15 Stage Performances to Watch Today, October 14
Theater of War Productions: The King Lear Project
At 2 p.m. ET, Theater of War Productions, a company that uses classical texts to examine contemporary issues, presents scenes from King Lear to kick-start a guided community conversation about aging and elder care in the time of COVID-19. Oscar nominee Amy Ryan, Frankie Faison, Andrea Patterson, Marjolaine Goldsmith, David Zayas, Nyasha Hatendi and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams perform the excerpts, and company artistic director Bryan Doerries facilitates the discussion with a panel of experts. Reserve your free ticket on Eventbrite at least an hour in advance. This performance won’t be available after-the-fact.
The Metropolitan Opera: Hansel and Gretel
At 5 p.m. ET, 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
At 7 p.m. ET, Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist Paula Vogel continues her Bard at the Gate play reading series showcasing timely, under-the-radar scripts. Tonight’s offering is 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. Delving into issues of gender identity and alienation, the play is directed by Christopher Bayes and stars Brandon E. Burton, Edmund Donovan, Gabriel Levey, Zoe Mann, Anula Navlekar and Liz Wisan. Watch for free on Bard at the Gate’s YouTube channel.
French Institute Alliance Française: Melissa Errico & Adam Gopnik: Love, Desire & Mystery
At 7 p.m. ET, Tony-nominated chanteuse Melissa Errico and New Yorker essayist Adam Gopnik team up for a trio of concerts exploring what the French call l’amour fou, all-consuming love. The duo will weave together conversations and chansons, as Errico performs some of her favorite love songs, including Michel Legrand’s “Valse des Lilas” and Cole Porter’s “I Love Paris,” as well as a new number from an in-development musical about Eleanor of Aquitaine by Gopnik and David Shire. Tickets are available from the French Institute but TDF members get a discount.
New York Theatre Barn: New Works Series
At 7 p.m. ET, for the past 13 years, New York Theatre Barn has showcased works in progress in its New Works Series. That initiative has now gone virtual, with 40-minute peeks at two new musicals a week. Tonight, catch excerpts from Bobby Daye and Monica L. Patton‘s Love & Southern D!scomfort, about an estranged mother and daughter featuring Tony winner Nikki M. James and Ramona Keller; and Jaime Lozano and Nancy Cheser‘s Present Perfect, about immigrants connecting in Brooklyn featuring Mauricio Martínez and Stephanie Lynne Mason. Watch for free on New York Theatre Barn’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.
The Metropolitan Opera: L’Elisir d’Amore
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera‘s week of Donizetti favorites continues with L’Elisir d’Amore, a charming rom-com about a spirited landowner, a lovesick peasant and a purported love potion that may lead to romance. Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher helmed this 2018 mounting that stars Pretty Yende, Matthew Polenzani, Davide Luciano and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, La Fille du Régiment, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Available to Watch All Day
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater: Why Would I Dare?: The Trial of Crystal Mason
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater presents Why Would I Dare?, a virtual reading of the court transcript from the trial of Crystal Mason, a Black woman convicted of trying to cast an illegal vote during the 2016 presidential election. Conceived by actors Marin Ireland, Peter Mark Kendall and Reggie D. White and director Tyler Thomas (the same group behind the Vineyard Theatre’s documentary-style series Lessons in Survival), this timely performance features Crystal Dickinson, Peter Gerety, Shane McRae and creators Kendall and Ireland. Watch for free until Monday, November 2, aka Election Day eve, on Rattlestick’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.
St. Ann’s Warehouse: Julius Caesar
Throughout October, Brooklyn’s St. Ann’s Warehouse presents director Phyllida Lloyd‘s acclaimed Donmar Warehouse Shakespeare Trilogy, starring Tony nominee Harriet Walter and an all-female ensemble as inmates mounting the Bard’s plays in prison, a framing that provides a fresh perspective on familiar works. All three productions were filmed in front of live audiences in 2016, with handheld and GoPro footage edited in to give them a kinetic feel. The series kicks off with Julius Caesar featuring Walter as Brutus. Watch for free until Thursday on St. Ann’s website though donations are encouraged.
—
Top image: Morgan Freeman, star of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man.
RAVEN SNOOK