20+ Stage Performances to Watch This Memorial Day Weekend May 28-31
Friday, May 28
Bristol Old Vic: Touching the Void
On Friday at 3 p.m. ET, the UK’s Bristol Old Vic presents a live performance of Touching the Void that will be streamed to at-home audiences. Based on Joe Simpson’s bestselling memoir of the same name, David Greig‘s thrilling stage adaptation chronicles the mountaineer’s near fatal descent with Simon Yates after they climbed the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. Tony-winning War Horse director Tom Morris helms the production, and Josh Williams and Angus Yellowlees star. Tickets start at £10, approximately $14.
Ballet Hispánico 50th Celebration
On Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET, Ballet Hispánico marks half a century of presenting Latino dance with a digital celebration. The troupe’s artistic director, Eduardo Vilaro, hosts the program, which features world premieres from Lauren Anderson, Ana “Rokafella” Garcia and Belén Maya; archival recordings of works by Graciela Daniele, Ann Reinking, Geoffrey Holder, Nacho Duato, Pedro Ruiz and Gustavo Ramírez; and special appearances by famous friends such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lauren Anderson, Ben Rodriguez-Cubeñas and Rosie Perez. Watch for free until Friday, June 11 on the dance company’s YouTube channel.
The Way Forward: Theatre’s Evolution in Moments of Change: Part III: Future — Where Do We Go Now?
On Friday at 7 p.m. ET, the 92nd Street Y and Town & Country magazine wrap up their three-part interview series with theatre industry leaders discussing the long road back to in-person performances. Part III is titled “Future — Where Do We Go Now?” and features industry innovators such as NYC’s Public Theater Associate Artistic Director Saheem Ali, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, theatre-maker Mei Ann Teo and director-playwright-activist Stevie Walker-Webb discussing what they want in-person theatre to look like on the other side. Register to receive the free viewing link.
The Metropolitan Opera: Fedora
On Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Beppe De Tomasi‘s lush mounting of Fedora, Giordano’s rarely staged tragedy about a Russian princess who falls for the man who murdered her fiancé. Mirella Freni and Plácido Domingo star in this 1997 production. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, The Nose, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
FourthWall Theatrical: This American Wife
On Friday at 8 p.m. ET, Tony-nominated Slave Play scribe Jeremy O. Harris is one of the producers of this virtual reimagining of This American Wife, created by his Yale School of Drama pals Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley, the duo behind the digital smash Circle Jerk. Like that production, This American Wife is also a live Internet show as Breslin, Foley and Jakeem Dante Powell present an amusing multimedia meditation on theReal Housewives phenomenon and its cultural influence. Tickets start at $25.
Saturday, May 29
Bristol Old Vic: Touching the Void
On Saturday at 3 p.m. ET, the UK’s Bristol Old Vic presents a live performance of Touching the Void that will be streamed to at-home audiences. Based on Joe Simpson’s bestselling memoir of the same name, David Greig‘s thrilling stage adaptation chronicles the mountaineer’s near fatal descent with Simon Yates after they climbed the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. Tony-winning War Horse director Tom Morris helms the production, and Josh Williams and Angus Yellowlees star. Tickets start at £10, approximately $14.
The Metropolitan Opera: Capriccio
On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents John Cox‘s roaring ’20s-set Capriccio, Strauss‘ love triangle featuring Renée Fleming as a countess courted by a composer (Joseph Kaiser) and a poet (Russell Braun). Sarah Connolly, Morten Frank Larsen and Peter Rose costar in this 2011 mounting. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Fedora, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
FourthWall Theatrical: This American Wife
On Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, Tony-nominated Slave Play scribe Jeremy O. Harris is one of the producers of this virtual reimagining of This American Wife, created by his Yale School of Drama pals Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley, the duo behind the digital smash Circle Jerk. Like that production, This American Wife is also a live Internet show as Breslin, Foley and Jakeem Dante Powell present an amusing multimedia meditation on theReal Housewives phenomenon and its cultural influence. Tickets start at $25.
Sunday, May 30
Zero Gravity (zero-G) Lab: chekhovOS / an experimental game/
On Sunday at 11 a.m. ET, Zero Gravity (zero-G) Lab presents chekhovOS / an experimental game/, an interactive online workshop by virtual performance innovator Igor Golyak that fuses film, theatre and video game technology to explore Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard as well as the Russian dramatist’s life. Tony nominee Jessica Hecht stars and actor and ballet icon Mikhail Baryshnikov appears as Chekhov. Tickets are required to receive the free viewing link; donations are encouraged.
The Metropolitan Opera: Le Comte Ory
On Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Rossini’s rarely staged comedy Le Comte Ory. Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher helmed this charming 2011 production starring Juan Diego Flórez as the title character, a philandering count whose lust life is complicated by Diana Damrau‘s virtuous Countess Adèle and his page, played by Joyce DiDonato. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Capriccio, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Monday, May 31
The Metropolitan Opera: Turandot
On Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Puccini’s final masterwork Turandot, about an aloof princess whose suitors lose their heads over her knotty riddles. This 2019 mounting of Franco Zeffirelli‘s classic staging stars Christine Goerke as the hard-to-win royal and Yusif Eyvazov as the prince who ultimately succeeds. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Le Comte Ory, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party
On Monday at 8 p.m. ET, cabaret maven Jim Caruso welcomes renowned singers and up-and-comers at Pajama Cast Party, a live-streamed version of his popular weekly Cast Party gatherings that have taken place at Birdland for years. Tonight’s lineup includes YouTube comedy star Colleen Ballinger, jazz pianist Richard Glazier and jazz singer Lucy Yeghiazaryan. Watch for free on YouTube though tips via the Venmo app are appreciated.
All Weekend
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.
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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RAVEN SNOOK