to die from the deadly plague. In the 1980s, the government’s use of religion vindicated their beliefs that HIV/AIDS was God’s reckoning on the queer community. Even as a reflection of today’s climate, the silencing deprived individuals of resources, which guided the community to uplift each other through trauma in the underground nightlife as a sanctuary from the ugly world. ‘Venom’ features music by Slowdanger and performance by Roderick George, Mark Caserta, Alex Haskins, Nouhoum Koita, and Elijah Labay.
Weathering had its world premiere at New York Live Arts in April 2023. Driscoll was the 2021-2022 Randjelović /Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist. Driscoll’s newest work Weathering is a multi-sensory flesh and breath sculpture made of bodies, sounds, scents, liquids and objects. Ten performers enact a glacially morphing tableau vivant on a mobile raft- like stage surging through the Anthropocene. Their voices generate a score that crescendos and resonates as they clutch, careen and cleave, in a space too small to contain them, spilling off the edges. The audience embanks the performers, close enough to smell the sweat and feel the steam of the central, spiraling scenes in this symphonically active, luminously living work.In Weathering, ten performers consisting of dancers, singers, and production crew glacially morph moment to moment on a mobile raft-like stage surging through the Anthropocene. Their voices generate a score that crescendos and resonates as they clutch, careen and cleave, in a space too small to contain them, spilling off the edges. The audience embanks the performers, close enough to smell the sweat and feel the steam of the central, spiraling scenes. The symphonically active, luminously living work is a breathing, leaking, choreography of micro events within a momentum thrusting from what was just below the surface to the immediately, alarmingly, perceivable. The piece is performed by James Barrett, Kara Brody, Miguel Alejandro Castillo, Amy Gernux, Shayla-Vie Jenkins, Jennifer Nugent, Cory Seals, Carlo Antonio Villanueva, and Jo Warren. Scenic Design is by Jake Margolin and Nick Vaughan; Lighting Design by Amanda K. Ringger; Live Sound and Sound Design by Ryan Gamblin; Composition, Field recordings, and Sound Design by Guillaume Soula; Costume Design by Karen Boyer; and Dramaturgy by Dages Juvelier Keates.
The Bill T. Jones Arnie Zane / Company will be performing Love Redefined & Story as part of UAlbany’s Dance In Albany Series. Born in 1982, this trailblazing company foreshadowed issues of identity, form and social commentary that would change the face of American dance. With a repertory that is widely varied in its subject matter, visual imagery and stylistic approach to movement, voice and stagecraft, it remains one of the foremost contemporary dance groups in the world.
Dia Art Foundation and New York Live Arts present the New York premiere of Boy mother / faceless bloom, a stage work by Juni One Set, a collaboration of Senga Nengudi, yuniya edi kwon, and Haruko Crow Nishimura & Joshua Kohl of Degenerate Art Ensemble. The work is presented in conjunction with the long-term exhibition of Nengudi’s work on view at Dia Beacon, as part of Performa Biennial 2023. Threading mythology and autobiography, while drawing from the diverse lineages of queer, anti-colonial, and care-based artistic practices, Boy mother / faceless bloom is an interdisciplinary performance work. Dance, music, poetry, ritual, and sculptural installation converge to tell a story of transformation, transgression, and the formation of new transcestral lines.
The perpetually groundbreaking Kronos Quartet welcomes a once-in-a-lifetime lineup of guest artists and ensembles to celebrate its 50th anniversary. This special concert includes a short film by award-winning documentarian Sam Green; the New York premieres of Carnegie Hall co-commissioned works by Michael Gordon and Gabriella Smith; and an extraordinary new “Sunrise Jam” version of Terry Riley’s Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector for 50 musicians.
Presented by the New Paltz Ballet Theatre SATURDAY DECEMBER 9 – 2:00PM SATURDAY DECEMBER 9 – 7:30PM SUNDAY DECEMBER 10 – 3:00PM The New Paltz Ballet Theatre returns for its 24th season to present this classic holiday event featuring dancers from the New York City Ballet. Peter and Lisa Naumann, co-directors of the NPBT, have brought many fine regional artists together to create this beautiful production. Dancers, designers, and technicians have all contributed to make this Nutcracker a visual delight. Come along with Marie as she dreams of a fierce battle between giant mice and toy soldiers followed by a magical journey through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets. Made possible with generous support from Rhinebeck Bank and Nuvance Health.
Presented by The Catskill Ballet Theatre CATSKILL BALLET THEATRE IS PLEASED TO PRESENT THE NUTCRACKER FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2019! FRIDAY DECEMBER 8 – 7:00PM SATURDAY DECEMBER 9 – 4:00PM SUNDAY DECEMBER 10 – 2:00PM Join us as we follow the enchanted adventures of young Clara from a lavish Christmas party, to a battle With an evil King Mouse, and then to the magnificent Land of Sweets where she meets the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier, and is entertained with delightful dances from around the world. For more information visit the CATSKILL BALLET THEATRE WEBSITE The presentation described on this page is a theatre rental. If you would like information about renting the Bardavon or UPAC visit RENTAL INFORMATION.
Presented by Classical Arts Entertainment The State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine is a 55-member troupe of Ukrainian dancers who come together each year to perform in North America. But this year, things were very different. After covertly rehearsing in a war zone, they took on the difficult task of transporting the company, set and costumes out of Ukraine to bring this full-scale production of the classic fairy tale of dreams coming true. A treat the whole family will enjoy! When The State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine created this Cinderella Ballet, they wanted to give the audience an unforgettable experience, immerse them in a fairy tale and help them believe in miracles. Working on the ballet, they primarily focused on the children in the audience. Therefore, the costumes, scenery, and props turned out to be exciting, bright and colorful. Their main goal is to make a child, having seen this ballet, want to come to the theater again. However, they are confident that the performance will interest audiences of all ages! After all, we all need a real fairy tale in our lives! A stunning and unique production of music by Sergei Prokofiev, featuring virtuoso solo parts, famous characters and dynamic music. Buy your tickets today, or you may turn into a pumpkin!