A concise art and culture guide for the week to come.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFThe UK Pink Floyd Experience(photo credit: PR)
1. NOT WITHOUT MY SONIn the film Sleepless, undercover Las Vegas police officer Vincent Downs is caught in a high stakes web of corrupt cops and the mob-controlled casino underground. When a heist goes wrong, a crew of homicidal gangsters kidnaps Downs’s teenage son. In one night, he must rescue his son, evade an internal affairs investigation and bring the kidnappers to justice. With Jamie Foxx.2. HERO OR TRAITOR?Oliver Stone’s film Snowden tells the compelling story of Edward Snowden, the polarizing figure who exposed shocking illegal surveillance activities by the National Security Agency and became one of the most wanted men in the world. Snowden is considered a hero by some and a traitor by others.With Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Melissa Leo, Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto.3. THE TEACHERS’ ROOMThe TV sitcom Teachers is about six elementary school teachers in Chicago who are overworked, underpaid and unappreciated. The first episode follows the teachers grappling with the school’s new anti-bullying initiative, a nightmare of mandatory meetings and the inculcation of politically correct jargon instituted less to protect students than to cover the school from any potential lawsuits.Sunday to Thursday at 10:30 p.m. on HOT Comedy Central and HOT VOD.4. CLASSICAL POPSinger/songwriter Shlomi Shaban hosts composer and songwriter Yoni Rechter and jazz musician Eli Degibri in a concert of new arrangements of their greatest hits. With the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Karin Ben-Yossef.January 14 at 8 p.m. at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium, Heichal Hatarbut, Tel Aviv5. A HALL NEW INSPIRATIONIn the 1980s in England, Terry Hall spearheaded the popular ska revival as lead vocalist with The Specials and later made a career with Fun Boy Three and as a solo performer. In Israel, he will play his own collection of records, giving his fans a chance to dance to music such as early reggae, punk, ska, soul, disco and Greek music, all of which he considers as “his inspiration.”January 17 from 9:30 p.m. at Reading 3, Tel Aviv Port6. MADNESS, MURDER & MUSICConducted by Daniele Callegari, with a cast of local and international singers, the Israeli Opera presents Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. The opera is filled with vocal embellishments and entrancing arias, including one of opera’s most famous arias, “Il dolce suono” (“The Sweet Sound”). The story follows Lucia’s love for Edgardo; but forced into an arranged marriage by her brother, she turns the wedding into a feast of murder and madness.From January 17 at Opera House (TAPAC), Tel Aviv7. THROUGH A TIME TUNNELCelebrating Pink Floyd’s 50th anniversary, the UK Pink Floyd Experience is coming to Israel as part of its world tour. Considered “the closest thing to the original,” the group takes the audience through a time tunnel back to the sounds of one of the greatest bands in rock history, including the sound, visual effects and nuances of the lead singer’s intonations.January 15 and 17 at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium, Tel Aviv; January 16 at the Congress Center, Haifa; January 20 at the Performing Arts Center, Beersheba8. FROM LUST TO LOVEAs a part of the Saturday Morning Opera Highlights series, the opera chorus explores the world of Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables as adapted to musical stages worldwide. Comparing two different but similar emotionally tantalizing musical dramas, the excerpts from Les Misérables will be sung alongside excerpts from Verdi’s Rigoletto to complete the emotional roller coaster as depicted in the music of hope and love, lust and despair, freedom and joy.January 21 at 11 a.m. at the Opera House, Tel Aviv9. ARDENT ART BY ARDONAn exhibition of paintings by Mordecai Ardon reveals the multifaceted nature of one of the central figures of Israeli art. Alongside expressive landscapes and self-portraits inspired in part by Rembrandt and El Greco, the exhibition displays Ardon’s modernist paintings in which basic shapes and colors create a unique language encompassing the Israeli landscape, celestial bodies and ancient symbols.Opens January 22 at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem10. BIOGRAPHY IN MOTIONAs part of its Another Stage – Dancers Create framework, the Kibbutzim Dance Company presents PICH, an intriguing work by dancerchoreographer Martin Harriague. A biography in motion about the life and music of Russian composer Tchaikovsky, the impressive one-hour dance-play was created for six dancers to the beautiful music of the tragic giant.January 18 at 8 p.m. at the Zichri Theater in Kibbutz Ga’aton; January 19 at 9 p.m. at the Elma Arts Center, Zichron Ya’acov. www.kcdc.co.il