11 Stage Performances to Watch Today, October 15
Tony Award Nominations
At noon ET, Aladdin Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart announces the Tony Award nominations for the truncated 2019-2020 season. Although 16 productions didn’t get a chance to open before the shutdown, 18 shows are still eligible, mostly plays. So this may be the year of the dramatist! Tune in to see if your favorites make the cut. Watch for free on the Tony Awards’ YouTube channel.
BAM: That Kindness: Nurses in Their Own Words
At 7 p.m. ET, The Vagina Monologues author and activist V (formerly known as Eve Ensler) premieres That Kindness: Nurses in Their Own Words, a new documentary-theatre piece based on interviews with frontline medical workers about their experiences during COVID-19. Rosie O’Donnell, Billy Porter, Marisa Tomei, LaChanze, Connie Britton, Rosario Dawson, Stephanie Hsu, Liz Mikel, Dale Soules, Monique Wilson and Ed Blunt bring these harrowing stories to life, complemented by original music by Morley. Watch for free until Tuesday, November 3 on BAM’s YouTube channel though donations to The Brooklyn Hospital Center are encouraged.
Education Through Music: Keep Music Alive
At 7 p.m. ET, the nonprofit Education Through Music, which provides music programs for underserved New York City public school students, hosts a virtual gala featuring performances by Tony winner Kelli O’Hara, Tony nominee Norm Lewis and legendary violinist Joshua Bell. Watch for free on YouTube though donations are encouraged.
The Metropolitan Opera: Anna Bolena
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera‘s week of Donizetti favorites continues with David McVicar‘s captivating 2011 mounting of Anna Bolena, about King Henry VIII’s second wife. Anna Netrebko stars as the ill-fated Queen, and Ildar Abdrazakov is her philandering husband who has a thing for Ekaterina Gubanova‘s Jane Seymour. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, L’Elisir d’Amore, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
PTP/NYC: Far Away
At 7:30 p.m. ET, PTP/NYC, known for its insightful mountings of politically charged plays, wraps up its virtual season with Caryl Churchill‘s Far Away, about a society engaged in a never-ending war, and citizens don’t know which side they’re on. PTP cofounder Cheryl Faraone directs Nesba Crenshaw, Caitlin Duffy, Ro Boddie and Lilah May Pfeiffer. Watch for free until Sunday on the troupe’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.
Available to Watch All Day
The Metropolitan Opera: Hansel and Gretel
Ever since the shutdown began, the Metropolitan Opera has been sharing productions from its Live in HD series nightly at 7:30 p.m. ET. But it also presents weekly student streams that debut on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. ET. These productions have been specially selected for families, and Zoom education sessions leading up to the screening teach school-age kids about opera. This week’s offering is the Met’s 2008 mounting of Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, a holiday staple at the venue. Starring Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer, it’s an eye-popping, English-language production with oversize cartoon chefs, singing trees and an unforgettable witch’s kitchen. Watch for free until Friday at 5 p.m. ET on the Metropolitan Opera’s website.
Bard at the Gate: Origin Story
Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist Paula Vogel continues her Bard at the Gate play reading series showcasing timely, under-the-radar scripts with Dan LeFranc‘s Origin Story. A mystery about two teenagers trying to solve a crime with clues provided by a comic book illustrated by the enigmatic Pronoun, the one-act delves into issues of gender identity and bullying. Christopher Bayes directs Brandon E. Burton, Edmund Donovan, Gabriel Levey, Zoe Mann, Anula Navlekar and Liz Wisan. Watch for free until Sunday on Bard at the Gate’s YouTube channel.
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Top image: Billy Porter, star of That Kindness: Nurses in their Own Words. Photo by Shavonne Wong.
RAVEN SNOOK