23 Stage Performances to Watch November 9-10
Monday, November 9
The Shows Must Go On: Fiona Shaw in Richard II
On Monday at 2 p.m. ET, since theatres shut down, the UK-based The Shows Must Go On series has been screening musicals on weekends. But for the month of November, they’re adding weekly streams of starry Shakespearean productions. This week’s gem is a 1997 recording of the brilliant Fiona Shaw as the peevish title monarch in the rarely mounted tragedy Richard II, helmed by her frequent collaborator Deborah Warner. Watch for free until Sunday, November 15 on YouTube.
Irish Repertory Theatre: A Beggar Upon Horseback: The Context, From Frederick Douglass to Today
On Monday at 7 p.m. ET, Irish Rep commemorates the 175th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’ historic trip to Ireland with a dramatic reading of his “Letter from Belfast” by Tony nominee John Douglas Thompson, followed by a panel exploring the complicated history between African Americans and Irish Americans. Reservations are required to receive the free viewing link; donations are encouraged. There’s a follow-up program on Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET about the role of Irish cultural institutions in dismantling racism.
Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle at the Met
On Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares a double bill of one-acts inspired by folk tales: Tchaikovsky’s final opera Iolanta starring Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala, and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle starring Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko, both conducted by Valery Gergiev. The productions were filmed in 2015 for the company’s Live in HD series and are 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, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Bindlestiff Open Stage: Quarantine Edition
On Monday at 8 p.m. ET, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus leaps into fall with a new season of its weekly live-streamed variety show. Hosted by adorkable ringmaster Keith Nelson, this evening’s cavalcade includes belly dancer Rasa Vitalia, jugglers Anni Küpper and Fly by Night, and clown Rich Potter. Watch for free on Bindlestiff’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.
Tuesday, November 10
Manhattan Theatre Club: Long
On Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET, Manhattan Theatre Club kicks off its fall virtual reading series with Long, Charlie Oh‘s cheeky tale of an Asian-American porn actor reassessing his role-playing. Dustin Wills directs the piece, which examines colonialism, stereotyping and homophobia in Asian-American culture. Watch for free until Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on MTC’s YouTube channel.
Emilia
On Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. ET, in 2018, Shakespeare’s Globe commissioned Morgan Lloyd Malcolm to write a play inspired by the life of Emilia Bassano, the 17th-century poet and feminist rumored to have been the Bard’s Dark Lady, the subject of some of his bawdiest sonnets. Titled Emilia, the empowering, all-women work was such a critical and commercial hit, it transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre on the West End, and a recording of that production is being streamed for two weeks beginning tonight. Pay-what-you-can tickets start at £1, approximately $1.30. Closed captioned and audio described recordings are available.
Play-PerView: Toni Stone
On Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET, Play-PerView presents a live reading of Toni Stone, Lydia R. Diamond‘s rousing play about the title Black athlete, the first woman to play big-league professional baseball alongside men when she joined the Negro American League in 1953. A potent examination of racism and misogyny in America, the show was a hit for the Roundabout Theatre Company last year. This event reunites that production’s director, Pam MacKinnon and cast, led by April Matthis in her superb Obie-winning turn as Toni Stone. Tickets start at $5 and benefit the Negro League Baseball Museum.
Bedlam: The Machine Stops
On Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET, Bedlam, a NYC theatre company celebrated for its reinventions of classics (Sense & Sensibility, The Crucible), presents a live reading of The Machine Stops, David Keohane‘s theatrical adaptation of E.M. Forster’s eerily prescient sci-fi story about a machine-controlled world of isolation. The troupe’s MVP, the brilliant Zuzanna Szadkowski, stars alongside Awesta Zarif and Miguel Long. The evening kicks off with a half hour of live music at 6:30 p.m. ET. Watch for free on the company’s Facebook page though donations to the nonprofit Climate Justice Alliance are encouraged.
Salome at the Met
On Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares its 2008 mounting of Strauss’ Salome, starring Karita Mattila in an acclaimed performance as the lusty title character. Ildikó Komlósi, Kim Begley, Joseph Kaiser and Juha Uusitalo costar. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s program, a double bill of Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle, until 6:30 p.m today.
Club Cumming: Ute Lemper: Rendezvous with Marlene
On Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, Alan Cumming, who hosted downtown divas at his eponymous East Village club pre-COVID, is now sharing their fabulousness online. Tonight, internationally renowned German chanteuse Ute Lemper stars in Rendezvous with Marlene, a celebration of Marlene Dietrich inspired by a three-hour conversation she had with the Hollywood icon back in 1988. Directed by Daniel Nardicio as a cinematic cabaret, the performance features some of Dietrich’s signature numbers as well as secrets divulged during that long-ago chat. Tickets are $30.
Available to Watch Both Days
Great Performances: James Corden in One Man, Two Guvnors
PBS Great Performances presents James Corden in One Man, Two Guvnors, Richard Bean‘s uproarious swinging ’60s adaptation of a commedia dell’arte classic about a not-so-smooth operator trying to juggle two jobs. Don’t miss Corden in his hilariously exhausting Tony-winning performance. Watch for free until Friday, December 4 on PBS’ website.
New Ohio Theatre: The self-combustion of a 30-something-year-old Chet or, Icarus tries to catch the Sun
On Monday and Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET, indie-theatre incubator New Ohio Theatre kicks off a virtual edition of its annual Producers Club series with Keenan Tyler Oliphant‘s The self-combustion of a 30-something-year-old Chet or, Icarus tries to catch the Sun, an hour-long performance piece about jazz icon Chet Baker going on a drug-and-myth-induced trip. Tickets are pay-what-you-can though a $10 donation is suggested.
Play-PerView: Armie Hammer in Sundogs
On Saturday, Play-PerView presented a live reading of Howard Emanuel‘s drama Sundogs and you can watch a recording until Thursday. Armie Hammer stars as a US Army sergeant haunted by the sound of drums beating in his head. Heather Arnson directs, and Jordan Bridges, Jenn Gambatese, Maurice Jones, Tobias Segal and Grace Porter costar. Tickets are $25 and benefit The WDA and Stop Soldier Suicide.
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Top image: April Matthis in Toni Stone. Photo by Joan Marcus..
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