Arts picks: 'Lift Ev'ry Voice,' flamenco, play 'Adult,' musical 'Percy,' Blossom concerts
'Lift Ev'ry Voice' with Apollo's Fire
Apollo’s Fire will perform "Lift Ev’ry Voice – A Celebration of Brotherhood & Sisterhood" at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Arlington Church of God, 539 S. Arlington St., Akron. Concertgoers are invited to meet the musicians and enjoy refreshments at a free Afterglow reception.
Conductor Jeannette Sorrell will bring the audience on a musical journey from 1622 to 2022 – from Monteverdi's "Nigra Sum (I Am Black and Beautiful)" to a 2019 composition of the same title by Black composer Jonathan Woody. A second composition from Woody, the premiere "Intent," probes the legacy of neighborhood segregation.
The program, which includes readings from diaries of the abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, ends with Civil War-era spirituals featuring members of Apollo’s Musettes youth choir.
Singers will include special guest soloist Leslie Parker Barnes, music leader and minister of praise at Arlington Church of God; as well as sopranos Kristine Caswelch and Ashlee Foreman; countertenor Reggie Mobley; tenor Jacob Perry and bass Woody. Tickets start at $20. See www.apollosfire.org or call 216-320-0012.
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'Adult' at None Too Fragile
Critics have raved about the two rich characters and poetry in everyday speech that playwright Christina Masciotti creates in her play "Adult," opening Friday and continuing through Aug. 20 at None Too Fragile in Akron. In this story, Stanley invites his estranged 18-year-old daughter to spend her first winter break from college with him and is stunned by a home that's suddenly alive with disquiet.
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The play, directed by David Vegh, features Robert Ellis and Madison Ellis. It runs 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Aug. 14 and 8 p.m. Aug. 15 at 732 W. Exchange St. Cost is $30. See nonetoofragile.com or call 330-962-5547.
Flamenco fun
Abrepaso, a flamenco music and dance company based in Northeast Ohio, will perform "Tablao Flamenco" at 8 p.m. Saturday at Knight Stage at the Akron Civic Theatre. The show celebrating the unique Andalusian art form will feature flamenco guitarist and vocalist Marija Temo, a Revere High School and Baldwin Wallace University graduate who's the daughter of former Temo's owner Larry Temo and the late Joan Temo. She is guitar chair at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee.
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Also featured will be Abrepaso artistic director and dancer Alice Blumenfeld, who teaches in the University of Akron dance program. Tickets cost $20-$25. See www.akroncivic.com or call 330-253-2488.
Percy Jackson musical at Rubber City Youth Theatre
Rubber City Youth Theatre will premiere "The Lightning Thief: A Percy Jackson Musical" Friday through Aug. 13 at 228 E. Buchtel Ave., the University of Akron. The show runs at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays.
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The musical is adapted from the best-selling book "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan.
As the half-blood son of a Greek god, Percy Jackson has newly discovered powers he can't control, a destiny he doesn't want, and monsters on his trail. When Zeus' master lightning bolt is stolen and Percy becomes the prime suspect, he has to find and return the bolt to prove his innocence and prevent a war between the gods.
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For tickets, which cost $8-$15, see rubbercitytheatre.com/lightning-thief.html. The show, directed by Sarah Bailey and music directed by Sharon Alberson, stars Firestone High School student Stanley Niekamp as Percy, Medina High School graduate Gabi Ilg as Annabeth and Graham Dennis as Grover.
Blossom Music Festival
The Cleveland Orchestra continues at Blossom Music Festival with Grieg's Piano Concerto at 7 p.m. Saturday and an all-Beethoven program at 7 p.m. Sunday at Blossom Music Center, 1145 W. Steels Corners Road, Cuyahoga Falls. Cost each night is $25 for lawn tickets, $29-$99 for pavilion. See www.clevelandorchestra.com or call 216-231-1111.
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Cedric Tiberghien is the piano soloist Saturday for Grieg's Piano Concerto masterpiece, one of the most popular piano concertos ever written. Also on the program, conducted by Jonathan Berman in his Cleveland Orchestra debut, is Franz Schmidt's Symphony No. 4.
The Sunday program was revised from the previously planned Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 ("Choral") due to members of the Blossom Festival Chorus testing positive for COVID-19. The new program, conducted by Jahja Ling, will feature Beethoven's Overture to Egmont, Symphony No. 4 and Symphony No. 5 with the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra.
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Vinay Parameswaran will conduct the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra in a pre-concert program at 6 p.m., including of Gabriela Lena Frank’s "Elegia Andina" and Maurice Ravel’s "Le Tombeau de Couperin."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Arts picks: See 'Lift Ev'ry Voice' concert, Percy Jackson musical
