15+ Stage Performances to Watch January 11-12

Monday, January 11

Red Bull Theater: The African Company Presents Richard III
On Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET, NYC’s Red Bull Theater, known for reimagining classics, presents a live reading of The African Company Presents Richard III, Carlyle Brown‘s fascinating history-inspired drama about competing NYC productions of Shakespeare’s tragedy in 1821 and how a white producer used racist laws to shut a Black troupe down. Carl Cofield directs Clifton Duncan, Edward Gero, Dion Johnstone, Paul Niebanck, Antoinette Robinson, Craig Wallace and Jessika D. Williams. Watch for free on Red Bull’s YouTube channel; a $25 donation is suggested. A recording will be available until Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

The Metropolitan Opera: Le Nozze di Figaro
On Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Mozart’s masterpiece Le Nozze di Figaro, a romantic comedy of marriage and madness with Bryn Terfel as the wily Figaro, who’s always trying to outwit his womanizing master Count Almaviva, played by Dwayne Croft. Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli and Susanne Mentzer costar in this 1998 mounting, staged by Jonathan Miller. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Il Trovatore, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.

Theater in Quarantine: Closet Works
On Monday at 7 and 9 p.m. ET, downtown multihyphenate Joshua William Gelb, known for deconstructing complicated classics like The Jazz Singer, performs a series of brief dance pieces in his closet created by Hadestown associate choreographer Katie Rose McLaughlin. There’s a Q&A with the artists in between the two live performances. Watch for free on Gelb’s YouTube channel.

Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival: Mustard
On Monday at 8 p.m. ET, every January since 2008, Origin Theatre Company has presented the annual 1st Irish Festival featuring readings, productions and panels. This year the event goes virtual with daily offerings through the end of the month. It kicks off today with a performance of Mustard, Eva O’Connor‘s solo show about heartbreak and heartburn. Hildegard Ryan directs. Tickets are $10.

Bindlestiff Family Cirkus: Best of the Open Stage Variety Show Season 2
On Monday at 8 p.m. ET, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus shares highlights from its second season of online circus acts, hosted by adorkable ringmaster Keith Nelson. Expect acrobats, aerialists and athletes from around the globe. Watch for free on Bindlestiff’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.

Tuesday, January 12

The Metropolitan Opera: Thaïs
On Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents John Cox‘s 2008 mounting of Massenet’s rarely staged Thaïs, about a taboo attraction between Renée Fleming‘s title courtesan and Thomas Hampson as a monk. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Le Nozze di Figaro, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.

Available to Watch Both Days

HERE Arts Center: Prototype Festival
Since 2013, Prototype, a festival featuring works that fuse opera and theatre, has defied genre expectations. Co-produced by HERE Arts Center and Beth Morrison Projects, the event goes (mostly) digital this year with six eclectic pieces. Five are online and on demand until Saturday; Ocean Body is an in-person, by-appointment-only installation at HERE, so it’s not included below. Most offerings are free.

• Modulation is a digital, self-guided exploration of our new abnormal created by 13 contemporary composers. Tickets are $25; the recording is viewable until Saturday.
• Times³ (Times x Times x Times) is a sonic journey through Times Square past, present and imagined, which can be enjoyed at the iconic intersection or at home. Tickets are free but required; the recording is viewable until Saturday.
• The Murder of Halit Yozgat explores the real-life 2006 slaying of a 21-year-old immigrant in Germany. Tickets are free but required; the recording is viewable until Saturday, January 16.
• The Planet – A Lament is a staged song cycle by Garin Nugroho featuring dancers, a 14-member choir and searing images evoking our deteriorating home. Tickets are free but required; the recording is viewable until Saturday.
• Wide Slumber for Lepidopterists is inspired by a.rawlings’ book of the same name exploring sleeping, dreaming and butterflies. Tickets are free but required; the recording is viewable until Saturday.

TWEED TheaterWorks: ‘Taint
Like many NYC nightspots, East Village alt-cabaret club Pangea is in dire financial straits. So, over the holidays, the camp masters at TWEED TheaterWorks put together an irreverent variety show to help see the venue through the new year. The lineup is a who’s who of downtown divas, including drag legend Charles Busch, storyteller David Cale, opera singer Joseph Keckler and vocal impressionist Amber Martin. Tickets are $20 and the recording is viewable until Wednesday, January 20.

Fake Friends: Circle Jerk
Fake Friends presents an encore stream of Circle Jerk, a critically acclaimed satire about gay white supremacists. Penned and performed by Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley, the duo who wrote the book for the viral Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical, this is an unsettling examination of right-wing trolling in the queer community. Tickets start at $5 and the recording is viewable until Sunday.

Parity Productions: Stop-Motion
Parity Productions, a NYC-based company showcasing women, trans and gender-nonconforming artists, presents a reading of Stop-Motion, Liz Kerin‘s multimedia tragicomedy about a young woman who spent her twenties as her mom’s caretaker now navigating the aftermath of a terrible accident. Register to receive the free viewing link; the recording is viewable until Monday, January 18.

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Top image: Wayne Brady, who’s doing a concert with Seth Rudetsky on Monday.

RAVEN SNOOK