29 Stage Performances to Watch This Weekend, May 30-31
All Weekend
Hairspray Live!
The Shows Must Go On! presents Hairspray Live!, one of the better live TV musicals of recent years. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s tuneful Tony-winning rom-com celebrates the style and civil rights movement of the ’60s, as a zaftig teen’s dream to dance on TV sparks social change. This 2016 mounting features original Tony-winning star Harvey Fierstein in drag as Edna Turnblad, Martin Short as her adoring hubby, Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson as activist Maybelle “Motormouth” Stubbs, pop star Ariana Grande as Penny Pingleton, Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth as vampy villain Velma Von Tussle, Disney Channel vet Dove Cameron as Amber Von Tussle, Ain’t Too Proud Tony nominee Ephraim Sykes as Seaweed J. Stubbs and newcomer Maddie Baillio as the indominable Tracy Turnblad. Whether you’re a longtime fan or have never seen it (is that even possible?!), this is an excellent production that’s vastly superior to the 2007 movie. Watch for free anytime through Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on YouTube.
New York City Ballet: 21st Century Choreographers
For the final offering in NYCB‘s online spring season, the troupe presents an exciting lineup of recent works by some of the biggest choreographers on today’s dance scene. You can peruse the full program on the company’s website, but highlights include excerpts from Justin Peck‘s The Times Are Racing, Pam Tanowitz‘s Bartók Ballet, Alexei Ratmansky‘s Voices and Kyle Abraham‘s The Runaway. Watch for free on NYCB’s YouTube channel through Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
National Theatre: This House
London’s National Theatre presents This House, James Graham‘s gripping examination of Britain’s political strife in the ’70s. Much as he did for his Tony-nominated play Ink, Graham uses historical events to illuminate current woes, both in the U.K. and the U.S. This play may have been filmed in 2013 but its exploration of polarized politics feels insanely timely. Watch for free through Thursday, June 4 at 2 p.m. ET on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel.
Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Stratford Festival
Ontario’s venerable Stratford Festival continues its Shakespeare on Film series with Love’s Labour’s Lost, an effervescent comedy about a quartet of men who swear off women in order to study… but fate has other plans. Tony-winning Les Misérables director John Caird helmed this 2015 production for the stage, and you can watch for free on the Stratford Festival’s YouTube channel.
Irish Repertory Theatre: The Gifts You Gave to the Dark
The resilient Irish Rep kicks off its all-digital summer season with the world-premiere one-act The Gifts You Gave to the Dark. Written by Darren Murphy to be performed online, the drama centers on the final remote conversation between Tom, sick in Belfast with COVID-19, and his elderly mother Rose, who’s on her deathbed in Dublin. Directed by Caitríona McLaughlin, the play stars Seán McGinley, Marty Rea and The Beauty Queen of Leenane Tony winner Marie Mullen. Watch for free anytime through October on the Irish Rep’s YouTube channel.
The Royal Ballet: The Cellist
London’s Royal Ballet shares a recording of The Cellist , choreographed by Cathy Marston and inspired by the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who died of multiple sclerosis. Watch for free on the venue’s YouTube channel.
Saturday, May 30
Stars in the House Presents Ever So Humble
On Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, Stars in the House presents a live reading of Ever So Humble, Tim Pinckney’s modern-day NYC-set comedy loosely inspired by E. M. Forster’s novel Howards End. In case you’re wondering, this was written years before The Inheritance and is a decidedly lighter take on the source material. The cast includes The Humans Tony winner Reed Birney, Memphis Tony nominee Montego Glover, Ryan Spahn, Michael Urie and Andréa Burns, who appeared in the play’s 2011 premiere at Ithaca, NY’s Hangar Theatre. Watch for free on YouTube.
On Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, Lincoln Center at Home kicks off six days of thrilling dance performances, all pulled from its extensive archives. First up is a dynamic double bill by Ballet Hispánico: Pedro Ruiz’s Latin dance-infused Club Havana, and Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s CARMEN.maquia, a Picasso-inspired take on Bizet’s famous opera. Watch for free on Lincoln Center’s Facebook page.
L’Elisir d’Amore at the Met
On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares its 2011 mounting of Donizetti’s Faust, starring Pretty Yende, Matthew Polenzani, Davide Luciano and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, conducted by Domingo Hindoyan. The production was filmed for the company’s Live in HD series, and is available to watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s offering, La Sonnambula, until 6:30 p.m. today.
On Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, Lincoln Center at Home continues its online dance festival with a 1986 recording of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by New York City Ballet. Choreographer George Balanchine’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s effervescent romantic comedy is set to music by Felix Mendelssohn, and stars Maria Calegari and Ib Andersen as the volatile head fairies Titania and Oberon. Watch for free on Lincoln Center’s Facebook page.
Sunday, May 31
On Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, a cavalcade of mostly British stage stars will perform songs by three musical theatre legends: Jule Styne, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim. The best known names stateside are Tony nominees Liz Callaway and Ramin Karimloo, but you can also hear the song stylings of well-known performers across the pond, including Louise Dearman, Janie Dee, Fra Fee, Michael Xavier and Jenna Russell. Watch for free on YouTube.
Play-PerView: Too Heavy for Your Pocket
On Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, the live-streamed theatre series Play-PerView presents a reading of Too Heavy for Your Pocket, Jireh Breon Holder’s well-reviewed drama about a young black man in the ’60s torn between attending college or joining the Freedom Riders. The play ran at the Roundabout Theatre Company in 2017, and this event reunites that cast: Eboni Flowers, Hampton Fluker, Brandon Gill and Nneka Okafor. The performance takes place on the free app Zoom, which you’ll need to download in advance. Tickets start at $5, and proceeds benefit the nonprofit Ma-Yi Theater Company. This performance won’t be available after-the-fact.
Irish Arts Center: A Night in November Part III
On Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, the Irish Arts Center presents the final installment of A Night in November, Marie Jones’ one-man play about an Irishman’s epiphany in 1990s Belfast. Performed by Matthew Forsythe in his home, the show was split into three sections online. Part I and Part II are already available, and you can watch Part III on Sunday on the Irish Arts Center’s YouTube channel.
Salome at the Met
On Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares its 2008 mounting of Strauss’ Salome, starring Karita Mattila, Ildikó Komlósi, Kim Begley, Joseph Kaiser and Juha Uusitalo, conducted by Patrick Summers. The production was filmed for the company’s Live in HD series, and is available to watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s offering, L’Elisir d’Amore, until 6:30 p.m. today.
On Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, Lincoln Center at Home continues its online dance festival with an evening of repertory by American Ballet Theatre. Recorded in 1978, the program includes Michel Fokine’s Les Sylphides set to music by Chopin; George Balanchine’s plotless ballet Theme and Variations performed by Gelsey Kirkland and Mikhail Baryshnikov to a Tchaikovsky score; and Fokine’s Firebird set to Stravinsky. Watch for free on Lincoln Center’s Facebook page.
The Quarantine Theatre Company: A Streetcar Named Desire
On Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, inestimable downtown performance artist and truth teller Penny Arcade plays Blanche DuBois opposite folk-rock star Steve Earle in an online reading of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire . The supporting cast includes Tammy Faye Starlite as Stella and Tony nominee Austin Pendleton as Mitch. You’ll never see the play the same way again! Watch for free on YouTube.
Sordid Lives Reading
On Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, a cast of funny folks performs Sordid Lives, Del Shores’ over-the-top comedy about the outrageous exploits of an eccentric Texas family. The play is a longtime regional theatre favorite that’s also been turned into a movie and a TV series, and this mounting stars actors who’ve been part of other incarnations, including Bonnie Bedelia, Beau Bridges, Leslie Jordan and Caroline Rhea. Watch for free on YouTube.
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Top image: Maddie Baillio and Harvey Fierstein from Hairspray Live!. Photo by Brian Bowen Smith/NBC.
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