What's Streaming? What If We Told You Jomama Jones in Black Light at Joe's Pub
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
* Joe's Pub at the Public Theater has made Jomama Jones's unforgettable Black Light available on its YouTube page. Jomama Jones invites us to the Crossroads to contemplate what we must choose at this moment in our own lives, in our civic relationships, in our country, and our world(s). The performance was recorded live at Joe's Pub on March 17, 2018.
You can watch the entire show below:
* National Theatre at Home is streaming Small Island, beginning Thursday, June 18 at 2pm ET. Embark on a journey from Jamaica to Britain, from the Second World War to 1948 – the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbur — in this moving stage adaptation of Andrea Levy's Orange Prize-winning novel. The production will stream for free for a week. Donations are encouraged. Watch below:
Broadway Black, the multimedia organization highlighting the achievements of Black theater artists, will announce the winners of the inaugural Antonyo Awards, celebrating the best of the Black Broadway and off-Broadway theater season. The streamed ceremony will begin at 6pm ET on Juneteenth (June 19), the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in America. The event will include a virtual red carpet, musical numbers, and live award presentations. Click here to see a full list of nominees and to cast your vote (through June 12).
* On Juneteenth (June 19) at 10pm ET (7pm PT), Vincent Terrell Durham's thrilling and timely play Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids will be livestreamed here. The event is free to stream, but donations are welcome and can be made here to help raise $1 million for funding Black theater projects in America.
* Broadway's Julie Halston host a new cocktail hour livestream Virtual Halston, taking place on Fridays at 5pm ET. Upcoming guests include 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
* Last chance to purchase tickets for the streaming version of the musical comedy Menopause The Musical, available through June 21. Fans will have until June 28 to watch the show online one time. To join the virtual sisterhood, click here.
* The Cherry Orchard Festival presents Boston's Arlekin Players Theatre with State vs. Natasha Banina, a newly conceived live Zoom interactive theater art experiment. Performances will take place on Sunday evenings: June 21 and 28 at 8pm live on Zoom. For information or to reserve a Zoom spot, visit www.CherryOrchardFestival.org. All performances are free and Zoom registration is required. Suggested donations will support COVID-19 emergency relief effort for the Actors Fund.
Upcoming
* Broadway HD will team up with Live From Lincoln Center for a free sing-along screening of William Finn and James Lapine's Falsettos, taking place Thursday, June 25 at 8pm. You can watch for free by clicking here. The stream will be available for 48 hours.
(© Joan Marcus)
* The Sound of Music, which aired on NBC in 2013 and starred Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer, will stream via the Shows Must Go On! YouTube channel. It will be available for 48 hours beginning at 2pm ET on Friday, June 26. The stream is free, but viewers are encouraged to support the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). To watch, click here.
* Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel will open the virtual play reading series she has created and curated — Bard at the Gate — with Kermit Frazier's play Kernel of Sanity to be streamed on Thursday, June 25 at 7pm ET. Matthew Hancock, Abigail Breslin, and Josh Hamilton will star. The 90-minute play will be introduced by Vogel and Frazier, and will be followed by a live discussion. To watch, click here.
* Haley Swindal's concert at 54 Below Sing Happy: The Songs of Liza Minnelli to stream on BroadwayonDemand.com on Friday, June 26 at 8pm. The stream is free to watch. To learn more, click here.
* Michael Palin, Robert Lindsay, and Joanna Lumley will star in a live virtual table-read of A Bit of Waiting for Godot on Sunday, June 28. The England-based reading will be presented by Lockdown Theatre in association with the Royal Theatrical Fund. Tickets sales aid the Royal Theatrical Fund and cost 35 pounds. To purchase, click here.
(© Joseph Marzullo/Tristan Fuge)
* Bedlam will present a live virtual play reading series to raise funds and awareness for the #BlackLivesMatter movement and associated organizations working toward eliminating race-based discrimination. Upcoming readings include The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel on Tuesday, June 23; Coriolanus by William Shakespeare on Tuesday, July 21; Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw on Tuesday, August 4, and Othello by William Shakespeare on Tuesday, October 13. All proceeds from these readings will go directly to organizations fighting for equity and justice. For a complete list of readings, and for more information on how to donate, click here.
* NY Classical Theatre will present a free virtual zoom reading of William Shakespeare's King Lear on Thursday, June 25 at 8pm, as a fundraiser for an intended full production later this year. For details or to register for the event, click here.
* Josh Groban will play a special intimate livestream concert on Saturday, June 27 at 4pm ET. Josh, along with longtime guitarist Tariqh Akoni and piano player Mark Stephens, will perform a career-spanning set, filled with some of his greatest hits, fan favorites, and a few new songs. To purchase tickets and find out more, click here.
* Broadway's Daniel J. Watts and WattsWords Productions will present The Jam: Love Terrorists, a transformative display of music, dance, spoken word, and storytelling on Monday, June 29. The show begins at 7:30pm ET and will be streamed live from BETplus' Instagram handle: @betplus. The event will feature a live fundraiser, with proceeds going to the Ali Forney Center, dedicated to helping and housing homeless LGBTQAI youth.
* Raúl Esparza and Samira Wiley will star in a live-streamed production of Molière's Tartuffe, directed by Lucie Tiberghein. The broadcast will take place live on Saturday, June 27 at 2pm EST and 7pm EST. It will be available through Wednesday, July 1 at 2pm EST on MIP's YouTube channel. Viewing is free. Reserve a spot here.
(© David Gordon)
* The musical The Boy Who Danced on Air, with book and lyrics by Charlie Sohne and music by Tim Rosser, will stream from July 6 to July 19. Tickets cost $15-$35 per household. To purchase and find out more about the show, click here.
* Payson Lewis and Jonah Platt will star in an online reading of the new musical Walt and Roy. The virtual performance will be on July 9 at 8pm ET, with all money received from ticket sales being donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Broadway for Racial Justice. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 12, and will be available for purchase here.
(images provided by Stacy Morgan PR)
Streaming Channels
* Spike Lee directs a filmed version Antoinette Nwandu's provocative play Pass Over, which tells the story of two young black men (Jon Michael Hill and Julian Parker) dreaming of escape from a racist world. A startling and disturbing riff on Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Pass Over now streams on Prime Video. Read our critic's review here.
(© Amazon Studios)
* In Dominique Morisseau's play Pipeline, a public school teacher (Karen Pittman) must face the trauma of her son (Namir Smallwood) as a young black man when an incident threatens to get him expelled from a prep school. Pipeline streams on BroadwayHD. Read our critic's review here.
* Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominee Anna Deavere Smith wrote and stars in Notes From the Field, her solo play in which she probes the lives of students, parents, and teachers caught in the school-to-prison pipeline. The show streams on HBO.
* Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale, Jeremy Jordan, and Eugene Lee reprise their Broadway roles in American Son, the story of an interracial couple anxiously awaiting word of their son's whereabouts while dealing with a racist cop in a police station. Tony winner Kenny Leon directs. American Son streams on Netflix.
Available for a Limited Time
* PBS will offer a stream of Anna Deavere Smith's drama Twilight: Los Angeles through August 7. Filmed by Marc Levin in 2001, Smith stars in a solo show that explores the aftermath of the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. To watch, click here.
(courtesy of PBS)
* The Broadway Podcast network (BPN), Tony Award winner Dori Berinstein, and Alan Seales are pleased to celebrate Pride month with a special section of the website BPN.FM/Pride highlighting a variety of programming to mark the occasion. Such events include live town halls with cast members of The Prom and episodes that highlight artists such as playwright Jeremy O. Harris and recent Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Michael R. Jackson. All of the events and episodes air exclusively on the Broadway Podcast Network and wherever you listen to podcasts.
* Philadelphia's Wilma Theatre has released an archival recording of James Ijames's Kill Move Paradise as a fundraiser for Black Lives Matter Philly. The 2018 production will be available until Sunday, June 21, with a donation of any size allowing you access to the streaming link. The play is inspired by the ever-growing list of slain unarmed Black people, telling the stories of four Black men who are stuck in a cosmic waiting room in the afterlife. Avery Hannon, Anthony Martinez-Briggs, Brandon J. Pierce, and Lindsay Smiling star in Blanka Zizka's production.
* 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-October 10. 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.
* 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, premiered on Wednesday, May 27 at 6pm ET and will remain online through October 2020. For more information, click here.
* The Actors Fund and People magazine is streaming the 2015 benefit concert of Bombshell, the musical within the short-lived television drama Smash. Watch it here:
* Tony-winning dancer Scott Wise has launched the new Wise Conversations talk show series, benefiting Fineline Theatre Arts, in New Milford, Connecticut. 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 page.
* Shakespeare @ will launch a new audio play series on July 1 with Richard II. Presented in three weekly episodes, the company will be led by Jamie Ballard in the title role, alongside artists such as Keith Hamilton Cobb, Ashlie Atkinson, and Jonathan Forbes. Click here for more information.
Always Available
Alex Newell and the Sounds of Zamar came together for a moving rendition of "I Know Where I've Been," from Hairspray. AIDS Walk New York posted the video on its YouTube channel after postponing its "Live at Home" event "in response to the murder of George Floyd, the systemic racism it reflects, the ongoing police abuses, and in solidarity with Black Lives Matter." Hairspray co-writer Marc Shaiman lent his keyboard to the rousing tribute. Watch Newell and the Sounds of Zamar here:
* Geraldine Inoa's Scraps chronicles how the family and friends of a black teenager shot by a white police officer struggle to cope in the aftermath. The Matrix Theatre Company has made its production available here.
* 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:
* 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:
* 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.
* 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.
Postponed
* MCC Theater had scheduled a virtual edition of its Miscast event on Saturday, June 20 at 8pm ET. Miscast features Broadway's hottest stars performing songs from roles in which they would not traditionally be cast. Participants and new date will be announced in the future.
* The New 42 Virtual Gala 2020 was scheduled to be broadcast 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 were set host.
* The Public Theater's stream of We Are One Public was scheduled to be broadcast on June 1. The evening was to 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.
