25+ Stage Performances to Watch May 26-27
Wednesday, May 26
Metropolitan Playhouse: One-Acts by Peter Sagal
On Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET, Metropolitan Playhouse, an Obie-winning company that revives forgotten works, presents a special benefit performance featuring two one-acts by humorist Peter Sagal, the longtime host of NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!. In Mile 22, a marathon runner abruptly stops and discovers a new route. In The Taliban, a controversial art curator woos a conservative congresswoman for her funding. Producing artistic director Alex Roe helms both playlets. Watch for free on the company’s website though donations are encouraged.
The Metropolitan Opera: La Cenerentola
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 La Cenerentola, Rossini’s charming take on the old Cinderella story, which includes mistaken identities on the royal side, too. Joyce DiDonato stars as the plucky princess-to-be, wooed by Juan Diego Flórez in this 2014 production. Watch for free until Friday at 5 p.m. ET on the Metropolitan Opera’s website.
MasterVoices: Myths and Hymns: Faith
On Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET, 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 Metropolitan Opera: La Donna del Lago
On Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents La Donna del Lago, Rossini’s retelling of Sir Walter Scott’s epic poem The Lady of the Lake. Joyce DiDonato is at the center of this 2015 mounting of the romantic opera, costarring Daniela Barcellona, Juan Diego Flórez, John Osborn and Oren Gradus. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Prince Igor, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
The Reading Series: Marvin’s Room
On Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, The Reading Series presents a live performance of Marvin’s Room, Scott McPherson’s moving play about a dysfunctional family grappling with illness and mortality. Tony nominee Carmen Cusack and Christine Dwyer portray estranged sisters reunited by sickness, and Jack DiFalco . Tim Realbuto directs. Watch for free though donations to The Actors Fund are encouraged.
Thursday, May 27
Manhattan Theatre Club: The Niceties
Starting on Thursday, Manhattan Theatre Club presents The Niceties, Eleanor Burgess‘s 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.
The Metropolitan Opera: The Nose
On Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Shostakovich’s The Nose, based on Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 satirical short story about a bureaucrat who loses his schnoz. Directed and designed by celebrated South African artist William Kentridge, the 2013 production stars Andrey Popov, Alexander Lewis and Tony winner Paulo Szot. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, La Donna del Lago, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Theater of War Productions: Philoctetes and Women of Trachis
On Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, Theater of War Productions, a company that uses classical texts to examine contemporary issues, presents a reading of scenes from Philoctetes and Women of Trachis, followed by a town hall-style discussion with the audience. Three-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand, Marjolaine Goldsmith, Frankie Faison and David Strathairn will perform scenes from Sophocles’ tragedies, and then director-adapter Bryan Doerries will facilitate a conversation about how the plays’ themes relate to the trauma frontline medical workers are facing during the pandemic. Tickets are required to receive the free viewing link. This performance won’t be available after-the-fact.
ActorTrade: Sex, Love, Death, and Other Improbabilities
On Thursday at 9:30 p.m. ET, ActorTrade presents an evening of shorts by David Lewison as a benefit for Literacy for Incarcerated Teens. The cast includes Tony winner Maryann Plunkett, Tony nominee Stephen McKinley Henderson and Roger Guenveur Smith. RSVP to receive the free viewing link though donations are encouraged.
Available to Watch Both Days
Bristol Old Vic: Touching the Void
On Wednesday and Thursday 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 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.
Metropolitan Opera Stars Live in Concert: Three Divas
On Saturday the Metropolitan Opera presented a trio of powerhouse vocalists in a live recital from the Royal Opera of Versailles in France, and you can watch a recording this week. Accompanied by piano and guitar, sopranos Ailyn Pérez and Nadine Sierra and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard sing selections from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro, Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Bellini’s Norma and other beloved operas. Tickets are $20 and the recording is viewable until Friday, June 4.
The Tank: Capricorn 29
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.
Tony-nominated choreographer Lar Lubovitch presents a digital program of highlights from three of his seminal works: the duet from Concerto Six Twenty-Two performed by his eponymous dance company; Othello danced by San Francisco Ballet; and The Planets, created for an ensemble of ice-skaters and dancers. RSVP to receive the free viewing link. The recording is viewable until Sunday.
Theatre Project: Scenes From 73* Years
Baltimore’s Theatre Project and the Medina Theater Collective present Scenes From 73* Years, Hannah Khalil‘s portrait of the people of Palestine, based on real-life accounts from the playwright’s family and friends. Najla Said and Rohina Malik codirected this digital production. Tickets are $20 and the recording is viewable until Sunday, June 20.
FourthWall Theatrical: This American Wife
On Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, Tony-nominated Slave Play playwright 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.
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Top image: Frances McDormand, who’s one of the stars participating in Theater of War Production’s reading on Thursday evening.
RAVEN SNOOK