This week on Open Air, KALW’s radio magazine for the Bay Area performing arts, host David Latulippe talks with actor Brandon Louis Armstrong (above, right) who plays both Hercules Mulligan and James Madison, and Simon Longnight, who plays the dual roles of the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson (above, second from right), in the touring production of Hamilton: An American Musical, which is in town for an extended run through September 8 at the SHN Orpheum Theatre (1192 Market St. at Hyde & 8Th St.) in San Francisco.
Hamilton tells the story of America's Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, born in the West Indies, who became George Washington's right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the nation’s first Treasury Secretary. The score features a blend of hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway.
Also stopping by are composer David Conte and violinist Anna Presler, artistic director of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE), to talk about their upcoming concerts featuring Conte’s Clarinet Sonata (with soloist Jerome Simas), plus new works by Tina Tallon, Elainie Lillios, and Peter Van Zandt Lane. Rebecca Clarke's Viola Sonata from 1921 completes the program, with violist and composer Kurt Rohde as soloist.
Concerts are on March 3 (7:30 pm) at the Berkeley Hillside Club (2286 Cedar St.) in Berkeley; and on March 4 (7:30) at the Recital Hall of SF Conservatory of Music (50 Oak Street) in San Francisco.
We talk to director Milissa Carey about the production of the musical Bullets over Broadway at the Foothill Music Theatre. Bullets Over Broadway, the Musical is written by Woody Allen, based on the black comedy-crime film he directed in 1994. Bullets over Broadway is about a young playwright whose first Broadway play is financed by a gangster. The score of the musical consists of jazz and popular standards from the American songbook, using songs from the 1920s and 1930s. The production runs through March 17 at the Lohman Theatre (12345 El Monte Rd) in Los Altos Hills.
Plus, Open Air’s regular contributor and critic at large, Peter Robinson, talks with the mellifluous Noah Griffin about an upcoming concert, organized by the Cole Porter Society, celebrating the music of Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, on March 3 (4pm) at the Golden Gate Yacht Club (1 Yacht Club Drive) in San Francisco. Also, a conversation with local author Sylvia Verange about her book Two Breaths One Step — Sylvia’s journey across the Himalayas. She will do a book signing on March 10 (4:30 pm) at Barnes and Noble in Corte Madera.
Open Air with host David Latulippe; heard live on Thursday, February 28, at 1pm. Listen now or anytime…