11 Stage Performances to Watch Today, September 21
Shout!
At 7 p.m. ET, take a tuneful trip back to the swinging ’60s with a special one-night-only screening of Shout! benefiting TDF! The musical is packed with ’60s pop anthems, including “Downtown,” “Son of a Preacher Man,” “I Only Want to Be with You,” “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” and “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.” Twist and shout your way around London with our “fab five” as they discover the fashion, freedom, fun and music of the era. Shimmy and shake to the infectious songs that turned Petula Clark, Cilla Black, Lulu and Dusty Springfield into timeless icons. Tickets are $10 and a portion of the proceeds go to TDF.
New Federal Theater: She Speaks, He Speaks, Generations Speak: Black Words Matter
At 7 p.m. ET, New Federal Theatre, one of NYC’s leading Black companies, presents a virtual poetry jam featuring artists of different ages speaking truth to injustice. Reverend and writer Rhonda (Akanke) McLean-Nu hosts. RSVP to receive the free viewing link; donations are encouraged.
The Metropolitan Opera: La Rondine
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera kicks off a week of Puccini favorites with La Rondine, about star-crossed lovers played by then real-life couple Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna. Nicholas Joël staged the production, which was recorded in 2009. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Norma, until 6:30 p.m. today.
Harlem Shakespeare Festival: Othello
At 8 p.m. ET, the Harlem Shakespeare Festival presents a streamlined live-stream of Othello featuring an all-women cast. Troupe founder and Harlem native Debra Ann Byrd stars in Shakespeare’s tale of manipulation, jealousy and murder. Register to receive the free Zoom link; donations are encouraged.
Stars in the House: Brenda Braxton
At 8 p.m. ET, Smokey Joe’s Cafe Tony nominee and Chicago vet Brenda Braxton guest hosts Stars in the House, and she’s bringing some as-yet-unnamed friends with her. Watch for free on YouTube though donations to The Actors Fund are encouraged.
Bindlestiff Open Stage: Quarantine Edition
At 8 p.m. ET, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus leaps into fall with a new season of its weekly live-streamed variety show. Hosted by adorkable ringmaster Keith Nelson, this evening’s cavalcade includes aerialist Kyla Ernst-Alper, hat juggler Katherine Marino, Melissa Arleth‘s Cirque du Sewer rat act, rola bola artist Kalkidan Zebene and conjurer Professor DR Schreiber. Watch for free on Bindlestiff’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.
Available to Watch All Day
Actors Theatre of Louisville: COVID-Classics: One-Act Plays for the Age of Quarantine
One of the most acclaimed regional theatres in the country, the Actors Theatre of Louisville, presents five classic shorts by Guillaume Apollinaire, Anton Chekhov, Luigi Pirandello, August Strindberg and Thucydides, reimagined for our plagued times. Robert Barry Fleminga directs this poignant 45-minute program. Tickets are available to purchase from the theatre but TDF members get a discount.
Play-PerView: Sugar in Our Wounds
On Saturday, Play-PerView presented a live reading of Sugar in Our Wounds, and you can watch a recording through Wednesday. Donja R. Love‘s lyrical queer romance between two slaves is set during the Civil War, and this event reunites the cast of the play’s Manhattan Theatre Club world premiere: Stephanie Berry, Sheldon Best, Fern Cozine, Tiffany Rachelle Stewart and Chinaza Uche. Malika Oyetimein directs. Tickets start at $15 and benefit HIV/AIDS nonprofit Bebashi.
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Top image: The cast of Shout! Photo courtesy of the producers.
RAVEN SNOOK