Ravinia 2023 Issue 6

PATRICK GIPSON/RAVINIA ( MATILDA ); LISA-MARIE MAZZUCCO (PINE) 2023/24SERIES Bennett Gordon Hall PREVIEWBYKYLEMACMILLAN I T’S A SURE SIGN that summer is drawing to a close, entering the final weeks of the Ravinia Festival® season: near-nightly outdoor enter- tainment from the annual panorama of concerts has a little less allure when blankets are needed more around your shoulders than spread across the grass. But Ravinia® doesn’t enter hibernation the rest of the year—far from it. In addition to a never-ceasing array of music education and community engagement programs across the Chicago area and Lake County that comprise Reach Teach Play®, Ravinia continues to present performances on weekends across the fall and spring in its most intimate venue—the indoor, 450-seat Bennett Gordon Hall. Variety abounds between late October and early May in these 12 concerts, which range from Broadway and Brahms to Rachmaninoff and roots music. And it’s hard beat the ticket prices, most $20–$30, with special performances only $40–$55, and onsite parking just steps from Bennett Gordon Hall is free. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, Sept. 5, exclusively at Ravinia.org—visit the website for complete program information, including prices and times. Here is a look at the lineup: The Performer’s School Production of Mary Poppins Jr. Few if any movie musicals are more beloved than Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins , with its classic songs like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” that adults recall fondly from their childhoods and today’s youngsters enthusiasti- cally embrace anew. In 1993, famed Broadway producer Cameron Mackintosh approached the original creator of the story, Pamela Travers, about turning it into a musical. She ultimately said yes, and after a decade of development, including signing a team to write additional songs and lyrics to accompany those from the 1964 film by the Sherman Brothers, the musical opened in 2004 and proved to be a West End and Broadway hit. This Broadway Junior production offers a con- densed, one-hour version performed by talented 6th- through 12th-grade actors from Highwood’s The Performer’s School. Violinist Rachel Barton Pine with Pianist Matthew Hagle Rachel Barton Pine is Chicago’s hometown star violinist. She has more than 30 recordings to her credit, including the complete set of Mozart violin concertos with London’s Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and she ap- pears with many of the world’s top orchestras. This summer’s engagements have included a July appearance at the Hollywood Bowl, where she joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the Second Violin Concerto by composer-pianist Billy Childs, who co-directs the Ravinia Steans Music Institute Jazz Program. Long a champion of the resonance and superlative artistry of underrepresented compos- ers, Pine highlights Still’s inspiration by fellow Black artists in the sculpture trip- tych Suite and a spiritual setting, as well as music she commissioned from Childs and the title work of her 2018 album, Blues Dialogues by Dolores White, who died 2 MATINEES EACH DAY! The Performer’s School 2022 production of Matilda Jr. Sat/Sun OCT 28 / 29 Saturday NOV 4 RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 28 – SEPTEMBER 10, 2023 16