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Leading the Russian cultural calendar this month: something for the kids. It’s “The Stone Flower”, a puppet show that is being described as “an original Russian tale”. It certainly sounds that way. The story line involves a young prince who must fend off danger and a scheming uncle to find a stone flower if he is to become the tsar. The show is at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, Calif. at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on November 3 and 4.
On the other side of the country, a cabaret performance that deconstructs the Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin song “Tchaikowsky.” In “Tchaikowsky (and Other Russians)”, performer Mark Nadler will intertwine music history with the music itself. The show is at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia this weekend at 8:30 p.m. There is also a 3 p.m. matinee on November 4 and 11.
The Russian Patriarchate Choir is continuing its tour of America. The group’s 12 male singers have been credited with reviving Russian Orthodox church music, but their performances also include arrangements of Russian folk songs and works by Rachmaninoff. The choir will be performing on Friday, November 9 at 7:30pm at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts’ Rinker Playhouse and on Saturday, November 10 at the University of Florida’s Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts , also at 7:30 p.m.
There will two Russian folk dance performances in central New Jersey that evening, both by the same dance troupe. “Dance from the Caucasus” is splitting its dancers into two groups so that they can perform at both the State Theatre in New Brunswick and at the Community Theatre at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in Morristown. Both performances are at 8 p.m. The troupe says its program will present folkloric traditions and cultures from various states and provinces of Russia. Unfortunately, no matinee for the kids.
On Sunday, November 11 at 2:00 p.m. the alumni of the Yale Russian Chorus will present a concert of sacred music and folk songs from Russia and Eastern Europe at the Asylum Hill Congregation Church in Hartford, Conn.
And you know the holidays are coming when venues begin advertising performances of the “Nutcracker”. The Moscow Ballet is on its 12th annual United States tour and will perform the ballet at Dallas’ Majestic Theater on Thursday and Friday, November 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, November 17 at 2:30 p.m.
The Barynya Russian Folk Dance and Music Ensemble usually performs in the New York City area. But on Saturday, November 17 at 8:00 p.m. Barynya will be at the California Institute of Technology’s Beckman Auditorium in Pasadena. Tickets range from $16 to $26, with $10 tickets for the kids.
Image credit: Morguefile.com
