Increasingly chilly nights are giving way to hot entertainment as the holiday season kicks off in metro Detroit. Here are a few arts options for your pre-Thanksgiving weekend.
An epic evening of music
On Friday, Nov. 21, Detroit music icon Alvin Waddles will revive his “Alvin Waddles and Friends” concert after a six-year hiatus. This time titled “A Study in Blue,” the performance will include George Gershwin’s seminal “Rhapsody in Blue” and Will Todd’s dazzling “Mass in Blue” featuring the Rackham Choir.
Waddles, who has not played “Rhapsody” since 2011, called the performance “a reunion.”
“Suzanne Acton, who just retired at the end of last season from Detroit Opera and who used to be artistic director of the Rackham Choir, was the conductor when I did it at the opera house back in 2011,” he said. “She’s coming back to conduct it with me and the full orchestra, and I’m so excited about that.”
“Rhapsody” features as the centerpiece of the concert’s first half, which will also include the overture from “The Barber of Seville” (“Most people will recognize it from Bugs Bunny cartoons,” said Waddles), soloists singing pieces by Puccini and Verdi, and other performances as well.
The show’s second half will focus on “Mass,” with the Rackham Choir back by a jazz big band and featuring soprano soloist Nicole Joseph.
“Will Todd is a composer from the United Kingdom, and he takes the tradition, Latin, liturgical mass that has been set in various ways throughout time, and takes a jazz approach to it,” said Rackham artistic and music director Julian Goods. “There are six movements: the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei, and each one of those movements contains various jazz elements. It’s really cool.”
Wylie E. Groves High School, 31301 Evergreen, Beverly Hills. VIP seating $50 (limited number available), general admission $25, students $15. rackhamchoir.org.
A Pulitzer Prize-winning play
By day, Kenneth sells books, and by night, he drinks mai tais at a tiki bar with his best friend Bert. When he is laid off, he is forced to reckon with a world he has long avoided. “Primary Trust,” running through Dec. 28 at Detroit Repertory Theatre, celebrates friendship, connection and small acts of kindness that can change a person’s life and enrich an entire community. Winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Detroit Repertory Theatre, 13103 Woodrow Wilson St., Detroit. Tickets $30 in advance, $35 same day. detroitreptheatre.com.
Cool holiday jazz
Thursday through Saturday, the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation will present “Detroit Jazz Masters: Holiday Edition” at Grosse Pointe Farms’ Dirty Dog Jazz Café. Performances will feature Dwight Adams, Cliff Monear, David Taylor, Jeff Pedraz and Chris Collins as they reimagine holiday and American jazz classics. Performance times vary; visit the link below for more info.
Dirty Dog Jazz Café, 97 Kercheval St., Grosse Pointe Farms. Tickets $20. dirtydogjazz.com.
Saluting George Harrison
On Saturday, Nov. 22, Detroit’s Schvitz Health Club will present “A Night of George Harrison: A Schvitz Ballroom Experience.” At 6 p.m., the concert film “The Concert for Bangladesh” will be screened, with dinner available a la carte, followed by an 8 p.m. live performance with an all-star roster of Detroit musicians playing selections from the movie and throughout George Harrison’s catalogue. The saunas will also be open from 6-10 p.m. for an additional price. Proceeds benefit Thrive, providing meals to schoolchildren in Bangladesh and the Philippines.
The Schvitz Health Club, 8295 Oakland, Detroit. Tickets $25 for film and performance, $60 for performance and steam. schvitzdetroit.com
Homegrown jazz talent
Powerful trumpeter Anthony Stanco, a Southeast Michigan native, will play a three-night residency at downtown Detroit’s Cliff Bell’s, Thursday through Saturday, with his quartet. Stanco, assistant professor of jazz trumpet at Michigan State University, learned from the region’s finest musical mentors, like Rodney Whitaker and Marcus Belgrave. Performances all three nights are at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Cliff Bell’s, 2030 Park Ave., Detroit. Tickets $25. cliffbells.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Alvin Waddles, ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ holiday jazz, a Beatle tribute: This weekend in Detroit
Reporting by Duante Beddingfield, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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