What's Streaming? Shakespeare in the Park's Much Ado About Nothing, Starring Danielle Brooks
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
* PBS's Great Performances is streaming the Public Theater's 2019 Shakespeare in the Park production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. This bold interpretation of Shakespeare's comedic masterpiece features Danielle Brooks and Grantham Coleman as the sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick. Tony Award winner Kenny Leon directs, with choreography by Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown. To watch, click here.
(© Joan Marcus)
* Dulé Hill and Jennifer Mudge will re-create their performances from the 2007 Cherry Lane Theatre revival of Amiri Baraka's Dutchman on Play-PerView on Saturday, August 8, at 7pm ET. Chris Myers will co-star, with Robert Barry Fleming directing. To purchase tickets, click here. Before you watch the show, check out our interview with Hill and Mudge here.
(© David Gordon)
* Virtual event venue Looped is hosting #Ham4Change, a series of fundraisers organized by the original cast of Hamilton to benefit organizations that are working to end systemic racism. The first event took place on Saturday, August 1, 1pm-4pm ET. Benefiting Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective, Law Enforcement Accountability Project, and When We All Vote, tickets can be purchased here. Future events will take place August 9 at 1pm and on August 15. Watch highlights from the August 1 event below:
Upcoming
* A slate of starry special guests has been added to Tony Award winner BD Wong and videographer Richert Schnorrs imaginative, video-driven interpretation of the theatrical song cycle Songs From an Unmade Bed. The collection of immersive music videos will stream at 8pm ET on Monday, August 10, as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Special guest hosts include Awkwafina, John Lithgow, John Cameron Mitchell, Billy Porter, Keala Settle, and more. To watch, click here.
Streaming Channels
* The documentary We Are Freestyle Love Supreme is currently streaming on Hulu. To subscribe to Hulu and Disney Plus, click here.
* Lin-Manuel Miranda's blockbuster musical Hamilton streams on Disney Plus, featuring the original cast, led by Miranda as Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Jonathan Groff as King George, Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds, Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison, and Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton. To find out how to watch, click here.
* 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.
(© Jeremy Daniel)
* 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.
* 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.
Available for a Limited Time
* Transport Group's filmed performance of its world premiere musical Broadbend, Arkansas began streaming Monday, July 20 for four weeks. An original cast recording will be released by Broadway Records in July. Audiences can view the stream, hosted by Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper, free of charge here. In lieu of a ticket fee, the company encourages contributions be made to the Black Theatre Network.
(© Carol Rosegg)
* Bette Davis Ain't for Sissies streams through September 24. Written and performed by Jessica Sherr, this new 80-minute live streaming version is directed for the small screen by Karen Carpenter. Tickets are $19.50 each and are available here.
* PBS streams 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.
* 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 through 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.
