Morrison Center launches Virtual Stage with Christopher Jackson of ‘Hamilton’ fame
.jpeg "Tony nominated Broadway star of “Hamilton” and “In The Heights,” Christopher Jackson will perform virtual concert Saturday, Aug, 15, that will be livestreamed to homes across the country, via local performing arts centers, liek the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts in Boise.")
If you’re blue because theater isn’t happening, concert halls are dark, and tours and shows are postponed or canceled, take heart. The Morrison Center has you covered, at least for this weekend.
The performing arts center on Boise State’s campus will launch its Virtual Stage, a series of occasional livestream shows that you can watch in your home, with a performance by one of the stars of “Hamilton.”
Tony Award nominee Christopher Jackson, best known for his portrayal of George Washington in “Hamilton,” will provide the first installment. “Christopher Jackson: Live from the West Side” streams at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15. Tickets are $40.
Because of the short advance time, Jackson sat down for a Zoom interview with one reporter, Chicago Tribune theater and Sunday culture critic Chris Jones, on Tuesday. It streamed to all of the markets where the performance will air.
The livestream will feature Jackson and a four-piece band composed of “Hamilton” orchestra members, who “are not currently busy,” he said.
With such a short rehearsal time, it was important to work with familiar musicians, he said.
“They know where the zigs and zags come,” he said.
Jackson is a towering presence on stage, with a rich baritone and deeply emotional performance quality that earned him a Tony nomination for “Hamilton,” an award he lost to his castmate Daveed Diggs, who played the dual roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson.
However, Jackson’s heartfelt performance has earned him a large fan following, which is growing with the Disney Plus streaming of the filmed live performance of the breakthrough Broadway show.
Jackson got his start in the company of “The Lion King,” eventually playing the central character Simba. He’s also appeared in “Memphis” and “Bronx Bombers,” and is an Emmy and Grammy winner for composing music for “Sesame Street.”
For this livestream he plans to zig and zag through his career, touching on highlights from his long association with “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Those include “In the Heights,” Miranda’s first Tony-winning musical, and an upcoming film, and pieces developed with Freestyle Love Supreme, an improv hip-hop group he co-founded with Miranda and “Hamilton” director Tommy Kail.
You’ll also hear a few tunes from the Broadway and American songbooks — and an original song Jackson wrote for his upcoming album while in quarantine.
More Virtual Stage
Doing this show was “a no-brainer,” Jackson said. “It makes us feel like we’re doing something good. Theater fills a great space for a great many of us. We want to experience something in real time. And there’s an inherent value in supporting these organizations that are not just intent on entertaining people, but are intent on contributing to the quality of their lives.”
That’s right in line with what Morrison Center Executive Director Laura Kendall is thinking. She sees these events as a way to build a bridge — during what can only be called an arts crisis — for her audience to a time when “we can thrive in community, watching together,” Kendall said in a phone interview.
And there will be more of these opportunities in the future.
“There are others like this in the pipeline,” Kendall said. “We’re looking for things that are well produced and as close to the real concert experience as possible.”
Like venues across the county, those in the Treasure Valley are hurting, and performers are hurting even more. The Morrison Center, which is part of Boise State University, is putting its resources toward helping the Boise-area arts groups that call Idaho’s largest proscenium stage their performance home.
The center is reaching out to Ballet Idaho and the Boise Phil to help with their digital seasons, and to other groups that need support. Since the shutdown, Kendall has met with her peers from the the other arts groups to gauge how things are progressing.
“We’ve really linked arms,” she said.
The center is part of the COVID Cultural Commissioning Fund, along with Treefort Music Fest and Boise City Department of Arts & History, offering grants to dozens of Idaho visual artists and performers to create work that reflects their experience in dealing with the coronavirus crisis.
Later this month the center will collaborate with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise dance/music group LED, Global Lounge and Afronsonics for a livestream performance for the Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America Live Stream Performances at 4 p.m. Aug. 28.
“Anything we can do, we will do,” Kendall said.
Note: The national tour of “Hamilton” is scheduled for the Morrison Center’s Broadway slate in Boise during the 2020-21 season.
Season ticket status
The Center’s Broadway series for 2019-20 was mostly postponed or canceled. Kendall says there are events on the calendar starting Jan. 1, 2021, but it’s a wait-and-see situation.
“There’s a lot of fluidity and understanding that the situation is changing,” she said. “We are planning to plan and then adjusting. Everything changes every day, and we’re communicating as much as we can with our subscribers.”
Many subscribers are being patient, and their tickets will be there when things come back. Others, she said, are just not ready and have asked for refunds. “And that’s fine, too. People will not be penalized for taking their health into consideration,” Kendall said.
If you want a refund, contact the box office by calling 208-426-1110 or send an email through the website.
Watch live:
6 p.m. Aug. 15, Morrison Center Virtual Stage. $40. Ticketmaster.
