NOTES ON MUSIC

The Nicole Canuso Dance Co. is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through June 19 premiering their newest work “The Garden: Invisible Branches”, a PMA commission in tandem with the and current exhibition “New Grit Art & Philly

Now”. This socially-distanced event will be performed four times daily, three days per week. 26th and the Parkway. Details at 215-763-8100 or www.philamuseum. org. A bonus on these hot summer days is the new waterfront beer garden from Parks on Tap, a very brief stroll from the Museum’s new west entrance, family-friendly venue no the Schuylkill, Museum admission not required. 

The 10th Annual Philadelphia Latino Film Festival continues through June 6 presenting filmmakers from 25 countries and boasting some 150 feature films and shorts from some 25 countries including 59 local premieres and 27 world premieres plus several free screenings

and programs. For the second year, the Fest8vao will be virtual but is greatly expanded. The dominating creative aspect of the presentations focuses on Latin women and their struggles and triumphs in the real world. Details and tickets at www.phlaff.org. 

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s recent Digital Stage presentation of Mahler’s magnificent “The Song of the Earth”, set to German translations of Chinese poetry in the celebrated reduced orchestral version is now available for streaming through June 3 under the baton of Maestro Yanick Nezet-

Seguin and featuring two outstanding vocal artists, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung and tenor Russell Thomas. Tickets and information at www.philorch.org or at 215-893-1999. 

FringeArts opens its annual two-week Circus Festival on June 3rd. A cornucopia of contemporary circus arts with performances in the socially-distanced theater, in La Peg restaurant and outdoors, “Hand to Hand” promises remarkable levels of artistry for the whole family along with workshops, acrobatics, clowning, jug-

gling, and more. Among the colorful attractions: Test Flights’ curated and hosted by Zak McAllister; “Heliopause” and “Monday is Years Long” both by the Circadium School of Contemporary Circus; “Eventide” by 3 AM Theatre; “Circus Midway” by Phiadelphia School of Circus Arts and much more through June 13. Full details, tickets at 215-413-1318 or www. FringeArts.com at140 N. Columbus Blvd. 

Broadway star and Tony Award-nominated actress/vocalist/writer Melissa Errico brings her one-woman show to the Bucks County Playhouse on June 3 at 7:30 p.m. and June 4 at 8 p.m. “Ladies at the Playhouse” delves into this historic theatre’s long role as a “musical highway from Bucks County to Broadway and back”,

presenting hits from the many shows written by musical comedy creators who were also neighbors in the are, among them Oscar Hammerstein II, Sidney Perelman and Moss Hart. Broadway triumphs to be celebrated by Ms. Errico include “The Sound of Music”, “One Touch of Venus”, “My Fair Lady” and many others. 70 S. Main St., New Hope, PA https://bcptheater.org/ or 215-862-2121. 

The excitement continues to grow at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, a part of our city’s Free Library system, as it always does in June when huge segments of local fans hold their breath for the annual June 16 Bloomsday celebrating the notorious James Joyce

novel “Ulysses” whose manuscript is among the treasures inside the historic Rosenbach mansion with its old world garden. Events leading up to June 16 cherish the Irish theme and the robust and ribald characteristics of the book. Among the events on tap, some as fundraisers, are: June 3, “Written on my Heart: James Joyce and Irish Authors” and a Virtual Behind the Bookcase Tour; June 8, “Rosenbaccanal Young Friends Party”; June 9: “The Will to Forget Memory, the Nation, and “Ulysses”, In Conversation with Vincente Cheng. 2008-2010 Delancey Place. https:// rosenbach.org/ or 215732-1600. 

The America Italy Society of Phila. proposes a free virtual tour on June 4 at 2 p.m., “A Journey Through Botanical Gardens, Villas and Alpine

Lakes”, hosted in Italian by Paola Bottigelli and roaming via boat on Lake Maggiore, Stresa, to Isola Bella and a visit to the Teatro Massiimo. Details of this charming adventure at 215-735-3250 or info@aisphila.org. 

Something new and very different for the 2021 Philadelphia Flower Show sponsored by the Philadelphia Horticultural Society... it will take place on the scenic landscapes of FDR Park from June 5 to 13 and will bring acres of fresh air and new breath to this venerable and beloved tradition.

“HABITAT: Nature’s Masterpiece” will span 450,000 square feet which is some 45% more than at the Convention Center and will feature the largest number of designers ever, and will be divided into three “districts”: one with 27 large-scale floral sculptures and landscape displays; another will delight home gardeners and offer educational exhibits and experts to answer questions; the third will be the curated annual competition featuring locally produced prize plants from home and apartment dwellers. Other highlights: Live Butterflies, Potting Parties, Flowers After Hours. Tickets must be purchased in advance at varying prices from $20 to $45., free for children 4 and under. 1500 Pattison Ave.at S. Broad St. Tickets and other information at https://phsonline. org/the-flower-show/ or 215-988-8800.

Amici Opera keeps the operatic lover happy with two performances of Bizet’s lilting “The

Nicole Caruso Dance Co. continues its Philadelphia Museum of Art live performances through June 17, “In the Garden: Invisible Branches”, an interactive dance work in which attendees follow cues from an in-ear audio guide as they stroll through the galleries. Reservations required. Photo credit: Christopher Ash

Pearl Fishers” on June 6 at 3 p.m. and 12 at 4 p.m. sung in French by young operatic hopefuls with piano accompani-

ment. Rafael Tudisco handles the staging, social distancing is guaranteed, hand sanitizers are available and masks are required. 1128 Cottman Ave. Tickets at 215-2240257. 

The annual Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Music Institute’s gala is virtual this year. “More Than Music” is set for June 10 at 7 p.m. celebrating “our talented students’ resilience in the face of the pandemic and growth through the pursuit of musical excel-

lence”. This is their largest fundraiser of the year and in a spirit of levity and ingenuity Celebration Boxes will be delivered to ticket holders addresses and will include hors d’oeuvres, sweets, a program booklet, PYO cocktail glasses, coasters and napkins. A streaming link will be provided. Details and tickets at https://pyomusic.org/ 215-545-0502. 

STREAMING FROM AFAR: The 2021 Princeton Festival proclaims its 17th season with virtual, and possibly some in-person events including live-streamed Baroque and opera aria concerts, free lectures and a bevy of immersive

multi-genre events. Four live-streamed events from the historic Morven Museum and Garden including two of Baroque music with periods instruments will offer works by Bach, Handel, Biber and Vivaldi, and two of opera arias and ensembles will involve eight leading singers. Included in these major offerings is a June 4 appearance by the Concordia Chamber Players and on June 6 the final round of the Intl. Piano Competition with winners announced at the end of the program. Details and tickets at 609-759-1979 or www.princetonfestival. org. 

“Circus Days and Nights” is on view through June 13 inspired by the recent presentation of Glass’s opera “Akhnaten” at the Metropolitan Op-

era, taking even further that production’s use of juggling in what is advertised here as “neverbefore seen fusion of circus and opera”. From Sweden’s Malmo Opera. Streaming live at www.malmoopera. se. 

Conductor Kent Nagano leads the Detroit Symphony Orch. on June 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m. in two 45-minute pairings of old and new works by Hosokawa, Schubert, Britten, Part

and Mozart. Guest pianist Gilles Vonsattel also performs. Streaming through June 18 at www. dso.org 

A truly historic performance melds the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra through June 4, documenting the invitation by Dallas to

the New Yorkers, the latter unpaid for almost a year, to travel to Texas to perform Mahler’s First Symphony under Maestro Fabio Luisi who was for five years the Met’s Principal Conductor.The filmed result is described as “fresh, vivid...and quite moving”. www. dallassymphony.org. 

(215) 382-1330

$2 billion in a surplus,” he said. “To say that we have a structural deficit, I’m not quite sure that’s reason we aren’t moving forward.”

But for Cutler, the good news is temporary. He pointed to future revenue shortfalls of $8 billion to $10 billion over the next five years after the federal aid’s 2024 spending deadline lapses and said stashing money away in the state’s rainy day fund will help prepare for that future.

Lawmakers used some of the $350 million rainy day fund and $1.3 billion in federal aid during last year’s budget negotiations to balance the state’s $3 billion deficit.

But the last time the federal government doled out economic stimulus during the Great Recession, the state infused that money into public schools. When it dried up in 2011, the Legislature opted against raising taxes or diverting other money to cover the more than $800 million lost, resulting in disparate funding shortages in districts across the state.

“It’s not a surprise that the Democrats want to spend more money,” Cutler said. “That’s pretty expected, unfortunately.”

The administration’s hasn’t released its own priorities for the stimulus money, though the governor has not abandoned his calls to raise personal income taxes, cut charter school funding and boost spending to districts as part of his February budget proposal.Lawmaker

Christen Smith follows Pennsylvania’s General Assembly for The Center Square. She is an awardwinning reporter with more than a decade of experience covering state and national policy issues for niche publications and local newsrooms alike.

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It’s official: Coco Gauff and Venus Williams have teamed up to play Doubles at 2021 French Open

By Napoleon F. Kingcade Press/Review Sports Correspondent

In a surprise announcement to kick off the French Open, 17-year-old Coco Gauff will join forces with 40-year-old Venus Williams as the two tennis stars will become doubles partners at this year’s French Open matches at Roland Garros tournament in Paris. This will be the first time Coco Gauff will hit the court as a double partner with Venus Williams. The French Open will kick off today (on Wednesday, June 2 ) in Paris and this will be the first time that Venus Williams will be playing in a doubles match since 2019. She and partner Dr. David Littlejohn Hospital Hours: (By appt.) M-F 8-6 Sat 9-noon 5% Discount with coupon ONLY One coupon per customer. Exp. 3/31/11 Going on vacation? We offer short or long term boarding! A advantage FRONTLINE ®PROGRAM Dr. David Littlejohn Hospital Hours: (By appt.) M-Th 9-5 • F-Sat 9-noon 5% Discount with coupon ONLY One coupon per customer. Exp. 3/31/11 Going on vacation? We offer short or long term boarding! a advantage FRONTLINE ®PROGRAM Healthy & Sick Pet Visits Heartworm Prevention Flea and Tick Meds Routine Surgeries Dr. David Littlejohn Hospital Hours: (By appt.) M-Th 9-5 Friday 9-12 Saturday 9-12 Sunday Closedwww.onealanimalhospital.com Harriet Dart competed together at the WTA 250 event in Strabourg, France in 2019. During her pro tennis career, Williams has been a great doubles partner. Williams has a phenomenal record as a doubles playAll City Self Storage er having won 14 Grand Slams titles. She won them all with her sister,

Free Month Rent Serena Williams, who will be shooting for her Open 7 Days 24th Grand Slam singles title at the French Open. Meantime it has been Great Rates a different story for Coco Gauff. The 17-year-old tennis star has played in many doubles matches, mostly with 19-year-old Caty McNally who won’t be playing in the French Open due to an injury 215-471-1002 that she picked up in the qualifying round. As 5500 Sansom Street (at 55th Street) tennis partners, Gauff and McNally have won www.allcitystorage.com three doubles titles together, including the title at the Emilia-Romagna Open in Italy, to add to their pro career. To kick off Wednesday’s doubles match in Paris, Coco Gauff and Venus Williams will battle 13th General Contractors, Painters, Roofers Advertise your services in the seeded Ellen Perez and her partner Zheng Saisai. Gauff first grabbed the

Classifi ed pages 215.222.2846 national spotlight at the Wimbledon Open in 2019 when she defeated Venus Williams in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, in the opening round. She also stunned the seven-time Grand Slam champion at last year’s Australian Open.

For the 15-year-old teenager, it was a jawdropping experience when she defeated Williams at Wimbledon. On that day, Gauff played a beautiful tennis match. She kept her composure and delivered shots all over the tennis court. She never cut Williams any breaks. Coco’s shots were clocked at 118 m.p.h.

As a spectator, you could see Coco’s competitive fire. You could see it in her eyes. Gauff managed to keep her cool under pressure. She controlled the match from start to finish. It was an amazing performance by a teenager who is 24-years younger than Venus Williams. Despite the age difference, Coco was still able to step up to the challenge and win the match. As the two players shook hands, Coco thanked Williams for being her idol.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done,” Coco said. “I wouldn’t be here without you.”

After Coco’s second victory over Venus Williams, it seems like her matches started getting much harder. Fourthround loses at 2020 Wimbledon and the 2020 Australia Open seemed to bring Coco Gauff back down to earth. Those defeats as well as a few others gave Gauff a wake-up call. From those defeats, Coco knew exactly what she needed to do. She had to work much harder at her game. She was able to take some time off and get her act together. And that’s exactly what she did. Two weeks ago, Coco Gauff managed to pull off an incredible sweep at the WTA’s Emilia-Romagana Open in Parma, Italy. The 17-year-old tennis star won the singles and doubles titles on the reddirt surface in Italy. She managed to produce a 12-3 record on the clay surface. Never before

A photo of Coco Gauff (left) and Venus Williams (right) as the two tennis stars will be doubles partner at the French Open.

has a teenager swept a singles and doubles title at a WTA tournament since Maria Sharapova did it back in 2004.

Since February, Gauff has won one singles title, helped win a doubles title, reached two semifinals and competed in two quarter-finals in seven months. Today, Coco is chasing tennis greatness thanks to the critics and the passion she has for the game. There’s no mistake that everything is falling in place for the talented teenager. Right now, Gauff is the youngest female player ranked in the Top 100 by the Women’s Tennis Association and has a career-high ranking of No. 25 in the world in singles and she’s No. 42 in double matches.

As a 17-year-old tennis star, Coco Gauff is earning more money than some of her friends. According to multiple reports, Gauff has a net worth of $ 2.5 million. Going into the 2019 Wimbledon tournament, Coco was earning $ 75,000 in her career. Included in her earnings, Gauff has the endorsement of a sneaker company. She is featured in several TV commercials. Coco Gauff is a big promoter for New Balance sneakers. Since being back on the winning track, her success as a 17-year-old tennis star has made Coco Gauff a WTA champion again. Based on her current success, Gauff is projected to become a star in grand slam events. Gauff will not only be seeded in a grand slam event for the first time at Roland Garrios, but she will most likely be a favorite to secure the fourth and final spot in the U.S. Olympics.

Today, Coco is happy about her tennis future. With the help of her father, Cori Gauff, Coco has become a better tennis player in her twoyear pro career. She continues to make believers out of the haters. She has worked hard to satisfy her loyal fans.

“There was a time when people didn’t believe in me,” said Gauff. Especially during a time when people were saying, ‘it’s a fluke and it will never happen again’. From that point on, I have proven all those people wrong and right now, I will I’m going to continue to prove them wrong again.”

Today, it’s just a matter of time before Gauff proves she’s the best Black female tennis player in the world. Right now, she is doing all the right things to make that a reality. She’s on pace to make more history in pro tennis. Today, she’s definitely a teenager who’s ahead of her time. In addition to competing in doubles together at the French Open, Gauff and Williams will also compete in the tournament’s singles matches.

By Richard Lord

Contributing writer

Just over a year ago, shortly after the pandemic forced all of Philly’s theatres to close their doors, I wrote an article on the situation that contained this passage:

“The world of theatre has been here before. In Shakespeare’s day, the bubonic plague – an even worse scourge than Covid-19 – forced the closures of theatres several times, with 1603 and 1606 being two of the worst years. It’s reckoned that the Bard managed to write King Lear, Anthony and Cleopatra and Macbeth during the 1606 disruption. Between 1603 and 1616, London’s playhouses went dark 78 months, or 60% of the time, due to the plague. But it kept coming back, year after year.”

Right now, it looks like we’re approaching the end of the tunnel in terms of lockdowns and cancellations. Theatres are planning their 202122 season as a returnto-live season. Theatre Exile is getting a jump on this by presenting an outdoor, in-person show, Pass Over, opening next week and running until the end of the month.

The last 14 or 15 months have been filled with theatres keeping the flames burning with various experiments, most of them involving Zoom or filmed versions of the performances. Two of the best offerings over the last few weeks (now both closed) were filmed versions of theatre. Interestingly, considering my paragraph above, both of these were plays connected to Shakespeare classics.

Fat Ham by local playwright-director James Ijames is actually a radical reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was originally planned to be performed on the Wilma Theatre stage, but Covd19 scuttled those plans. Following the hallowed rule that the show must go on, it was decided that it would have to go on as a filmed rendition of the script.

The setting for this version is not a castle in that rotten state of Denmark,

Fat Ham. Courtesy of the Wilma Theater

but a large sun-scoured house in the rural South. (This production was filmed in Virginia.) The interlocked families here are not Danes, but African-Americans. And the central character’s family are not a royal family, but the proprietors of a popular restaurant. Also, part of the central hero’s melancholy is that he’s gay and not quite sure how to share this fact with his family and the Southern milieu he finds himself in.

The driving force of the plot is similar to Shakespeare’s tale: the central character – whose name here is Juicy, not Hamlet – is visited by the ghost of his father. It’s not a friendly visit; the wraith reveals that his violent death was brought about by his own brother, who then quickly married Pap’s widow – Juicy’s mother. Pap’s ghost demands revenge for the murder, but Juicy is hesitant about carrying out this assignment. Like Hamlet, he would like a little more proof before dispatching his uncle. But as more than one of the other characters notes, Juicy is “soft” – meaning sensitive, contemplative, more prone to abstraction than action. Not exactly the skills set you want for a bloody avenger.

The main setting here is the wedding reception barbecue, and all the key characters of Hamlet show up, but in very different dispositions. Laertes is Larry, a lowerrung naval officer who doesn’t like idea of military missions. Ophelia is Opal, who hates dresses and fantasizes about violent actions as a kind of liberation from her emotionally oppressive home life. Like Juicy, they’re both gay, though neither has trumpeted this fact too loudly.

Opal and Larry are accompanied to the reception not by their father Polonius, but by their mother Rabby. Rabby doesn’t seem too bothered by her children’s orientation, and neither is Juicy’s mother, Tedra. The only one who is ardently homophobic is Rev, Juicy’s uncle/ now stepfather. Rev is a nasty piece of work, and when Juicy discovers via some play-acting that the ghost’s accusations are apparently true, he contemplates how Rev can pay for his crime without Juicy needing to take up arms against him.

James Ijames’ script is marvelous almost all the way through. The dialogue and monologues are sparkling, a brilliant rendition of colloquial Black American that are at times delicate, at times violent, at times guarded, at times too honest. Fittingly, Juicy’s language stands out from the rest, at times being beautifully lyrical, poised and sophisticated. (Juicy also delivers some lines and even one speech verbatim from Shakespeare’s text.) And in many places, the language and the action are quite humorous. In fact, this update of the Hamlet trope is more of a comedy than a tragedy.

My only misgiving with Ijames’ take on Hamlet is the wrap-up. I have nothing against Ijames’ decision to veer away from the tragic ending of the Shakespeare original with its stack of dead bodies, but the ending Ijames gives us seems to be a little too easy. It’s a feel-good ending, but not quite a feelsright ending.

Ijames strong script was given appropriate treatment by a strong cast under the astute direction of Morgan Green. The leading performance belonged, of course, to Brennan S. Malone as Juicy. Malone received strong support from Lindsay Smiling in the dual role of the father’s ghost and Uncle Rev; Kimberly S. Fairbanks as Juicy’s mother, Tedra; Brandon J. Pierce as Larry; Taysha Marie Canales as Opal; Jennifer Kidwell as Rabby; and Anthony Martinez-Briggs as Tio, a dedicated stoner version of the stolid Horatio in the original Hamlet.

Meanwhile, Lantern Theater Company offered Philly theatre fans a

Fat Ham. Courtesy of the Wilma Theater

filmed version of Shakespeare’s last great play (and perhaps his last finished play), The Tempest. This was not a modern adaptation of the tale, but the pure Shakespeare text. And wisely so, as the text of The Tempest is Shakespeare at his finest.

This is a professionally filmed and edited version of a 2018 Lantern production, pulled from the archives to remind fans how good theatre can be. A large and highly talented cast (headed by Peter DeLaurier as Prospero) handled the material in fine fashion, giving us a most respectable Tempest. Charles McMahon’s steady direction kept the action moving at an ideal pace while bringing out all the virtues of Shakespeare’s text.

This filmed version allowed us to see the merits of Lance Kniskern’s set design and Shon Causer’s wonderful lighting designs as well as the polished acting. But still …

As I watched this filmed version of an actual live performance from three years ago, I felt there was something missing. It didn’t take me long to identify just what was missing: being there. I could appreciate the solid performances bringing the brilliant text to life, the well-conceived set, the beauty of the lighting that produced changes of tone and texture as the narrative moved along. Yes, I enjoyed the Lantern team’s work on my computer screen, but I was not moved as much as I often am during a live theatrical performance. Watching this edition, I was reminded of what Robert Frost once said about poetry, that it’s “what is lost in translation”. The magic that comes from immediacy in live theatre is what gets lost in streamed and filmed versions. Let’s hope that our recovery from pandemic continues and that quite soon we’ll be back in those theatres, again participating in the magic that live theatre can conjure.