2024 Fall Arts Preview: Performing Arts
By • September 11, 2024 0 588
CLASSICAL
This Saturday, two weeks before the National Symphony Orchestra’s gala — featuring pianist Yunchan Lim playing Rachmaninoff (Sept. 28) — the NSO presents “Echoes of America” in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with The Washington Chorus and bass-baritone Morris Robinson, conducted by the chorus’s artistic director, Eugene Rogers (Sept. 14).
Gianandrea Noseda rarely leaves the podium next month, leading programs of: Beethoven, Carlos Simon and Richard Strauss songs sung by Rachel Willis-Sørensen (Oct. 3 to 5); Strauss’s “Ein Heldenleben” and Beethoven’s “Emperor” concerto with pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (Oct. 10 to 13); Brahms and more Strauss, sung by Renée Fleming (Oct. 17 to 19); and Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Alexander Raskatov’s new oboe concerto with Alexei Ogrintchouk (Oct. 31 to Nov. 2).
Lighter fare: “Mo @ the NSO” written and hosted by Mo Willems (Sept. 21 and 22), pops with Sara Bareilles (Sept. 24 to 26) and the “Halloween Spooktacular” (Oct. 27).
Sara Bareilles performs with the NSO Sept. 24-26.
Up the road at Strathmore, Yo-Yo Ma performs at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s gala (Sept. 20). A week later, Music Director Jonathon Heyward leads a program of Dvořák, Samuel Barber’s violin concerto with James Ehnes and composer-in-residence James Lee III’s “Visions of Cahokia” (Sept. 28). Music Director Laureate Marin Alsop returns to conduct Prokofiev, Chopin with pianist Hayato Sumino and another work by Lee (Oct. 19). For scary fun: Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas In Concert” (Oct. 25).
Also at Strathmore: Joseph Young presides over the National Philharmonic’s Rachmaninoff Festival, featuring pianists Sergei Babyan, Daniil Trifonov and Oleg Volkov (Sept. 14); and the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, with pianist Brian Ganz, presents Tania León’s “Pasajes,” along with some Mozart, Bruckner (it’s his 200th anniversary) and William Grant Still (Oct. 6).
At the Atlas Performing Arts Center, Capital City Symphony, led by Victoria Gau, presents a concert of Beethoven, Stravinsky and Simon (Oct. 6) and two family concerts, plus an instrument petting zoo (Nov. 3).
Chamber music is steps from Georgetowners’ doors. St. John’s Church welcomes organist Aaron Goen (Sept. 15) and VOCES8 (Oct. 20); the 47th season of Dumbarton Concerts at Dumbarton UMC opens with the Thirteen performing Bach motets (Oct. 19); and the 78-year-old Dumbarton Oaks series says g’day to Australian guitarist brothers Ziggy and Miles (Oct. 27 and 28).
Only slightly farther away, The Phillips Collection’s series, now 84, begins with Trio con Brio Copenhagen (Oct. 13) and pianist Kit Armstrong (Oct. 20).
First up in the Kennedy Center’s Fortas series in the Terrace Theater: the Isidore String Quartet (Oct. 30). Also in the Terrace, the Sphinx Virtuosi with percussionist Britton-René Collins, presented by Washington Performing Arts (Oct. 19); and the Kennedy Center Chamber Players (Nov. 3).
Washington Performing Arts presents the Sphinx Virtuosi in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Oct. 19.
The Smithsonian Chamber Series at the National Museum of American History presents the Axelrod String Quartet (Oct. 5 and 6). Chamber Dance Project’s resident string quartet plays at Alexandria’s Lyceum (Oct. 8). At the Library of Congress, Quatuor Diotima performs two “Schoenberg at 150” programs (Oct. 25 and 26). The Viano Quartet plays in The Barns at Wolf Trap (Oct. 27). Head for Arlington’s Gunston Arts Center to hear the National Chamber Ensemble perform “Hungarian Musical Masterpieces” (Nov. 9).
Led by Ángel Gil-Ordóñez, PostClassical Ensemble livens up the Terrace with “Legends of Brazil: A Musical Celebration for 200 Years of Friendship” (Nov. 19 and 20).
Early music lovers can catch Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” at St. Mark’s Capitol Hill (Sept. 21) and St. Paul’s Lutheran (Sept. 22); a program of French and English baroque works at Live! at 10th & G (Oct. 18) and St. Paul’s Episcopal (Oct. 19); and “Motet Mania” at the National Presbyterian Church (Oct. 27), brought to you by the Washington Bach Consort.
Folger Consort presents “Tale of Two Cities,” the cities being Florence and Venice (Sept. 13 to 15); and flutist Emi Ferguson and the baroque ensemble Ruckus perform at the Library of Congress (Oct. 30).
Piano recitals: Tony Siqi Yun in the Terrace Theater, part of Washington Performing Arts’ Hayes Piano Series (Oct. 27); and Sarah Cahill at Strathmore (Oct. 31).
At Washington National Cathedral, Steven Fox leads the Cathedral Choral Society in Brahms’ Requiem with mezzo-soprano Katerina Burton and baritone Trevor Scheunemann (Oct. 20).
Intimate vocal concerts: Vocal Arts DC’s opener in the Terrace Theater, with baritone Lucas Meachem and pianist Irina Meachem performing Mahler’s “Kindertotenlieder” and Liszt’s “Petrarch Sonnets” (Sept. 12); the Russian Chamber Art Society’s opener at the Embassy of France (Oct. 9); and, back in the Terrace, soprano Nadine Sierra in the Renée Fleming Voices series (Nov. 10).
OPERA
Washington National Opera Artistic Director Francesca Zambello directs “Fidelio,” the one and only Beethoven opera, set in a prison near Seville in the 1600s, with Sinéad Campbell Wallace as Leonore, Jamez McCorkle as Florestan, Derek Welton as Pizarro, David Leigh as Rocco and (surprise!) Denyce Graves as the Prime Minister. Music Director Designate Robert Spano conducts (Oct. 25 to Nov. 4).
More Spano: “Gods & Mortals: A Celebration of Wagner,” featuring soprano Christine Goerke, tenor Brandon Jovanovic, bass-baritone Derek Welton and bass Soloman Howard (Oct. 26).
Led by Antony Walker, Washington Concert Opera opens its 38th season with Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut,” starring soprano Corinne Winters, tenor Joshua Guerrero and baritone Levi Hernandez (Nov. 24).
THEATER
During Theatre Washington’s Theatre Week — actually two weeks — snag $20, $40 and $60 tickets to more than 30 shows. The Kickoff Fest is Sept. 28 at Arena Stage (Sept. 26 to Oct. 13).
A musical in which a Chinese theater producer and Hillary Clinton fall in love? That’s what a mugged playwright hallucinates in David Henry Hwang’s and Jeanine Tesori’s “Soft Power” at Signature Theatre, directed by Ethan Heard (through Sept. 15). Next up: Sondheim’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” directed by Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner (Oct. 29 to Jan. 12).
Can’t get enough of the Clintons? Take the kids to “She Persisted,” a Deborah Wicks La Puma-Adam Tobin musical based on Chelsea Clinton’s book, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, at Glen Echo Park’s Adventure Theatre MTC. Mary Hall Surface directs (Oct. 4 to Nov. 3).
Adventure Theatre MTC will stage a musical adaptation of “She Persisted” at Glen Echo Park.
Musicals at the Kennedy Center: “Clue” (Sept. 17 to Oct. 6) and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (Oct. 11 to 20). At the National Theatre: “Mean Girls” (Oct. 15 to 20) and “Six” (Nov. 12 to Dec. 1). Across the Potomac, the Arlington Players are about to open “Little Women: The Broadway Musical,” directed by Elizabeth Suzanne (Sept. 13 to 15 and 20 to 22).
Disney’s “Frozen,” directed by Sesame Street’s Alan Muroaka, is coming to Olney Theatre Center with the first frost (Oct. 24 to Jan. 5). Prior to that, Richard Hellesen’s “Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground,” directed by Peter Ellenstein, asks “What makes a president great?” (Sept. 27 to Oct. 20).
In Series presents Marc Blitzstein’s Federal Theatre Project musical “The Cradle Will Rock,” originally directed by Orson Welles, with stage direction by Shanara Gabrielle and musical direction by Emily Baltzer (Oct. 5, 6, 12 and 13 at the DC Jewish Community Center; Oct. 18 to 20 at Baltimore Theatre Project).
Continuing back to the ’20s, Matthew Broderick stars in Joe DiPietro’s adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’s “Babbitt” in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall, directed by Christopher Ashley (Oct. 1 to 27). Now playing in STC’s Klein Theatre: “The Comedy of Errors,” directed by Artistic Director Simon Goodwin (through Oct. 6).
Four more of the Bard’s best: Synetic Theater’s wordless “Hamlet … the rest is silence,” directed by Paata Tsikurishvili (Sept. 28 to Oct. 13); “Romeo and Juliet” at the Folger, directed by Raymond O. Caldwell (Oct. 1 to Nov. 10); and, at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, “Macbeth,” directed by José Zayas (through Nov. 23), and “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” directed by Dawn Monique Williams (Sept. 12 to Nov. 23).
Also in ASC’s Blackfriars Playhouse: Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” directed by Zayas (through Oct. 20), and Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen’s “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors,” directed by Matt Radford Davies (Oct. 17 to Nov. 24).
More terror at The Keegan Theatre: Josh Sticklin directs Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel “The Woman in Black” (Oct. 12 to Nov. 17).
The Little Theatre of Alexandria goes full Victorian with “The Explorers Club,” a Nell Benjamin comedy, directed by Adam Konowe (through Sept. 21) and “Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical,” directed by Jennifer Hardin (Oct. 19 to Nov. 9).
The bilingual Zayas (see ASC) is also directing GALA Hispanic Theatre’s world-premiere production in Spanish (with English surtitles) of “Las 22+ Bodas de Hugo – The 22+ Weddings of Hugo” by GALA Artistic Director Gustavo Ott (through Sept. 29). Then comes the world-premiere bilingual version of Karen Zacarías’s “Frida Libre,” inspired by Frida Kahlo’s childhood, with music by Deborah Wicks La Puma, directed by Elena Velasco (Oct. 12 to 26).
What could be more appropriate than “Mister Lincoln” at Ford’s Theatre? José Carrasquillo directs Herbert Mitgang’s one-man show, starring Scott Bakula, aka Sam Beckett on “Quantum Leap” and Capt. Jonathan Archer on “Star Trek: Enterprise” (Sept. 20 to Oct. 13).
At Theater J: Sun Mee Chomet’s one-woman show, “How to Be a Korean Woman,” directed by Zaraawar Mistry (through Sept. 22), then Joshua Harmon’s “Prayer for the French Republic,” about a Parisian Jewish family faced with antisemitism, directed by Artistic Director Hayley Finn (Oct. 30 to Nov. 24).
Another one-woman show — storyteller Casey Jay Andrews’s “Oh My Heart, Oh My Home,” composed by George Jennings and Jack Brett — is at Studio Theatre, directed by Dom Allen and Steve McCourt (through Sept. 22). Soon to open: “Exception to the Rule” by Dave Harris, directed by Miranda Haymon, about Black high school students making the most of detention (Sept. 18 to Oct. 27).
“The Comeuppance” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Morgan Green at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, looks in on a high school reunion in Prince George’s County, Maryland (through Oct. 6). Closing out 2024, the Second City returns to Woolly with “Dance Like There’s Black People Watching,” directed by Rob Wilson (Nov. 6 to Dec. 22).
A one-of-a-kind artist’s one-woman show for one night only: Anna Deavere Smith performs “This Ghost of Slavery” at Arena Stage, directed by Kamilah Forbes as part of this year’s Atlantic Festival (Sept. 20).
Also, one-night-only: Belarus Free Theatre co-founders Nicolai Khalezin and Natalia Kaliada created “KS6: Small Forward” based on conversations with 2008 Olympian Katsiaryna Snytsina, “the first and only popular sports figure in the history of Belarus to have openly come out as gay.” See it at Lisner Auditorium (Oct. 21).
Contemporary Irish arts organization Solas Nua presents a double bill of James Elliott’s “Summertime” from Dublin-based theater and sound collective Murmuration, directed by John King; and Galway-based Brú Theatre’s VR-enhanced “Ar Ais Arís,” directed by James Riordan (Nov. 1 to 17).
Bethesda’s Round House Theatre is about to open “Sojourners” by Mfoniso Udofia, about Nigerian immigrants in Texas in the 1970s, directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton (Sept. 11 to Oct. 6).
John Leguizamo stars in Arena Stage’s world-premiere production of his “The Other Americans,” directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, about a Colombian American laundromat owner (Oct. 18 to Nov. 24). Now playing at Arena: “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” by Jocelyn Bioh, directed by Whitney White (through Oct. 13).
John Leguizamo stars in his new play, “The Other Americans,” at Arena Stage.
Mosaic Theater Company Artistic Director Reginald L. Douglas is directing Lanie Robertson’s “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” with Roz White as Billie Holiday (through Oct. 6). “The Art of Care,” conceived and directed by Georgetown University’s Derek Goldman, follows at the Atlas, Mosaic’s home base (Oct. 31 to Nov. 24).
Roz White plays Billie Holiday in Mosaic Theater Company’s production of “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.”
Also at the Atlas: Alliance for New Music-Theatre’s “The Man Ray Project: Caesar & The Mannequin” (Sept. 12 to 22) and Visionaries of the Creative Arts’ “Deaf BIPOC Solo Shows II” (Nov. 1 to 17).
In Guinevere Govea’s “Spells of the Sea,” in The Kennedy Center Family Theater, Finley Frankfurter seeks a cure for her fisherman father (Oct. 12 to 20). Then, brace yourself for “Doktor Kaboom: Under Pressure!” (Oct. 26 to Nov. 3). Meanwhile, “Shear Madness” is about to restore chaos to the Theater Lab (Sept. 24 to Infinity).
DANCE
The Kennedy Center celebrates National Dance Day with free classes, performances and community conversations (Sept. 21). Coming to the Opera House: the National Ballet of Ukraine (Oct. 8); to the Terrace Theater: the National Bunraku Theatre (Oct. 8 and 9); and to the Eisenhower Theater: Shin Chang Ho’s Laboratory Dance Project (Oct. 31 to Nov. 2).
The Washington Ballet’s Studio Company returns Down Under — to Dupont Underground — with “Dance For All” (Oct. 3, 4 and 5). TWB’s main fall event is “when WE take flight,” a program at the Warner Theatre of George Balanchine’s “Stravinsky Violin Concerto,” Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s “18 + 1” and Artistic Director Edwaard Liang’s “Murmuration” (Oct. 24 to 27).
Cirque du Soleil’s “Ovo” buzzes into Capital One Arena (Sept. 11 to 15); Moveius Contemporary Ballet previews “Atlantic Paradox” at the National Portrait Gallery, inspired by the “Brilliant Exiles” exhibition (Oct. 19); and Dissonance Dance Theatre revs up at the Atlas (Oct. 19).
Cirque du Soleil’s “Ovo” is at Capital One Arena through Sept. 15.
In the Terrace, Opera Lafayette presents the North American debut of Algerian early music group Ensemble Amedyez and Kalanidhi Dance (Oct. 21).
Visiting George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax: Ballet Hispánico (Oct. 5) and Mark Morris Dance Group (Oct. 19).
POP, ROCK, WORLD, HIP HOP AND JAZZ
Coming to The Birchmere in Alexandria: Amy Grant (Sept. 19), Suzanne Vega (Sept. 25), Herbie Hancock (Sept. 27), Rickie Lee Jones (Oct. 9) and the Robert Cray Band (Oct. 29). Presented by the Birchmere at The Warner: Bruce Hornsby (Sept. 28), Little Feat (Oct. 18 and 19) and Billy Ocean (Oct. 29).
Herbie Hancock plays the Birchmere on Sept. 27.
You’ll recognize these names on Strathmore’s fall lineup: Rosanne Cash (Sept. 22); Meshell Ndegeocello, with a James Baldwin-inspired program (Oct. 5); Neko Case (Oct. 9); and Judy Collins and Madeleine Peyroux (Nov. 1).
On Sept. 22, Strathmore welcomes Rosanne Cash.
The Filene Center season goes out with a bang at Wolf Trap: James Taylor & His All-Star Band (Sept. 12, 14 and 15) and, in between, Kristin Chenoweth with Alan Cumming (Sept. 13). The action moves to The Barns with Norm Lewis (Oct. 18 and 19), Jim Messina (Oct. 22) and Graham Nash (Oct. 23, 25 and 26).
At Capital One Arena: NCT Dream (Sept. 24), Justin Timberlake (Oct. 13) and Cindy Lauper (Oct. 27). At The Anthem: Weezer (Sept. 14 and 15), Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band (Sept. 17), Kings of Leon (Sept. 20 and 22), Zedd (Sept. 21), DPR (Sept. 27), The Psychedelic Furs & The Jesus and Mary Chain (Oct. 6) and The B-52s (Oct. 31).
In the Kennedy Center Concert Hall: Jamaican American genre-crosser Masego (Nov. 3) and André 3000, performing “New Blue Sun” (Nov. 9).
Hear Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan at Constitution Hall (Sept. 21) and Pakistani ghazal and sufi performer Zeeshan Ali (Sept. 29) and Turkish folk singer Selda Bağcan (Nov. 9) at Lisner Auditorium.
Centennials: Scott Flavin conducts the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra at the Library of Congress to celebrate the master theme-composer’s 100th anniversary (Sept. 28); and legendary drummer Max Roach’s 100th calls for a performance of his “Freedom Now Suite” in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall (Oct. 12). Also at the LOC: Latin jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri, who’s only 87 (Oct. 18).
In addition to Brazilian jazz guitar, Chilean jazz and Cuban jazz piano series, Georgetown’s Blues Alley hosts: Nicole Henry (Oct. 3 and 4), the Joshua Redman Group with Gabrielle Cavassa (Nov. 9 and 10) and the Todd Marcus Quintet with Don Byron (Nov. 11).
FILM
The AFI Latin American Film Fest at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring boasts two Sundance Grand Jury Prize winners: “Sujo” written and directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez of Mexico, and “In the Summers” by Colombian American director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio (Sept. 19 to Oct. 10).
How does Outdoor Movie Night on the Reach Lawn at the Kennedy Center sound? Grab a blanket and the family for Disney’s “Coco” (Sept. 20).
The Sept. 20 Outdoor Movie Night on the Reach Lawn at the Kennedy Center will feature Disney’s “Coco.”
Perfect for the day before Halloween: “Screen of My Blood” with a performance by Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hütz and Sergey Ryabtsev at the Lincoln Theatre (Oct. 30). And for Halloween: Patricia Quinn, the original Magenta, in the flesh at the Lincoln’s screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (Oct. 31).
