23 Stage Performances to See Today, June 12
The Wiz Live!
At 2 p.m. ET, the Shows Must Go On! screens The Wiz Live!, one of the best live TV musicals of recent years. Charlie Smalls and William F. Brown’s all-Black reinvention of The Wizard of Oz won seven 1975 Tony Awards, including best musical. NBC’s 2015 mounting features a revised book by Harvey Fierstein; a starry cast (Ne-Yo, David Alan Grier, Mary J. Blige and Queen Latifah, to name a handful); Cirque du Soleil acrobats as the Flying Monkeys; and a charming performance by teenage newcomer Shanice Williams at its center. Watch for free through Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on YouTube.
University of Michigan Young Alumni on Stars in the House
At 2 p.m. ET, Stars in the House hosts Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley welcome young alumni from the University of Michigan, which has a revered musical theatre department—grads include Tony-winning performers Celia Keenan-Bolger and Gavin Creel as well as Dear Evan Hansen songwriters Pasek and Paul. Who knows? You may spot a future star or two. Watch for free on YouTube though donations to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund are encouraged.
The Royal Ballet: La Fille mal gardée
At 2 p.m. ET, London’s Royal Ballet shares a recording of La Fille mal gardée, choreographer Frederick Ashton‘s pastoral love story infused with folk dancing, set to Ferdinand Hérold’s music. Carlos Acosta and Marianela Nuñez star as a farmer and the lass who captures his heart. Watch for free on YouTube channel.
Sheen Center: Poetry In America Live with Melissa Errico
At 3 p.m. ET, the Sheen Center celebrates the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim with a live celebration of songs from Sunday in the Park with George. Tony nominee and storied Sondheim interpreter Melissa Errico will sing three numbers from that Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, and PBS’s Poetry in America host Elisa New and New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik will discuss the auteur’s work. Watch for free on the Sheen Center’s YouTube channel.
Max von Essen on Virtual Halston
At 5 p.m. ET, Julie Halston, and longtime friend to TDF, welcomes American in Paris Tony nominee Max von Essen to her online chat show. The two are old pals, having costarred together in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express at New Jersey’s McCarter Theatre Center, and we can’t wait to hear them dish. Watch for free on YouTube.
San Francisco Ballet: Björk Ballet
At 5:30 p.m. ET, San Francisco Ballet shares a 2019 recording of Björk Ballet, choreographer Arthur Pita‘s celebration of Iceland’s sui generis singer-songwriter, set to selections from her extensive genre-defying catalog. Watch for free on the dance company’s website.
At 7 p.m. ET, dance haven The Joyce Theater spotlights the talents of up-and-coming performers from Ballet Tech, NYC’s sole public school for aspiring dancers. The young cast will perform a triple bill of works by school founder and choreographer Eliot Feld. Watch for free on the Joyce’s YouTube channel.
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 Longview, about three siblings whose closeness is threatened when one posts a DIY will online during the pandemic. Watch for free on the theatre’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.
The Metropolitan Opera’s At-Home Gala
At 7:30 p.m. ET, back in late April, the Metropolitan Opera presented a live-streamed gala featuring more than 40 stars singing from their homes around the globe. The event was so popular, it almost crashed the Met’s site! If you missed that event or want to revisit it, the opera house is re-airing the special, which includes performances by Angel Blue, Renée Fleming, Sonya Yoncheva and Michael Volle. Watch for free on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, The Ghosts of Versailles, until 6:30 p.m. today.
Classical Theatre of Harlem: The Bacchae
At 8 p.m. ET, the Classical Theatre of Harlem, one of NYC’s premiere Black companies, usually mounts a free production in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park during the summer. Since that’s not possible this year, the troupe is sharing a recording of its 2018 take on The Bacchae, which turns Euripides’ play into an raucous, glitter-encrusted, rock-‘n’-roll party… until that tragic ending of course. You can stream the production anytime through June 26 for $10 on Vimeo.
From Here
At 9 p.m. ET, to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, writer-composer Donald Rupe is sharing a recording of his musical From Here, about a thirtysomething gay man looking for love and community in the Florida city before and after that horrific event. From Here premiered at the 2019 Orlando Fringe Festival, and this recording is from its run at Central Florida Community Arts earlier this year, which was cut short due to the pandemic. Watch for free on the show’s website.
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National Theatre: The Madness of George III
London’s National Theatre presents a recording of The Nottingham Playhouse’s 2018 revival of The Madness of George III, Alan Bennett‘s fictionalized examination of the U.K.’s King George III, whose battle with mental illness plunged his court into disarray. Mark Gatiss, of Doctor Who and Sherlock fame, delivers a tour-de-force performance in the title role. Watch for free through Thursday, June 18 at 2 p.m. ET on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel.
Hamlet at the Stratford Festival
Ontario’s venerable Stratford Festival continues its Shakespeare on Film series with Hamlet, directed by the fest’s artistic director Antoni Cimolino and starring Canadian stage vet Jonathan Goad as the tragic Danish prince. Watch for free on the fest’s YouTube channel. While you’re there, be sure to check out Black Like Me: Behind the Stratford Festival Curtain, an illuminating conversation with a panel of Black artists who’ve worked at the venue about the racism they’ve experienced in the classical theatre world.
The Wilma Theater: Kill Move Paradise
Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater shares a recording of its 2018 mounting of Kill Move Paradise, James Ijames‘ potent play about three Black men and one Black boy who find themselves trapped in a surreal netherworld after being victims of police violence. This indelible work was inspired by the murder of 12-year-old Tamir Rice and so many others. To get the viewing link, make a donation of any amount to Black Lives Matter Philly.
Matrix Theatre Company: Scraps
Los Angeles’ Matrix Theatre Company shares its 2019 production of Scraps, Geraldine Inoa‘s powerful examination of how friends and family cope when a Black loved one is murdered by police. We covered the play when it had its world premiere at The Flea two years ago, and its themes and emotions remain infuriatingly timely. Directed by Obie winner Stevie Walker-Webb, the production is available to watch for free on the theatre’s YouTube channel.
HERE Arts Center: Disposable Men
Downtown culture hub HERE presents Disposable Men, playwright-performer-techie James Scruggs‘ searing multimedia exploration of how American culture depicts Black men as monsters. Using eight channels of video, satire and unforgettable audience interaction, this 2005 work examines many urgent issues, notably how police brutality and unequal health care are killing Black men. Watch for free on HERE’s Facebook page.
Jomama Jones in Black Light
Joe’s Pub presents a recording of Black Light starring Jomama Jones, the theatrical alter ego of writer-performer Daniel Alexander Jones. A breathtaking Black diva who’s not afraid to let her pain show, Jomama shares her original songs and her struggles in a performance that ultimately champions love and connection. Watch for free on Joe’s Pub’s YouTube channel.
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Top image: Elijah Kelley, Ne-Yo, David Alan Grier and Shanice Williams in The Wiz Live!. Photo by Virginia Sherwood/NBC.
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