35+ Stage Performances to Watch This Weekend December 11-13
Friday, December 11
The Shows Must Go On!: Ruthless!
On Friday at 2 p.m. ET, The Shows Must Go On! presents Ruthless!, Joel Paley and Marvin Laird’s campy chamber musical about an angel-faced little girl who’ll do anything to become a star—literally. This production was recorded at London’s Arts Theatre in 2018 and stars Anya Evans as the terrifying tyke, Jason Gardiner as her ambitious agent, Kim Maresca as her stage mom and Tracie Bennett as the theatre critic grandma. Watch for free until Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on YouTube.
Bristol Old Vic: The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk
On Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET, the UK’s Bristol Old Vic presents Daniel Jamieson‘s The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, a play with music about the romance between fantastical painter Marc Chagall and his wife, Bella, who faced pogroms and the Russian Revolution as a young couple. The always innovative Emma Rice staged the show last week at the theatre with Marc Antolin and Audrey Brisson as the lovers, and a recording is available to watch for a week with proceeds going to various regional stages, including NYC’s Skirball Center. Tickets are £16, approximately $21, and the recording is viewable until Saturday, December 18. Audio described and closed captioned versions are also available.
New York City Ballet: George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker
On Friday at 7 p.m. ET, New York City Ballet presents The Nutcracker choreographed by George Balanchine. This legendary version of Tchaikovsky’s Christmas ballet was recorded last year during its annual holiday engagement at Lincoln Center and stars NYCB principal dancers Maria Kowroski as the Sugarplum Fairy, Tyler Angle as her Cavalier and Megan Fairchild as Dewdrop. Tickets are $25 and the recording is viewable until Sunday, January 3, 2021.
New York Live Arts: Raja Feather Kelly’s Hysteria
On Friday at 7 p.m. ET, Raja Feather Kelly, a , debuts his latest solo work Hysteria, which examines queer representation in pop culture through the eyes of an extraterrestrial. Filmed earlier this week at Chelsea’s New York Live Arts, it’s a hybrid of performance and installation. Tickets are $10.
The Metropolitan Opera: The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
On Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents James Robinson‘s lauded production of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, which was recorded at the venue just a month before the shutdown. Eric Owens and Angel Blue star as the title couple trying to find happiness on Catfish Row, and the supporting cast includes Alfred Walker, Frederick Ballentine, Latonia Moore, Golda Schultz and Donovan Singletary. This is a breathtaking mounting of a classic, with a Tony-winning creative team and choreography by Camille A. Brown. Watch for free for 48 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, The Exterminating Angel, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Who’s Holiday!
On Friday at 8 p.m. ET, the divine Lesli Margherita stars as a middle-aged Cindy Lou Who in Matthew Lombardo‘s satirical skewering of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! A , this solo comedy finds the little girl who melted the Grinch’s heart all grown up and not doing well. As she prepares her Christmas Eve party in her trailer park, she lets loose with her raunchy and rhyming autobiography. Watch for free until Tuesday though donations are encouraged.
Stars in the House: The Night Before Christmas With John Lithgow
On Friday at 8 p.m. ET, every holiday season, The Chelsea Symphony presents composer Aaron Dai’s adaptation of Clement Clarke Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas.” This year the show goes online courtesy of Stars in the House, which will stream a performance featuring Tony winner John Lithgow reading the poem to musical accompaniment. Watch for free on YouTube.
Breathe. A Solo Experience
On Friday at 8 p.m. ET, screen actor Philicia Saunders (Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) recounts her political awakening in this autobiographical solo show about how she became an activist under the wing of veteran community organizer Sweet Alice Harris. Roger Q. Mason directs the play, which is performed live from The Broadwater in Los Angeles. Tickets start at $5 and proceeds go to the nonprofits Parents of Watts and Community Coalition.
Saturday, December 12
Metropolitan Opera Stars Live in Concert: Bryn Terfel
On Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera continues its series of live recitals with beloved bass-baritone Bryn Terfel performing a holiday program from Brecon Cathedral in his native Wales. The song list includes Christmas carols and lieder, with accompaniment by harpist Hannah Stone, pianist Jeff Howard and the traditional Welsh folk group Calan. Tickets are $20 and a recording will be viewable until Saturday, December 26.
The Old Vic: A Christmas Carol
On Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, another Christmas Carol? Before you say, “Bah humbug,” let me assure you, this is a magical mounting of Dickens’ holiday redemption tale. Adapted by Tony-winning playwright Jack Thorne and staged by Tony-winning director Matthew Warchus, the show incorporates beautifully sung Christmas carols and insightful humor into the action. The production originated at London’s Old Vic in 2017 and has been a holiday staple ever since—it even crossed the pond . Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln headlines this year’s edition, which will be performed live on the Old Vic stage to an empty theatre and streamed to an at-home audience. Tickets start at £20, approximately $27 (though it’s more expensive for this opening night performance). Closed captions and audio description are available.
Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce… Pandemic!
On Saturday at 2, 7 and 10 p.m. ET, if you’re in need of glitter, guffaws and radical joy, try playwright-performer Taylor Mac‘s live virtual edition of their annual seasonal extravaganza Holiday Sauce. The MacArthur “genius” and Pulitzer finalist (A 24-Decade History of Popular Music) blends music, film, burlesque and indescribable fabulousness for a jaw-dropping, NC-17-rated holiday revue. Backed by a full band, Mac will slay songs and welcome colorful special guests. The costumes alone—designed by Mac’s longtime collaborator Machine Dazzle—are worth tuning in for. Tickets are pay-what-you-can. After the live-streams, a recording will be viewable until Saturday, January 2, 2021.
Breathe. A Solo Experience
On Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET, screen actor Philicia Saunders (Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) recounts her political awakening in this autobiographical solo show about how she became an activist under the wing of veteran community organizer Sweet Alice Harris. Roger Q. Mason directs the play, which is performed live from The Broadwater in Los Angeles. Tickets start at $5 and proceeds go to the nonprofits Parents of Watts and Community Coalition.
Play-PerView: Cock
On Saturday at 7 p.m. ET, Play-PerView presents a live reading of Cock, Mike Bartlett’s cheekily titled comedy about a gay man who takes a break from his boyfriend, falls for a woman and is forced to reassess his identity. This event reunites the cast of , Jason Butler Harner, Amanda Quaid, Cory Michael Smith and Cotter Smith, with director James Macdonald. Tickets start at $5 and proceeds go to World Central Kitchen.
New York Live Arts: Raja Feather Kelly’s Hysteria
On Saturday at 7 p.m. ET, Raja Feather Kelly, a , debuts his latest solo work Hysteria, which examines queer representation in pop culture through the eyes of an extraterrestrial. Filmed earlier this week at Chelsea’s New York Live Arts, it’s a hybrid of performance and installation. Tickets are $10.
The Metropolitan Opera: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares a gem from its vaults: John Dexter’s thrilling staging of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s political satire about a logger (Richard Cassilly), who comes upon the city of Mahagonny, where almost anything goes. Teresa Stratas, Astrid Varnay and Cornell MacNeil costar in this 1979 production. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Porgy and Bess, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
Stars in the House: Chicago Reunion
On Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, get ready for a bloody good time when Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley welcome some of Chicago‘s original merry murderesses: Denise Faye, Mamie Duncan-Gibbs, Mary Ann Lamb, Mindy Cooper Grenke, Bebe Neuwirth and Caitlin Carter, aka Pop, Six, Squish, Uh-Uh, Cicero and Lipschitz, plus Go-To-Hell-Kitty Leigh Zimmerman. You have it comin’! Watch for free on YouTube though donations to The Actors Fund are encouraged.
Colt Coeur: Holiday Craptacular: Let’s Close Out 2020 for Good!
On Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, NYC’s invaluable theatre company Colt Coeur kicks 2020 to the curb with a seasonal variety show hosted by comedians Sidikha Ashraf and Adam Harrington, and featuring performances by Sara Bareilles, Taye Diggs, Hamilton‘s Karla Puno Garcia and downtown diva Jo Lampert. Register to receive the free viewing link though donations are encouraged. A recording is viewable until Thursday, December 31.
New Works Virtual Festival: A Mighty Road to Heaven
On Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, the ambitious New Works Virtual Festival presents 20 plays in 20 days, with a debut every evening at 8 p.m. ET through Christmas. Tonight is André M. Zucker‘s A Mighty Road to Heaven based on the backstage drama at an infamous 1859 mounting of Hamlet. The all-star cast includes Hamilton‘s Miguel Cervantes, Tony winner Shuler Hensley, Tony nominees Marc Kudisch and Richard Kind. Watch for free on YouTube.
Sunday, December 13
The Metropolitan Opera: The Ghosts of Versailles
On Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera continues its week of politically minded productions with a gem from its vaults: John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, an offshoot of the Figaro operas by Rossini and Mozart. Commissioned by the Met to celebrate its 100th anniversary season in 1992, this production centers on Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (Håkan Hagegård), the real-life creator of Figaro, as he tries to stop Marie Antoinette (Teresa Stratas) from being executed. Gino Quilico, Graham Clark, Marilyn Horne and Renée Fleming costar. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.
New Works Virtual Festival: When Are You Leaving?
On Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, the ambitious New Works Virtual Festival presents 20 plays in 20 days, with a debut every evening at 8 p.m. ET through Christmas. Tonight is Sheila Rinear‘s dark comedy When Are You Leaving?, about a dysfunctional family’s explosive Fourth of July gathering. Tony winner Tonya Pinkins, stage and screen legend Marsha Mason, Joely Fisher, Megan Cavanagh, Adam Jacobs and Samantha Massell star. Watch for free on YouTube.
All Weekend
Classical Theatre of Harlem: A Christmas Carol in Harlem
While there’s a cornucopia of Christmas Carols streaming this season, the Classical Theatre of Harlem‘s version offers a modern-day, gospel-infused spin on Charles Dickens’ holiday redemption tale. Recorded at Aaron Davis Hall last year, the show cleverly examines the ramifications of gentrification, making the story feel more urgent and poignant than ever. Watch for free until Sunday, January 3, 2021 on the theatre’s website though donations are encouraged.
Williamstown Theatre Festival: A Streetcar Named Desire
Although the celebrated Williamstown Theatre Festival had to cancel its in-person summer season, some of the scheduled productions were reimagined and recorded as audio plays, a genre that has exploded during the pandemic. The first release is an audio mounting of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire starring Audra McDonald as the fragile Blanche DuBois, Carla Gugino as her sister, Stella, and Ariel Shafir as Stanley Kowalski, the man who shatters their lives. Tony nominee Robert O’Hara directs. The recording costs $8.
JoyceStream
Chelsea dance haven The Joyce Theater continues its virtual season with five eclectic recordings available for four weeks: STREB‘s Massive Rotations; a program of short works by the Native American troupe Indigenous Enterprise; excerpts from Vanessa Sanchez & La Mezcla‘s tap piece Pachuquísmo; fabulous drag dance troupe Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo in Paquita; and a triple bill from Rennie Harris Puremovement. Watch for free until Sunday, January 3, 2021 on The Joyce’s website.
92nd Street Y: Lyrics & Lyricists: Jule Styne and His Many Lyricists: Distant Memory
The 92nd Street Y‘s popular Lyrics & Lyricists concert series continues with a program dedicated to the prolific Jule Styne, who wrote more than 1.500 songs with dozens of lyricists. Gypsy, Funny Girl and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes are just a few of the musicals he created with collaborators such as Stephen Sondheim, Bob Merrill and Leo Robin. Musical theatre vets Farah Alvin, Allison Blackwell, Nikki Renée Daniels, Jeff Kready, Julia Murney, Zachary Noah Piser, Zachary Prince, Pearl Sun and Mariand Torres croon a wide array of his tunes. Tickets are $15 and the recording remains available through Thursday, December 31.
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Top image: Taylor Mac in the 2018 edition of Holiday Sauce. Photo by Sarah Walker.
RAVEN SNOOK