25+ Stage Performances to Watch May 19-20
Wednesday, May 19
The Metropolitan Opera: Il Trovatore
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 David McVicar‘s mounting of Verdi’s Il Trovatore, starring Marcelo Álvarez as Manrico, the passionate troubadour, Sondra Radvanovsky as his lady love and Dmitri Hvorostovsky as the evil Count di Luna who stands in the way of their happiness. Watch for free until Friday at 5 p.m. ET on the Metropolitan Opera’s website.
The Metropolitan Opera: Boris Godunov
On Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Boris Godunov, Mussorgsky’s epic about the 16th-century Russian ruler during the Time of Troubles. René Pape is captivating as the title Tsar; Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Oleg Balashov, Evgeny Nikitin, Mikhail Petrenko and Vladimir Ognovenko costar in this 2010 mounting. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Idomeneo, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
National Asian American Theatre Company: Our Town
On Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, NAATCO, one of NYC’s leading Asian-American theatre companies, presents a one-night-only reading of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. An all-Asian cast performs this metatheatrical American classic, including the troupe’s cofounder, award-winning actor Mia Katigbak, alongside more than two-dozen performers, including TV stalwart Amy Hill and Obie winner Midori Francis Iwama. Tickets are $25.
Thursday, May 20
The Tank: Capricorn 29
Starting on Thursday, indie theatre incubator The Tank presents Capricorn 29, a new hour-long musical by Alex Hare and Julia Izumia about a millennial on the cusp of 29 who uncovers a secret plot by the powers that be to eliminate unsuccessful 30-year-olds. A tuneful skewering of the arbitrary nature of age-based milestones, this show features songs by Laura Galindo, brothers Daniel and Patrick Lazour, Stompcat and Storm Thomas. Tickets start at $10 and the recording is viewable until Sunday, May 30.
POSTPONED The Vineyard Theatre: Brutal Imagination
On Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, 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 Thursday, June 3.
Ma-Yi Theater Company: Once Upon A (korean) Time
On Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, Ma-Yi Theater Company, one of NYC’s leading Asian-American theatre companies, presents Daniel K. Isaac‘s Once Upon A (korean) Time, which fuses traditional Korean fables with the horrors of the Korean War to explore the experiences of the Korean-American diaspora. Ma-Yi’s artistic director, Ralph B. Peña, helms the work, and Diana Oh, Jon Norman Schneider, James Seol, David Shih and Shannon Tyo star. Tickets start at $5 and the recording is viewable until Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.
Theater in Quarantine: The Little Hours (or Two Friends)
On Thursday at 7 and 9 p.m. ET, Theater in Quarantine and La MaMa present the world premiere of The Little Hours, a play-installation by Caridad Svich about two poet friends navigating their lives as artists and longing for a bohemian NYC that only exists in memory. Keith McDermott and Joshua William Gelb star, and the latter also directs. Watch for free on YouTube.
The Metropolitan Opera: La Sonnambula
On Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Tony winner Mary Zimmerman‘s 2009 mounting of La Sonnambula, Bellini’s comedy of confusion as a young woman (Natalie Dessay) is discovered sleeping in the bed of a stranger by her startled fiancé (Juan Diego Flórez). Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Boris Godunov, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
FourthWall Theatrical: This American Wife
On Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, Tony-nominated Slave Play playwright and theatre’s biggest champion, 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. This American Wife is also a live Internet show as Breslin, Foley and Jakeem Dante Powell parse the Real Housewives phenomenon and its cultural influence. Tickets start at $25.
Stars in the House: Wicked Game Night
On Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley host one of their popular Game Nights. This time, it’s Elphabas Stephanie J. Block and Lilli Cooper versus Glindas Brittney Johnson, Alli Mauzey and Patti Murin. May the most popular divas win! Watch for free on YouTube though donations to The Actors Fund are encouraged.
San Francisco Ballet: Swan Lake
On Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, California’s acclaimed San Francisco Ballet presents Swan Lake choreographed by the troupe’s artistic director, Helgi Tomasson, and featuring sets and costumes by Tony-nominated designer Jonathan Fensom. Fall in love with Tchaikovsky’s ballet all over again with this sumptuous production. Tickets are $29 and the recording is viewable until Wednesday, June 9.
Available to Watch Both Days
Soho Theatre: Herding Cats
On Wednesday and Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET, a groundbreaking stage-cinema hybrid, this production of Lucinda Coxon‘s drama Herding Cats features Jassa Ahluwalia and Sophie Melville in person at London’s Soho Playhouse, with Grey’s Anatomy star Greg Germann performing live via video from New York. This high-tech setup suits the story about two millennial roommates, Justine and Michael, struggling to navigate their disconnected lives. Michael earns his living by chatting with strangers online, including boomer Saddo, who’s grappling with his own intimacy issues. What’s left to say when words can’t bridge the gap? Tickets start at $19.
Dixon Place: New Mony!
On Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET, downtown’s invaluable Dixon Place presents Maria Camia‘s sci-fi puppet comedy New Mony!, which will be performed in person at the theatre and also streamed to at-home viewers. The hour-long work centers on a young woman in the human cloning industry, who embarks on an interstellar journey of self-discovery. Tickets start at $12.
Animal Wisdom
Heather Christian‘s singular musical Animal Wisdom about her family’s history of communing with the dead was a smash when it ran at Brooklyn’s Bushwick Starr in 2017. During quarantine, the Obie-winning songwriter and her four-person band reinvented this tuneful séance for digital consumption in this stage-cinema hybrid, co-helmed by film director Amber McGinnis and stage director Emilyn Kowaleski. Before the pandemic, Christian was on the verge of breaking through with the buzzy Oratorio for Living Things at Ars Nova, but sadly that show only got a chance to play one preview before the industry shut down. (Even so, the musical won a 2021 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater.) With its spiritual insight and fiery blues, gospel and folk score, Animal Wisdom is the perfect introduction to a unique talent. Tickets start at $19 and the recording is viewable until Sunday, June 13.
—
Top image: Kathryn Hahn, who stars in The Sisters Rosensweig on Thursday evening.
RAVEN SNOOK