25+ Stage Performances to Watch This Weekend March 26-28

Friday, March 26

New York City Center: Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet
On Friday at 6 p.m. ET, New York City Center continues its New Adventures Festival of Matthew Bourne ballets with Romeo and Juliet. The visionary choreographer presents a powerful take on the old tragedy, set in a not-too-distant dystopian future with the star-crossed couple stuck as inmates in the oppressive Verona Institute. Cordelia Braithwaite and Paris Fitzpatrick headline the production, which was filmed on stage at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London in 2019. Tickets are $15 and the recording is viewable until Sunday, April 4.

M-34 Productions: Franz Kafka’s Letter to My Father
On Friday at 7 p.m. ET, this weekend is your last chance to catch M-34 Productions‘ Franz Kafka’s Letter to My Father, a one-man dramatization of the anguished but unread missive the groundbreaking author wrote to his dad in 1919. James Rutherford directs Michael Guagno in this digital production exploring alienation and isolation. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish.

Jazz at Lincoln Center: Voices of Freedom
On Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, Jazz at Lincoln Center celebrates four female singers and songwriters who changed the world through their art and activism: Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln and Nina Simone. Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra pay tribute to these amazing women and their legacies with special guest vocalists Melanie Charles, Shenel Johns and Ashley Pezzotti. Tickets are $20 but if you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase them at a discount. The recording is viewable until Wednesday.

The Metropolitan Opera: Idomeneo
On Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares a gem from its vaults: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle‘s 1982 mounting of Idomeneo, an early Mozart work featuring Luciano Pavarotti as the King of Crete, who’s faced with an impossible dilemma. Hildegard Behrens, Ileana Cotrubas, Frederica von Stade and John Alexander costar. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Elektra, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.

Saturday, March 27

The Metropolitan Opera: Don Giovanni
On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Franco Zeffirelli‘s staging of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, featuring Bryn Terfel in the title role of the world’s most notorious lover. Renée Fleming, Solveig Kringelborn, Hei-Kyung Hong, Paul Groves, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Sergei Koptchak costar in this 2000 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.

Metropolitan Playhouse: He Said and She Said
On Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, Metropolitan Playhouse, an Obie-winning company that revives forgotten works, presents a reading of Alice Gerstenberg‘s He Said and She Said, about a married couple whose unwed friend aims to break up their union. The theatre’s artistic director, Alex Roe, helms this century-old satire about coveting our neighbors’ lives. Watch for free on the company’s YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.

Powerstories Theatre: Classic Six
On Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, Florida’s Powerstories Theatre presents Classic Six, a thriller by playwright (and TDF member!) Leigh Flayton about a middle-aged woman who revisits the family that employed her as a live-in nanny/researcher in her youth. Is she there to reminisce or reveal the secrets she learned about her employers 25 years earlier? Tickets are $10.

Sunday, March 28

M-34 Productions: Franz Kafka’s Letter to My Father
On Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, this weekend is your last chance to catch M-34 Productions‘ Franz Kafka’s Letter to My Father, a one-man dramatization of the anguished but unread missive the groundbreaking author wrote to his dad in 1919. James Rutherford directs Michael Guagno in this digital production exploring alienation and isolation. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish.

Brave New World Rep: Go Down, Moses
On Sunday at 7 p.m. ET, Brooklyn’s Brave New World Rep presents Dana Leslie Goldstein‘s Go Down, Moses, about two civil rights champions who’ve settled into the comfortable world of academia. But their long-held ideals are challenged by the arrival of an activist from a new generation. Tai Thompson directs Toree Alexandre, Ezra Barnes, Nadia Diamond, Maggie Horan, Dexter McKinney, Nathan Salstone and Lindsay Smiling. Reservations are required to receive the free viewing link though a $15 donation is suggested.

The Metropolitan Opera: Der Fliegende Holländer
On Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Der Fliegende Holländer, Wagner’s ghost story about a sea captain cursed to sail the globe forever unless he finds true love. Evgeny Nikitin, Anja Kampe, Sergey Skorokhodov and Franz-Josef Selig star in this 2020 mounting, which was filmed just before the pandemic shut down the opera house. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Don Giovanni, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.

All Weekend

New York City Center: American Theatre Ballet: A Ratmansky Celebration
New York City Center presents an evening of works by American Ballet Theatre‘s celebrated resident choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. The program was recorded live on stage at City Center sans audience and features excerpts from The Seasons, Seven Sonatas and The Sleeping Beauty, as well as the world premiere of Bernstein in a Bubble, set to music by Leonard Bernstein. Tickets are $25 and the recording is available until Sunday, April 18.

La Femme Theatre Productions: The Night of the Iguana
La Femme Theatre Productions presents Night of the Iguana, Tennessee Williams’ steamy tale of an Episcopal priest turned tour guide, who gets into love trouble south of the border. Dylan McDermott stars as the struggling reverend, and Phylicia Rashad, Roberta Maxwell, Carmen Berkeley and Jean Lichty are some of the ladies who complicate his life. Emily Mann directed this presentation, which premiered last December and is being restreamed in honor of the playwright’s birthday. Tickets start at $15 but if you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase them at a discount. The recording is viewable until Sunday.

The Shows Must Go On!: Letters Live
The Shows Must Go On! presents another star-studded edition of Letters Live, featuring well-known actors reading remarkable correspondence on stage. This performance features Taron Egerton, Claire Foy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Asa Butterfield, Olivia Colman and Damian Lewis. Watch for free until Sunday on YouTube though donations to Choose Love are encouraged.

Irish Repertory Theatre: The Aran Islands
On Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, it’s your last chance to watch Irish Rep‘s The Aran Islands, director Joe O’Byrne‘s one-man adaptation of John Millington Synge’s 1907 novel of the same name. Brendan Conroy stars as Synge, whose time in the grey, mystical landscape of the remote isles inspired many of his writings, including Riders to the Sea. This digital production was filmed primarily at Dublin’s New Theatre, with additional footage from (where else?) the Aran Islands. Tickets are required to receive the free viewing link though a $25 donation is suggested.

Center Theatre Group: Tango the Musical
On Friday and Saturday at 8 and 11 p.m.; and Sunday at 4 and 8 p.m. ET, Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group presents Tango the Musical, a celebration of the title dance and the music of 20th-century Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla, who pioneered nuevo tango. This dance spectacle centers on a romance set against the backdrop of Argentina’s Dirty War, when the military murdered thousands of citizens from 1976-1983. Recorded at the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires, the production features 11 world-champion Argentine tango couples accompanied by a 10-piece orchestra. Tickets are $10.

The Joyce Theater: Israel Galván: Maestro de Barra
Chelsea dance haven The Joyce continues its digital season with a world premiere from acclaimed flamenco dancer and choreographer Israel Galván. With theatres closed, Galván went to cafés and bars for inspiration, riffing on the organic rhythms of everyday life and translating them into lightning-fast and passion-fueled moves. The resulting piece, Maestro de Barra, was filmed live in and around real-life cafés. Tickets are $25 but if you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase them at a discount. The recording is viewable until Wednesday, April 7.

IAMA Theatre Company: Anyone But Me and The Oxy Complex
Los Angeles’ IAMA Theatre Company presents a pair of compelling solo shows by Latina performers. Sheila Carrasco‘s Anyone But Me explores the personas women create to get by in a patriarchal society. Anna LaMadrid‘s The Oxy Complex is set on the 500th day of quarantine (!!!) and examines how loneliness, trauma and the lack of oxytocin impact our well-being. Tickets are $15 per show, $20 for both. The recordings are viewable until Sunday, April 18.

Giles Terera: Black Matter
British actor and singer-songwriter Giles Terera, who won an Olivier Award for his powerful performance as Aaron Burr in the West End production of Hamilton, presents his new song cycle Black Matter, his response to the upheaval of the pandemic and the demands for social justice. The concert was filmed during lockdown at London’s Crazy Coqs cabaret, with Giles capturing the intense emotions of the past year, singing alone on stage with his piano and guitar. Tickets are £12, approximately $17 and the recording is viewable until Wednesday.

Goodman Theater: How to Catch Creation
Chicago’s lauded Goodman Theatre is presenting recordings of recent shows, beginning with Christina Anderson‘s How to Catch Creation, about how a couple’s drama impacts four artists 50 years later. Acclaimed director Niegel Smith helmed this 2019 production. Reservations are required to receive the free viewing link. The recording is viewable until Sunday and closed captions are available.

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Stream a starry, contemporary adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Written by Henry Filloux-Bennett and set in our screen-dominated world, this cautionary tale centers on a young influencer who makes a deal ensuring that his social media celebrity will never fade. But his picture-perfect life comes at a terrible cost. Tamara Harvey directs Fionn Whitehead as the title hedonist, alongside Tony nominees Joanna Lumley and Stephen Fry and stage favorite Russell Tovey. Tickets are £12, approximately $17. The recording is viewable until Wednesday and closed captions are available.

Out of the Box Theatrics: The Last Five Years
On Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. ET, Jason Robert Brown‘s musical dissection of a romance, The Last Five Years, has proven to be a pandemic favorite, with multiple productions in the UK and stateside. It makes sense since the two-hander is about disconnection, as the man tells his side of their love story chronologically while the woman recalls their relationship in reverse. This digital reimagining of the show was coproduced by Out of the Box Theatrics and Holmdel Theatre Company and filmed inside a New York City apartment, giving it an air of verisimilitude. Nasia Thomas and Nicholas Edwards star as the ill-fated couple, and celebrated musical director Jason Michael Webb helmed the production. Tickets start at $29.

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Top image: Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside in American Ballet Theatre’s The Seasons, which is streaming all weekend. Photo courtesy of Christopher Duggan Photography.

RAVEN SNOOK