Dear Reader
Like many others, I’m missing live shows — even the concerts where you’d be squashed next to someone or the ones where someone is singing all the lyrics in your ear when you really just want to hear the singer you came to hear sing, sing (thankfully, even that random stranger couldn’t ruin my Sade concert experience). I know why I miss concerts but reading about why Dave Grohl misses them gives me an insight into the perspective from the stage, the POV of a rockstar. While it’s so very different to be the one leading the crowd in song, it’s still so very much the same feeling — that communal catharsis. As Mr Grohl writes: “In today’s world of fear and unease and social distancing, it's hard to imagine sharing experiences like these ever again. I don’t know when it will be safe to return to singing arm in arm at the top of our lungs, hearts racing, bodies moving, souls bursting with life. But I do know that we will do it again, because we have to.” I may not be the frontman of the Foo Fighters, but I can still believe in the same hope as him.
Here are today’s options for your Tuesday entertainment:
1. The Broadway cast of the suspended Alanis Morissette jukebox musical Jagged Little Pill, which is inspired by the Canadian singer’s breakout album, reunites remotely in a one-hour concert benefit for the Actors Fund, hosted by Alanis herself. You Live, You Learn: A Night with Alanis Morissette and Jagged Little Pill, Tuesday 5pm PST / 8pm EST / 1am BST. (Can you believe it’s been 25 years since JLP was released?!)
2. Arundhati Roy and Naomi Klein will be in conversation, in an event called Into The Portal, Leave No One Behind, about how we can begin to build a global transformation, 8am PST / 11am EST.
3. Aloe Blacc, Grouplove, Matt Berninger of The National, Milk Carton Kids and more will perform during the Safe and Sound virtual concert benefitting Safe Place for Youth. The show kicks off at 5pm PST / 8pm EST. You’ll can RSVP here or go to YouTube.
4. BRIC — the good folks behind the annual Celebrate Brooklyn! festival in Prospect Park — will be hosting a one-time-only rebroadcast of La Medea. It’s written and directed by Yara Travieso who turned Euripides' tragedy into a self-described “Latin-disco-pop-feminist variety show,” when it was originally performed in an interactive live-stream in 2017. Viewers can chat live with the performers. 5pm PST / 8pm EST (live only).
5. Today is the last day to take in Ballet Hispánico’s Asuka, which celebrates the music and legacy of salsa queen and Cuban exile Celia Cruz, as part of their 50th anniversary, with a post-show Q&A.
Thank you for reading. If you found this useful at all, please share with someone else you think might like it too!
Stay safe, stay sane
Your neighbour
Nadia