Read on for some recent classic arts headlines, videos, and more you may have missed. For additional news covering opera, dance, music, and more, visit Playbill Classic Arts.
Broadway Alums Join Dancing Through... Streaming Event
A virtual dance piece from Theatre Dance Vietnam titled Dancing Through... will premiere October 30 at 8 PM ET. Directed by Elizabeth Troxlerand featuring choreography by Richard Stafford, James Kinney, Ryan VanDenBoom, Michael Mindlin, Kristyn Pope, Danielle Diniz, Andrea Brodine, Jill Kenney, and James Alonzo White, the event aims to promote theatre and dance in Vietnam and the world at large. Over 100 artists from across the world take part in the performance (filmed under COVID-19 safety guidelines), including Morgan Marcell (Hamilton), Jessica Lee Goldyn (Hello, Dolly!), Aaron J. Albano (Newsies), Eliza Ohman (Hamilton), Dennis Stowe (Shrek), Caleb Marshall (Moulin Rouge!), Jennnifer Gruener (West Side Story), Khori Petinaud (Moulin Rouge!), Coral Dolphin (MJ the Musical), Kendrick Samuel (The Illusionists), Evan Kasprzak (Cats), Josh Drake (Aladdin), and Jovan Dansberry (King Kong). For tickets, visit TheTankNYC.org.
Composer Tidtaya Sinutoke Named Recipient of Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award
Thailand born, New York City-based composer Tidtaya Sinutoke is the recipient of the sixth annual Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award, the Ziegfeld Club's award for a female musical theatre presented in partnership with New York Stage and Film. The award includes a $10,000 grant and a year of artistic and professional mentorship from a prominent Broadway composer or producer. This year’s selection committee included Ella Rose Chary, Kirsten Childs, Nikka Graff Lanzarone, Clara Luthas, Alexa Spiegel, Mary Sedarat, Nadav Wiesel, John Margulis, Laurie Sanderson, Natasha Sinha, Shea Sullivan, and Rachel Sussman. "To receive the Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award is an honor almost beyond my imagination,” said Sinutoke. “From my childhood in Thailand, listening to my mother's rendition of show tunes, to studying music, to pursuing my dream in New York, has been a long, serendipitous journey.” Sinutoke's composition credits include Half the Sky, Sunwatcher, Clouds are Pillows for the Moon, Hart Island Requiem, and Water is Life. She was awarded a 2017 Jonathan Larson Grant and the 2020 Weston-Ghostlight New Musical Award.
Zachary James to Release Visual Album in December
Opera star and Broadway alum Zachary James (Akhnaten, The Addams Family) will release a new album celebrating female composers, titled Call Out, in December. The project was originally conceived as a live performance, scheduled to play Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in November. In light of the pandemic, the piece will now take form as a visual album of music videos. The track list features works by Missy Mazzoli, Barbara Strozzi, Florence Price, Royce Vavrek, and more.
Rhiannon Giddens’ Call: “Cry No More”
Multi-hyphenate music artist and advocate Rhiannon Giddens revisits her 2015 song “Cry No More” in the wake of the continued urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement. Watch below as the MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient and Silkroad Ensemble artistic director sings with members of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus. The video, produced and arranged by Michael Abels (composer of Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us), also features Nashville Ballet’s Imani Sailers in a piece choreographed by Paul Vasterling.
