23 Stage Performances to Watch November 16-17
Monday, November 16
Theater Mitu: remnant
On Monday at 7 p.m. ET, the high-tech, avant-garde Brooklyn collective Theater Mitu reimagines remnant, its 2018 multimedia meditation on war, death and loss for digital consumption. Crafted out of extensive interviews and research with doctors, soldiers and other experts, the show is helmed by the company’s artistic director, Rubén Polendo. Tickets are $10.
Red Bull Theater: The Courage to Right A Woman’s Wrongs (Valor, Agravio y Mujer)
On Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET, NYC’s Red Bull Theater partners with UCLA’s Diversifying the Classics to present a live reading of The Courage to Right A Woman’s Wrongs (Valor, Agravio y Mujer), a fierce, feminist take on the Don Juan story by 17th-century Spanish playwright Ana Caro. Repertorio Español mounted the US premiere of this revenge play in Spanish in 2017. Now Red Bull tackles a new English translation, directed by Melia Bensussen and starring a mostly Latinx cast, including Anita Castillo-Halvorssen, Helen Cespedes, Natascia Diaz, Anthony Michael Martinez, Sam Morales, Alfredo Narciso, Luis Quintero and Matthew Saldivar. Tickets are required to receive the free viewing link; a $25 donation is suggested. A recording will be available until Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
The Metropolitan Opera: Don Carlo
On Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Verdi’s Don Carlo, about a love triangle between the title Spanish crown prince (Roberto Alagna), the daughter of the King of France (Marina Poplavskaya) and Don Carlo’s father, King Philip II (Ferruccio Furlanetto), who wants the lady for himself. Tony-winning director Nicholas Hytner made his Met debut with this 2010 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 Exterminating Angel, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Bindlestiff Open Stage: Quarantine Edition
On Monday at 8 p.m. ET, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus continues its weekly live-streamed variety show hosted by adorkable ringmaster Keith Nelson. This evening’s cavalcade includes juggler Meister Blast, magician Ishamudin Khan, clown Benjamin Domask-Ruh and comedian David Engel. Watch for free on Bindlestiff’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.
Tuesday, November 17
Manhattan Theatre Club: (An Audio Guide For) Unsung Snails and Heroes
On Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET, Manhattan Theatre Club continues its virtual reading series with (An Audio Guide For) Unsung Snails and Heroes, Julia Izumi‘s poetic and personal play about a young Japanese girl trying to retrieve her late father’s bones from Manchuria as World War II winds down. Natsu Onoda Power directs the piece, which is inspired by the playwright’s own family history. Watch for free until Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on MTC’s YouTube channel.
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater: Baby Steps
On Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater presents Kareem M. Lucas‘ Baby Steps, a poignant monologue about a Black man trying to create a celebratory video for his baby daughter while the pandemic and the fight for racial justice rage. Jerod Haynes stars, and both artists will participate in a post-performance talkback. Tickets are required to receive the free viewing link.
Irish Repertory Theatre: Bill Irwin in On Beckett / In Screen
On Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET, the intrepid Irish Rep presents Tony winner Bill Irwin in a virtual reimagining of his hit solo show On Beckett. Once again, the acclaimed clown takes the stage at the Chelsea theatre to explore the words and work of the groundbreaking Irish playwright Samuel Beckett. Only this time, no one is in the audience, which makes this meditation on Beckett’s themes of loneliness, loss and decay even more haunting. Reservations are required to receive the free viewing link but a $25 donation is suggested.
New Ohio Theatre: The Bath Play
On Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET, indie theatre incubator New Ohio Theatre continues the virtual edition of its annual Producers Club series with The Bath Play, Non Kuramoto‘s Japanese bathhouse-set monologue about being a first-generation immigrant and self-declared feminist-art-queer. Tickets are pay-what-you-can though a $10 donation is suggested.
The Metropolitan Opera: Faust
On Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Des McAnuff‘s riveting 2011 production of Gounod’s Faust, starring Jonas Kaufmann as the title character who makes a deal with the devil. René Pape and Marina Poplavskaya costar. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Don Carlo, until 6:30 p.m today.
Stars in the House: Jim Brickman and Friends
On Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley welcome Jim Brickman to Stars in the House. The Grammy-nominated pianist and songwriter is gearing up to stream the holiday special later this month with special guests Kelli O’Hara, Sierra Boggess, Megan Hilty, Adrienne Warren and Wayne Brady, so expect some of them to pop by for a preview song or two. Watch for free on YouTube though donations to The Actors Fund are encouraged.
LCT Spotlight Series: In the Green
On Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET, Lincoln Center Theater launches its LCT Spotlight Series with a celebration of the original cast recording of In the Green, which ran at LCT3 last year. Written by and starring the multitalented Grace McLean, the chamber musical examines the origin story of Hildegard von Bingen, one of the Middle Ages’ most influential women. McLean will perform a few numbers from her score and take questions from viewers. Register to receive the free Zoom link.
Available to Watch Both Days
New York City Children’s Theater: A Band of Angels
New York City Children’s Theater produces some of the finest shows for young audiences in town, meaning they’re just as engaging for adults as kids. Directed by Colman Domingo, the company’s 2015 mounting of A Band of Angels was particularly powerful, and a recording is being streamed starting today. Based on Deborah Hopkinson’s book of the same name, the musical celebrates the historic Fisk Jubilee Singers, a choir founded shortly after the Civil War at one of the first schools for emancipated African-Americans. It’s a timely and tuneful history lesson filled with soaring spirituals. Recommended for ages 8 and up. Tickets are $10 and the recording is viewable until Sunday, November 29.
St. Ann’s Warehouse: Songs for Drella: A Fiction
St. Ann’s Warehouse presents Songs for Drella, a song cycle by former Velvet Underground bandmates Lou Reed and John Cale about their longtime friend and producer, pop-art pioneer Andy Warhol. It was the first time the musicians had collaborated in decades, and the performance, filmed at BAM in 1989 by Ed Lachman, is emotional and passionate as they pay tribute to their mentor, dubbed Drella, an evocative portmanteau of Dracula and Cinderella. Watch for free until Thursday on St. Ann’s website though donations are encouraged.
All Arts: Until the Flood
All Arts presents Dael Orlandersmith‘s searing solo show Until the Flood, about the 2014 killing of Black teenager Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Inspired by real-life interviews Orlandersmith conducted with people from the community, the show features eight disparate characters struggling to come to terms with what happened. This performance was recorded in 2018 during the play’s critically acclaimed run at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Watch for free through the end of the year on the All Arts website.
Great Performances: Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles
PBS Great Performances presents Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles, Max Lewkowicz‘s 2019 documentary about Fiddler on the Roof, a beloved musical about family and tradition created against all odds during the social upheaval of the 1960s. The movie features interviews with famous fans, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as theatre artists who’ve performed in or directed the show, including Joel Grey, Topol, Danny Burstein, Austin Pendleton and Harvey Fierstein. Watch for free until Friday, December 11 on PBS’ website.
—
RAVEN SNOOK