25+ Stage Performances to Watch This Weekend March 12-14
Friday, March 12
New York City Center: Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man
On Friday at 6 p.m. ET, New York City Center continues its New Adventures Festival of theatrical ballets by choreographer Matthew Bourne with The Car Man. Set in a small-town greasy spoon in the ’60s Midwest, this tale of lust, adultery and murder fuses Georges Bizet’s score for Carmen with plot points from the classic film noir The Postman Always Rings Twice. Christopher Trenfield, Zizi Strallen, Dominic North, Kate Lyons and Alan Vincent star in this cinematic spectacle, which was filmed live on stage at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre in 2015. Tickets are $15 and the recording is viewable until Sunday, March 21.
On Friday at 7 p.m. ET, stage stars lift their voices in song to raise funds for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. Produced and cohosted by Julie Halston, who lost her husband to the disease, this virtual benefit features performances by two-time Tony winner Christine Ebersole, two-time Tony nominee Andrew Rannells, Tony nominee Max Von Essen, Frozen‘s Robert Creighton and legendary vocalist Darlene Love. Watch for free on YouTube though donations are encouraged.
The Metropolitan Opera: Fedora
On Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Beppe De Tomasi‘s lush mounting of Fedora, Giordano’s rarely staged tragedy about a Russian princess who falls for the man who murdered her fiancé. Mirella Freni and Plácido Domingo star in this 1997 production. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Francesca da Rimini, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
The Wild Project: Happy Days
On Friday at 8 p.m. ET, East Village mainstay The Wild Project presents a digital production of Happy Days, Samuel Beckett’s bittersweet tragicomedy about the toll life inevitably takes. Despite being a two-hander, the play is essentially a monologue delivered by Winnie, a woman who’s literally trapped but still strives to remember the good times and greet each day with optimism. Although Beckett wrote this masterpiece 60 years ago, it takes on new resonance during these time-warped pandemic days. Nico Krell directs Tessa Albertson and Jake Austin Robertson. Tickets are free but required to receive the viewing link; a $25 donation is suggested.
Saturday, March 13
The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre: [hieroglyph]
Starting Saturday, California’s Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and San Francisco Playhouse present [hieroglyph], Erika Dickerson-Despenza‘s devastating drama about a family struggling to move forward after being torn apart by Hurricane Katrina. The play examines the impact of environmental racism, sexual violence and displacement on society’s most vulnerable individuals, specifically a teenager grappling with PTSD after an assault at the Superdome. The production was filmed on stage at The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre during quarantine and was directed by the company’s new artistic director, Margo Hall. Tickets start at $16.50 and the recording is viewable until Saturday, April 3.
The Wild Project: Happy Days
On Saturday at 3 p.m. ET, East Village mainstay The Wild Project presents a digital production of Happy Days, Samuel Beckett’s bittersweet tragicomedy about the toll life inevitably takes. Despite being a two-hander, the play is essentially a monologue delivered by Winnie, a woman who’s literally trapped but still strives to remember the good times and greet each day with optimism. Although Beckett wrote this masterpiece 60 years ago, it takes on new resonance during these time-warped pandemic days. Nico Krell directs Tessa Albertson and Jake Austin Robertson. Tickets are free but required to receive the viewing link; a $25 donation is suggested.
New Federal Theatre: Hospice
On Saturday at 7 p.m. ET, in honor of Women’s History Month, Woodie King Jr.’s half-century-old New Federal Theatre presents readings of important plays from its past by women dramatists. Tonight, enjoy Pearl Cleage‘s Hospice, originally produced by the company in 1983. The two-hander explores the reckoning between Jenny, who’s 30 and pregnant, and her ailing mother Alice, who abandoned the family decades earlier to be a poet in Paris. Awoye Timpo directs Petronia Paley and Margaret Odette. Watch for free until Monday on New Federal Theatre’s website though donations are encouraged.
The Metropolitan Opera: Andrea Chénier
On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Andrea Chénier, Giordano’s romantic tragedy set during the French Revolution about a poet who’s hopelessly in love with a pampered aristocrat. Luciano Pavarotti and Maria Guleghina star as the ill-fated lovers in this 1996 mounting. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Fedora, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Metropolitan Playhouse: The Silent Waiter
On Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, Metropolitan Playhouse, an Obie-winning company that revives forgotten works, presents a reading of The Silent Waiter, Alfred Kreymborg‘s two-hander about a groom-to-be and his best man parsing their past with the bride under the gaze of a watchful waiter. Laura Livingston directs Kyle Maxwell and Kevin Melendez. Watch for free on the company’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.
Sunday, March 14
Daylight saving time begins today, so remember to turn clocks forward one hour!
The Metropolitan Opera: Tosca
On Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Sir David McVicar‘s striking 2018 staging of Puccini’s Tosca, starring Sonya Yoncheva as the title diva, Vittorio Grigolo as her artist lover and Željko Lucic as the man who stands in the way of their happiness. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Andrea Chénier, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
All Weekend
The Shows Must Go On!: Letters Live
The Shows Must Go On! presents a special International Women’s Day edition of Letters Live. Olivia Colman, Gillian Anderson, Daisy Ridley, Rose McGowan, Adwoa Aboah and other illustrious ladies read remarkable correspondence by a diverse array of women. Watch for free until Sunday on YouTube though donations to The WOW Foundation are encouraged.
New York City Ballet: Stravinsky Violin Concerto
New York City Ballet presents George Balanchine’s Stravinsky Violin Concerto, the choreographer’s 1972 neoclassical masterpiece set to Stravinsky’s iconic composition. Sterling Hyltin, Ask la Cour, Sara Mearns and Taylor Stanley perform a pair of breathtaking pas de deux in this archival recording. Watch for free until Thursday, March 18 on NYCB’s YouTube channel.
The Joyce Theater: Paris Opera Ballet: Swan Lake
Chelsea dance haven The Joyce continues its digital season with an archival recording of Paris Opera Ballet‘s Swan Lake. Originally choreographed by Rudolf Nureyev in 1984, this psychologically complex take on Tchaikovsky’s iconic ballet is one of the troupe’s signature productions. Tickets are $25 and the recording is viewable until Wednesday, March 24.
Smock Alley Theatre: Daddy Long Legs
On Friday at 2:30 p.m.; Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 10:30 a.m., 3:30 and 8 p.m. ET, Dublin’s Smock Alley Theatre presents Daddy Long Legs, a charming two-person sung-through musical about a wealthy benefactor who anonymously sends an orphan to college on the condition she write to him. Their passionate correspondence blossoms into an unexpected romance. Paul Gordon and John Caird based their show on Jean Webster’s 1921 novel of the same name. This production was recorded live on stage at Smock Alley Theatre in 2018 and stars Eoin Cannon and Róisín Sullivan. Tickets are £18, approximately $25.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: The Magical New Musical
On Friday at 2 p.m.; Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.; Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. ET, it’s your last chance to watch the new British musical The Sorcerer’s Apprentice inspired by Goethe’s poem of the same name about an aspiring wizard who makes all spells break loose. In Richard Hough and Ben Morales‘ take on the tale, the title character is actually the conjurer’s rebellious daughter, but the pair mend their relationship to save a troubled town. Filmed at London’s Southwark Playhouse earlier this month, the production was directed by Charlotte Westenra and stars Dawn Hope, David Thaxton and newcomer Mary Moore. Tickets are £18, approximately $25.
Irondale: if there is breakage you will find chips
Friday to Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET, Brooklyn’s Irondale presents if there is breakage you will find chips, part of its monthlong On Women Festival. Makaela (Mak) Shealy-Sachot‘s two-hander examines how we impact each other in both large and small ways. Abigail Jean-Baptiste directs Sagan (Diane) Chen and Liz Neitge. Tickets are $15.
Theater Breaking Through Barriers: VPI4: TRANS(4)MISSIONS
On Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET, Theater Breaking Through Barriers, one of the country’s leading companies showcasing artists with disabilities, presents 10 plays in 10 days starting Friday evening. These shorts were developed in the troupe’s Virtual Playmakers’ Intensive and mark the one-year anniversary of the shutdown. Watch for free on the company’s YouTube channel. Live captioning and audio description are available.
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Top image: Zizi Strallen and Chris Trenfield in The Car Man, which is streaming until March 21. Photo by Foteini Christofilopoulou.
RAVEN SNOOK