Theater News

What's Streaming? Bombshell, Gillian Anderson in Streetcar, and Much More

Check out other popular shows like ”Menopause The Musical”, ”School Girls”, and the Geffen’s captivating production of ”The Present”.

Gillian Anderson stars as Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Gillian Anderson stars as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire.
(© Teddy Wolff)

With theaters closed around the country, some companies are making their productions available online. Below, you'll find our weekly update of productions, videos, and other theater-related streaming content from across the US and elsewhere. Some streams are free, while others may charge a fee or request a donation. Either way, you're sure to find something to scratch your theater itch. Theaters may be dark, but the shows go on.


This Weekend

* The Actors Fund and People magazine will stream the 2015 benefit concert of Bombshell, the musical within the short-lived television drama Smash beginning Wednesday, May 20 at 8pm ET. Watch it here:

* On Thursday, May 21, the 2014 National Theatre Live broadcast of the Young Vic and Joshua Andrews co-production of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire will stream for free. The cast includes Gillian Anderson, Ben Foster, and Vanessa Kirby. The stream will be available for one week. Watch the stream here:


Upcoming

* The world premiere of The Gifts You Gave to the Dark, written by Darren Murphy specifically for digital media in reaction to the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis, will premiere on Wednesday, May 27 at 6pm ET and will remain online through October 2020. For more information, click here.

* TriviaMania co-host and Broadway star Ellyn Marie Marsh has teamed up with Patrick Hinds for a brand-new true-crime podcast Obsessed With: Disappeared, which will recap episodes of Investigation Discovery Channel's hit series "Disappeared" in a comedic and witty tone, with perpetrators always the butt of the joke. It will be available May 27.

* Broadway's Julie Halston will host the new cocktail hour livestream Virtual Halston, taking place on Fridays at 5pm ET beginning May 29. Upcoming guests include Lilli Cooper (May 29), Charles Busch (June 5), Linda Lavin (June 12), Santino Fontana (June 19), and Judy Gold (June 26), with more to be announced. Donations are encouraged, with proceeds going to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. To watch, click here.

On Sunday, May 31, at 3pm ET, Play-PerView will reunite the original off-Broadway company of Too Heavy for Your Pocket by Jireh Beron Holder with original director Margot Bordelon. Featuring Eboni Flowers, Hampton Fluker, Brandon Gill, and Nneka Okafor. For tickets, click here.

* Red Bull Theater will stream The Revenger's Tragedy in a new version by Jesse Berger. The free livestream presentation will be broadcast on Monday, June 1 at 7:30pm. Watch it here:

* Free and open to all, the New 42 Virtual Gala 2020 will premiere on June 1 at 5:30pm ET to raise critical funds for the performing arts engagement and education programs of New 42 and its signature projects, New 42 Studios and New Victory Theater, which recently launched New Victory Arts Breaks, a series of digital performing arts curriculum for families and teachers to adapt to kids learning spaces at home. Tony winners Laura Benanti and Celia Keenan-Bolger will host. To watch, click here.

* The Public Theater will offer a free virtual event, We Are One Public, on June 1. The evening will be hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and directed by Tony winner Kenny Leon, with appearances and performances by Antonio Banderas, Anne Hathaway, Sting, Claire Danes, Glenn Close, Oscar Isaac, Sandra Oh, Audra McDonald, Danielle Brooks, Elvis Costello, Danai Gurira, and more. The event will honor Sam Waterston. For more information, click here.

* Tony-winning dancer Scott Wise will launch the new Wise Conversations talk show series beginning on Saturday, June 6 at 4pm ET. The series will benefit Fineline Theatre Arts, the studio in New Milford, Connecticut, that Wise owns with wife Elizabeth Parkinson. Guests will include Jason Alexander (June 6), Martin Short, Jeremy Jordan, and more. Future conversations will take place on Saturdays at 4pm and Wednesdays at 7pm. Recommended donation is $10 for students and $20 for adults. For more information, visit Fineline's Facebook and Instagram pages.

* Usdan, Summer Camp for the Arts will host a virtual fundraiser on Wednesday, June 17 at 6pm ET, honoring alum Seth Rudetsky and Long Island theater Ruthie Pincus of Stage the Change. The event is free, but donations are encouraged, with proceeds used to repair the camp's Lemberg Theater building. To reserve a spot, click here.


Available for a Limited Time

* New York City Ballet has launched a digital season offering content through May 30. For dates and more information, click here.

* Tickets for a streaming version of the musical comedy Menopause The Musical are available through May 31. To join the virtual sisterhood, click here.

Menopause The Musical is streaming through May 17.
Menopause The Musical is streaming through May 24.
(courtesy of Menopause The Musical)

* The Goodman Theatre is streaming Jocelyn Bioh's School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play through May 31. Tickets are $20. To purchase, click here.

* Geffen Playhouse has extended The Present, its world-premiere live, virtual, and interactive theatrical experience written and performed by master illusionist, storyteller, and Geffen alum Helder Guimarães. The show will now run May 7-August 16. A mystery package will be sent to you inside a USPS Priority Mail box before the show, so you must purchase tickets at least seven days in advance. To purchase tickets, click here.


Always Available

* The global family of Rent paid tribute to the frontline heroes of New York City. Watch their rendition of "No Day But Today" here:

* Theater producer and playwright David Lan has a conversation with longtime artistic collaborator Stephen Daldry celebrating Lan's new memoir, As If By Chance: Journeys, Theatres, Lives. The conversation, a part of BAM's ongoing series of digital programs Love from BAM, can be seen here.

* More than 70 cast members from various international productions of Maury Yeston and Peter Stone's musical Titanic have gathered to record a socially distant version of the ballad "We'll Meet Tomorrow." Watch it below:

* Derek Klena performs a contemporary take on "Younger Than Springtime" from South Pacific in the R&H Goes Live! series. Check out that video and the whole series here.

* The Broadway Sings series launches daily performances on its Instagram IGTV account, featuring new arrangements of iconic pop songs.

* Idina Menzel and Ben Platt perform "A Whole New World" from Disney's Aladdin as part of "The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II." Watch the video below:

* Last week, in honor of Florence Nightingale's birthday and the conclusion of Nurses week, and in celebration of our nation's healthcare workers and 2020 Year of the Nurse, the Resilient Project released their "Resilient" video.

* Wicked celebrates first responders on the front lines of the public health crisis with a video featuring stars Lindsay Pearce (Elphaba) and Ginna Claire Mason (Glinda) singing the anthem "For Good."

* Brandon Victor Dixon performed a powerful ballad inspired by the Netherlands Carillon, the bell tower at Arlington Cemetery, on May 23 for '''Fleet Week Follies''. Will Swenson and Audra McDonald introduced him. Watch his performance here:

* Composer Charles Strouse, the last surviving writer of the musical Annie, has tried to help bolster optimism by recording a video of himself performing the show's beloved anthem, "Tomorrow."

* From their homes in Ireland, the UK, the United States, Canada, Spain, Australia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia, as well as those dancers who have swapped their dancing shoes for scrubs, the Riverdance cast have come together while being apart to say thank you to all frontline and essential workers, as well as the people at home who continue to do their part in the fight against COVID-19.

* Six fans from across the globe joined the cast for a special performance in isolation.

* Abrons Arts Center has made all of its performance documentation public on its Vimeo page, alongside contact and donation information for the artists whose work you are viewing.

* Tony winner André De Shields (Hadestown) talked to TheaterMania's Senior Features Reporter David Gordon. Watch the video interview below:

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