19 Stage Performances to See Today, May 29
Hairspray Live!
At 2 p.m. ET, the Shows Must Go On! series moves on from the oeuvre of Andrew Lloyd Webber with a screening of Hairspray Live!, one of the better live TV musicals of recent years. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s tuneful Tony-winning rom-com celebrates the style and civil rights movement of the ’60s as a zaftig teen’s dream to dance on TV sparks social change. This 2016 mounting stars original Tony-winning star Harvey Fierstein in drag as Edna Turnblad, Martin Short as her adoring hubby, Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson as activist Maybelle “Motormouth” Stubbs, pop star Ariana Grande as Penny Pingleton, Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth as vampy villain Velma Von Tussle, Disney Channel regular Dove Cameron as Amber Von Tussle, Ain’t Too Proud Tony nominee Ephraim Sykes as Seaweed J. Stubbs and newcomer Maddie Baillio as the indominable Tracy Turnblad. Whether you’re a longtime fan or have never seen it (is that even possible?!), this is an excellent production that’s vastly superior to the 2007 movie. Watch for free through Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on YouTube.
The Royal Ballet: The Cellist
At 2 p.m. ET, London’s Royal Ballet shares a recording of The Cellist , choreographer Cathy Marston‘s interpretation of the life of celebrated cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who died of multiple sclerosis. Watch for free on YouTube channel.
Lilli Cooper on Virtual Halston
At 5 p.m. ET, Julie Halston, and longtime friend to TDF, welcomes her Tony-nominated Tootsie costar Lilli Cooper to her online chat show. We can’t wait to hear what these talented performers dish about! Watch for free on YouTube.
San Francisco Ballet: Snowblind
At 5:30 p.m. ET, San Francisco Ballet shares a 2018 recording of Snowblind, choreographer Cathy Marston‘s one-act adaptation of Edith Wharton’s heartrending novella Ethan Frome about an ill-fated love triangle between the title character, his sickly wife and her naive cousin. Watch for free on the dance company’s website.
Astoria Performing Arts Center: The Insiders – Musicals from the Quarantine
At 7 p.m. ET, Queens’ venerable Astoria Performing Arts Center continues its series of mini musicals inspired by the weird way we’re living today with Corona Island, a clever parody of reality TV shows except this time the hot guy has to decide who to quarantine with. Watch for free on the theatre’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.
La Sonnambula at the Met
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares its 2009 mounting of Bellini’s La Sonnambula, starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez, conducted by Evelino Pidò. The production was filmed for the company’s Live in HD series, and is available to watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Les Troyens, until 6:30 p.m. today.
Emily Skinner in The Glass Menagerie
At 8 p.m., Side Show Tony nominee Emily Skinner headlines a live reading of The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams’ memory play about a writer looking back on his fragile dysfunctional family. Mean Girls‘ Erika Henningsen, Tim Realbuto and Nick Rehberger round out the cast, and there will be a post-performance Q&A with the actors and director Alison Tanney. Watch for free on YouTube though donations to The Actors’ Fund are encouraged. This performance won’t be available after-the-fact.
New York City Ballet: 21st Century Choreographers
At 8 p.m. ET, for the final offering in NYCB‘s online spring season, the troupe presents an exciting lineup of recent works by some of the biggest choreographers on today’s dance scene. You can peruse the full program on the company’s website, but highlights include excerpts from Justin Peck‘s The Times Are Racing, Pam Tanowitz‘s Bartók Ballet, Alexei Ratmansky‘s Voices and Kyle Abraham‘s The Runaway. Watch for free on NYCB’s YouTube channel through Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
Opera Philadelphia: Breaking the Waves
At 8 p.m. ET, Opera Philadelphia shares a recording of Breaking the Waves, composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek’s critically lauded 2016 adaptation of Lars von Trier’s challenging film about a woman who goes to degrading lengths to satisfy her husband. Kiera Duffy and John Moore star. Watch for free on Opera Philadelphia’s website.
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National Theatre: This House
London’s National Theatre presents This House, James Graham‘s gripping examination of Britain’s political strife in the ’70s. Much as he did for his Tony-nominated play Ink, Graham uses historical events to illuminate current woes, both in the U.K. and the U.S. This play may have been filmed in 2013 but its exploration of polarized politics feels insanely timely. Watch for free through Thursday, June 4 at 2 p.m. ET on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel.
Beth Morrison Projects: Ellen West
Last year, composer Ricky Ian Gordon and poet Frank Bidart premiered the opera Ellen West, about a woman having an existential crisis. The work was inspired by a real-life patient of pioneering psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger, and it stars Jennifer Zetlan and Metropolitan Opera vet Nathan Gunn. Watch for free on Beth Morrison Projects’ website.
Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Stratford Festival
Ontario’s venerable Stratford Festival continues its Shakespeare on Film series with Love’s Labour’s Lost, an effervescent comedy about a quartet of men who swear off women in order to study… but fate has other plans. Tony-winning Les Misérables director John Caird helmed this 2015 production for the stage, and you can watch for free on the Stratford Festival’s YouTube channel.
Irish Repertory Theatre: The Gifts You Gave to the Dark
The resilient Irish Rep kicks off its all-digital summer season with the world-premiere one-act The Gifts You Gave to the Dark. Written by Darren Murphy to be performed online, the drama centers on the final remote conversation between Tom, sick in Belfast with COVID-19, and his elderly mother Rose, who’s on her deathbed in Dublin. Directed by Caitríona McLaughlin, the play stars Seán McGinley, Marty Rea and The Beauty Queen of Leenane Tony winner Marie Mullen. Watch for free anytime through October on the Irish Rep’s YouTube channel.
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Top image: Chita Rivera. Photo by Laura Marie Duncan.
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