Dear Reader
Artist David Hockney, who reminded us a few weeks ago that spring isn’t cancelled, continues to paint portraits of nature’s awakening on his iPad from lockdown in Normandy, with his two long-time assistants and dog, Ruby. He shared these paintings with the BBC, as a kind of respite from what’s going on, saying: "The only real things in life are food and love in that order, just like our little dog Ruby. I really believe this and the source of art is love.” Glad he’s getting plenty of love, and I hope you are too, wherever you are.
We’ve made it through another week in this new existence. Here are today’s entertainment options for your weekend in quarantine:
1. Last night Dolly Parton, “the book lady,” kicked off her new nightly series of readings. It’s aptly called Goodnight with Dolly. Each night she’ll pick a book from her her free book program, Imagination Library. Every night at 4pm PST/7pm EST.
2. Sure, we can’t gather in the Met’s magnificent Charles Engelhard Court right now, but we can catch the digital premiering of the American opera The Mother of Us All, which was performed live there earlier this year. It’s all about the life of Susan B.Anthony and the women’s suffrage movement and is on tonight at 4pm PST/7pm EST.
3. One of my favourite events on the yearly calendar in NYC is the Philharmonic performing in Central Park. Yes, you often can only snag a spot quite far from the actual orchestra, but it’s still a magical night. With all NY Phil performances cancelled until June 13, and a part of Central Park now being a makeshift hospital, the only way to still experience some NY Phil music is on its Facebook, with special performances and videos.
4. Come to think of it, music should have its own newsletter — we are spoilt for choice with all the artists going live. Just a few of those lives include Nduduzo Makhathini, the first South African artist to sign to Blue Note Records, who is releasing his debut album today and celebrating with a live IG show, at 11am PST, 2pm EST, 8pm CAT. Black Coffee’s doing another live via his Facebook page, 10am PST/ 1pm EST/7pm CAT and D.Nice, who’s continuing to do surprise sets here and there, has another big night at Club Quarantine planned for Saturday.
5. If you’ve ever dreamt of being one of the famed Radio City Rockettes, you can now at least try dance like one. They are offering live dance classes every week. It’s all “kicking off” with the choreography from Christmas Lights, the finale to the yearly Christmas Spectacular. Thank you to Alex Ritchie for this hat-tip.
And, a bonus, 6. Andrew Lloyd Webber is streaming his musicals for free online in a new series for West End and Broadway fans. It’s called The Shows Must Go On, and the series starts with the 2000 adaptation of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Donny Osmond and Maria Friedman. The show will be available for 48 hours from Friday 3 April at 7pm BST on YouTube channel.
Thank you for reading — and have a good weekend. I’ll see you back here Monday morning.
Stay safe, stay sane
Your neighbour
Nadia