Eklektikos host John Aielli gives you his picks for this weekend and beyond
The Long Center – Shen Yun
January 7-9
Shen Yun invites you to travel back to the magical world of ancient China. Experience a lost culture through the incredible art of classical Chinese dance, and see legends come to life. Shen Yun makes this possible by pushing the boundaries of the performing arts, with a unique blend of stunning costuming, high-tech backdrops, and an orchestra like no other. Be prepared for a theatrical experience that will take your breath away!
Barton Creek Square – Cirque Italia
January 6-17
Cirque Italia presents “Aquatic Spectacular.” The name reflects a unique attribute under the tent, as the show features a custom designed water stage that travels from city to city. The stage holds 35,000 gallons of water that performers dazzle over while thrilling the audience with every move. With this “unique feature” under the tent, guests will be surprised, for it’s a show of its own!
Started in 2012, Cirque Italia is an Italian entertainment company that brings a performance of European style. It is described as a “vivid, dramatic, and moving experience under a customized traveling tent.”
Esther’s Follies
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturday @ 8 p.m. + 10 p.m.
6th Street- the source of Esther’s humor and unwitting backdrop for its stage- will always define Esther’s distinct comedic blend of magic, music, and comedy. We’ve been called the Texas answer to SNL–a modern-day vaudeville revue mixed with political comedy that is like nothing else on the national comedy scene. Esther’s history stretches back 40 years.
The peculiar interaction between stage and street has been a Follies hallmark since the beginning. With 6th Street still dimly sinister after dark, the windows provide safe haven between numbers to watch the steady parade of Sixth Street denizens, and revelers wander by. Esther’s is an equal opportunity satirical revue—fond of skewering both political parties and using the absurd in politics and pop culture as a foundation for their sketches. The end result is a smartly funny, unifying experience for a politically diverse audience, where everyone laughs under one roof.
Redeemer Presbyterian Church – Anton Nel and Kieth Womer
January 8-9
What better way to begin the new year than this concert with Anton Nel and director Keith Womer on organs and harpsichords.
Music by Clementi, Boccherini, Krebs, Handel, Rameau, and others.
The Long Center’s Dell Hall – Austin Symphony “The Greats”
Saturday, January 15
The New Year welcomes music from Richard Strauss’ beloved opera Der Rosenkavalier and American cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing. Quickly establishing herself as one of today’s leading young artists, she won the Sphinx Competition’s Junior Division in 2017 and will shine in Austin with the always popular Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor.
Paramount Theatre – Pink Martini
Wednesday, January 12
Featuring a dozen musicians, with songs in 25 languages, Pink Martini performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages on six continents. After making it’s European debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998, the band has gone on to play with more than 50 orchestras around the world, including multiple engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, the San Francisco Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the BBC Concert Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall in London. In 2014, Pink Martini was inducted into both the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.
