20 Stage Performances to Watch June 2-3
Wednesday, June 2
The Metropolitan Opera: Tosca
On Wednesday 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. These productions have been specially selected for families and are complemented by online educational materials. This week’s offering is Sir David McVicar‘s striking 2018 staging of Puccini’s Tosca, starring Sonya Yoncheva as the title diva, Vittorio Grigolo as her artist lover and Željko Lucic as the man who stands in the way of their happiness. Watch for free until Friday at 5 p.m. ET on the Metropolitan Opera’s website.
Symphony Space: Virtual Selected Shorts: It Takes Two with Cynthia Nixon
On Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, Upper West Side culture spot Symphony Space drops a new episode of its decades-old Selected Shorts series, with well-known actors performing brief works of literature by (mostly) contemporary authors. Cynthia Nixon hosts this evening of tales about twosomes, featuring stories read by husband and wife Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole, Hettienne Park, Kate Walsh and Kirsten Vangsness. Tickets are $15.
The Metropolitan Opera: Carmen
On Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Bizet’s Carmen featuring Clémentine Margaine as the title character, who captivates all the men around her. Filmed in 2019, the production was directed by Richard Eyre, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, and costars Roberto Alagna, Aleksandra Kurzak and Alexander Vinogradov. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Samson et Dalila, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Thursday, June 3
Anna Deavere Smith on Classic Conversations
On Thursday at 6 p.m. ET, Classic Stage Company presents a chat between artistic director John Doyle and performer, playwright, activist and educator Anna Deavere Smith. A Pulitzer finalist and Tony nominee, Smith is celebrated for her politically urgent, solo docudramas Fires in the Mirror, Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 and Notes from the Field. Watch for free on Classic Stage Company’s Facebook page.
The Metropolitan Opera: La Fille du Régiment
On Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents La Fille du Régiment, Gaetano Donizetti’s beloved romantic comedy about an orphan girl raised by French soldiers who ends up falling for a rebel. This 2019 production stars Pretty Yende, Stephanie Blythe, Javier Camarena and Maurizio Muraro, and Oscar-nominated actress Kathleen Turner makes a non-singing cameo as the Duchess of Krakenthorp. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Carmen, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Bard at the Gate: Bulrusher
On Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, last year, Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist Paula Vogel launched Bard at the Gate, a play reading series showcasing timely, under-the-radar scripts. The initiative is now being presented by New Jersey’s lauded McCarter Theatre Center, and the new season kicks off with an encore stream of Eisa Davis’ Bulrusher, a sexual and political coming-of-age tale about a multiracial girl with clairvoyant gifts struggling to belong in her predominantly white town in 1955 California. But when a Black girl from Alabama arrives, everything shifts. Recorded remotely in fall 2020, the performance stars Corey Stoll, Kara Young, André Holland, Edmund Donovan, Sydney Elisabeth and Tanis Parenteau, and is directed by the playwright. Tickets are required to receive the free viewing link and the recording is viewable until Wednesday, June 9. On opening night, there will also be a post-show conversation with Davis, Vogel and Valerie Curtis-Newton, the artistic director for The Hansberry Project.
New York City Ballet: George Balanchine’s Vienna Waltzes
On Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, New York City Ballet wraps up its digital spring season with George Balanchine’s 1977 epic Vienna Waltzes, set to waltzes by Johann Strauss II, Franz Lehár and Richard Strauss and featuring more than 50 dancers. This performance was filmed in 2013 and stars Rebecca Krohn, Tyler Angle, Megan Fairchild, Anthony Huxley, Erica Pereira, Sean Suozzi, Teresa Reichlen, Ask la Cour, Maria Kowroski and Jared Angle weaving through Rouben Ter-Arutunian’s evolving scenery. Watch for free until Thursday, June 17 on NYCB’s YouTube channel.
The Joyce Theater: RUBBERBAND: Vic’s Mix
On Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, Chelsea dance haven The Joyce continues its digital season with Canadian company RUBBERBAND, known for fusing street dance with classical movement. Founded by choreographer Victor Quijada in 2002, this Vic’s Mix program features highlights from two decades of boundary-blurring dance. Tickets are $25 but if you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase them at a discount. The recording is viewable until Wednesday, June 16.
Stars in the House: Youth Pride Chorus Celebration
On Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, Seth Rudetsly and James Wesley kick off Pride Month on Stars in the House with the Youth Pride Chorus, who’ll be performing live solos and prerecorded group numbers. Watch for free on YouTube though donations to The Actors Fund are encouraged.
Available to Watch Both Days
Manhattan Theatre Club: The Niceties
Manhattan Theatre Club presents The Niceties, Eleanor Burgess‘ thought-provoking two-hander about a Black student and her veteran white college professor locking horns over the presentation of American history. The . This new digital mounting, co-presented by Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company, reunites the stars of that production, Lisa Banes and Jordan Boatman, with director Kimberly Senior. RSVP to receive the free viewing link. The recording is viewable until Sunday, June 13.
Dixon Place: Bill’s 44th
On Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET, downtown’s invaluable Dixon Place presents Andy Manjuck and Dorothy James‘s coming-of-middle-age puppet comedy Bill’s 44th, about a high-strung man whose birthday goes awry. Tickets start at $12.
MasterVoices: Myths and Hymns: Faith
MasterVoices presents Faith, the final installment of the four-part theatrical song cycle Myths and Hymns by Light in the Piazza Tony winner Adam Guettel. Inspired by Greek myths and 19th-century Presbyterian hymns, the 1998 work explores the nature of faith and longing in our secular society. The other three chapters, Flight, Work and Love, were released earlier this year and can be streamed for free on YouTube. This fourth collection of multimedia musical shorts stars Tony winners Jennifer Holliday and Kelli O’Hara, A Strange Loop‘s Larry Owens, Mykal Kilgore, The Gospel Soul Children of New York and others. Watch for free on MasterVoices’ YouTube channel.
The Vineyard Theatre: Brutal Imagination
Twenty years after Cornelius Eady‘s Brutal Imagination premiered at The Vineyard Theatre, the play returns with original stars Joe Morton and Sally Murphy. Directed by Morton, the drama is inspired by the infamous case of Susan Smith, a white woman from South Carolina who falsely claimed that a Black man kidnapped her children when, in fact, she had drowned them. A potent examination of dangerous racial stereotyping in America, then and now. Tickets start at $25 but if you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase them at a discount. The recording is viewable until Monday, June 7.
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Top image: Audra McDonald, who’s starring in a virtual performance of Ohio State Murders on Thursday. Photo by Allison Michael Orenstein.
RAVEN SNOOK