17 Stage Performances to Watch Today, August 5
In This Life
At noon ET, WNET’s All Arts series presents In This Life, a dance film created by director Bat-Sheva Guez and American in Paris Tony nominee/former New York City Ballet star Robert Fairchild, who co-produced, co-wrote and stars. A meditation on grief, the 15-minute movie features five sections, each choreographed by a different dance-maker: James Alsop, Warren Craft, Andrea Miller, Christopher Wheeldon and Fairchild himself. Watch for free on All Arts’ website.
The Metropolitan Opera: Cosi fan tutte
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 Phelim McDermott‘s eye-popping 2018 mounting of Cosi fan tutte, which sets Mozart’s tantalizing comedy of romance and infidelity on Coney Island in the ’50s. Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Ben Bliss and Adam Plachetka star as the young lovers, with Tony winner Kelli O’Hara in a supporting role. Watch for free until Friday at 5 p.m. ET on the Metropolitan Opera’s website.
The Homebound Project
At 7 p.m. ET, The Homebound Project presents its fifth and final edition of world-premiere playlets and as always the lineup is stellar. The 12 shorts include Austin Pendleton in a piece by Craig Lucas, Laurie Metcalf in a work by Stephen Karam, Kelli O’Hara in a playlet by Lindsey Ferrentino and Lena Dunham in a self-penned solo. The brainchild of playwright Catya McMullen and director Jenna Worsham, this initiative is raising money to support food insecure families during the pandemic. Tickets start at $10 and proceeds go to No Kid Hungry.
Ballet Hispánico: Cada Noche…Tango
At 7 p.m. ET, Ballet Hispánico, an invaluable NYC-based dance company, shares a recording of Cada Noche…Tango by ten-time Tony nominee Graciela Daniele, a 1998 work evoking the passionate underground nightlife of Buenos Aires in the ’20s and ’30s. Watch for free on Ballet Hispánico’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.
The Metropolitan Opera: Simon Boccanegra
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares a gem from its vaults: Giancarlo del Monaco’s lavish 1995 production of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, with Plácido Domingo as the title character’s sworn enemy and Kiri Te Kanawa‘s as his lady love. Vladimir Chernov and Robert Lloyd costar. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Funny Women of a Certain Age
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the seasoned comics in Funny Women of a Certain Age really pack some punch lines. Carole Montgomery, Rhonda Hansome and Vanessa Hollingshead are bawdy broads who’ve seen it all, and they’re willing to talk. Tickets are available from the theatre but TDF members get a discount.
Theater Breaking Through Barriers: Voices from the Great Experiment
At 7:30 p.m. ET, Theater Breaking Through Barriers, one of the country’s leading companies showcasing artists with disabilities, continues its live reading series of new shorts created for Zoom by dramatists who participated in its Virtual Playmakers’ Intensive. Tonight’s premiere is 3 Stops from Loop Tape Station by Enrique Huili, directed by Ashley Scott and starring Juan Carlos Diaz and Melissa Jennifer Gonzalez. Watch for free with live captioning on the company’s YouTube channel.
SolFest 2020 Virtual Edition: A Latinx Theater Festival
At 7:30 p.m. ET, The Sol Project, a national theatre initiative devoted to showcasing Latinx voices, brings its third annual festival of works-in-progress online. The final night wraps up with readings of three short works commissioned as part of the Play at Home series: Soñar es luchar by Virginia Grise; the human is sad; let’s start a band by juliany taveras; and Magic Garden by Cándido Tirado. Afterward, the playwrights and former SolFest dramatists, including Cusi Cram and Karen Zacarías, will participate in a talkback. Register in advance to receive the free viewing link.
Black Trans Women at the Center: An Evening of Short Plays
At 8 p.m. ET, New Haven, CT’s Long Wharf Theatre presents a trio of playlets showcasing the stories and performances of Black trans women. The evening was curated and co-produced by Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, a Washington, DC-based Black trans theatre-maker, who directed two of the offerings: Sunshine by Douglas Lyons, starring Angelica Ross (Pose‘s dearly departed Candy Ferocity); and You will Nevaaa Enter Our High Holy Land of Blackness (Hiya) by CeCe Suazo. Rounding out the lineup is Dezi Bing‘s Things Unknown featuring L Morgan Lee from A Strange Loop. Register in advance to receive the free Zoom link; donations are encouraged.
Available to Watch All Day
Great Performances: Kevin Kline in Present Laughter
PBS Great Performances is streaming Moritz von Stuelpnagel‘s effervescent 2017 mounting of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter starring Kevin Kline, who earned his third Tony Award for portraying narcissistic actor Garry Essendine, plagued by midlife fears, an uncontrollable libido and obsessed fans. Kate Burton, Kristine Nielsen and Cobie Smulders costar. Watch for free until Saturday, August 29 on PBS’ website.
Manual Cinema: The End of TV
Here’s a dazzling treat: Over the next month, the multimedia theatre collective Manual Cinema, which combines shadow puppetry and filmic elements, is sharing recordings of one eye-popping show each week. This week’s offering is The End of TV, a deconstruction of the American Dream set in a post-industrial Rust Belt city in the ’90s, as the aspirational promise of TV commercials is juxtaposed against declining opportunities. Watch for free until Monday, August 10 at 1 p.m. ET on the company’s website.
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RAVEN SNOOK