TDF Stages

With in-person theatre out of commission for the foreseeable future, many performers from Broadway and beyond are sharing their talents online. Below are performances you can watch today, Tuesday, May 12, from the comfort of your couch for free (or at very low cost).

Live with Carnegie Hall: Michael Feinstein
At 2 p.m. ET, Carnegie Hall welcomes the master of the American Songbook, pianist and singer Michael Feinstein, as he celebrates the work of composer George Gershwin with a little help from his friends: two-time Tony winner Christine Ebersole and mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran, who appeared in The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess on Broadway. Watch for free on Carnegie Hall's Facebook page.

The 24 Hour Plays Viral Monologues: COVID and Incarceration
At 6 p.m. ET, the ninth edition of The 24 Hour Plays Viral Monologues examines how the pandemic is impacting individuals who are incarcerated. Lemon Andersen, Hilary Bettis, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, Jordan E. Cooper, Liza Jessie Peterson and other playwrights were paired with people who are currently or were recently in prison in order to help tell their searing stories. Every 20 minutes from 6 p.m. until midnight, well-known actors—including Tony winner André De Shields, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Jelani Alladin, Pascale Armand and Ato Blankson-Wood—will perform the resulting monologues. Watch on Instagram at instagram.com/24hourplays.

The Year of Living Dangerously at Feinstein's/54 Below
At 6:30 p.m. ET, Feinstein's/54 Below presents a concert reading of The Year of Living Dangerously, a new musical based on Christopher J. Kocha's novel and the subsequent 1982 movie about three people whose lives intertwine in Jakarta just before the Indonesian genocide. Watch for free on the club's YouTube channel. This performance won't be available after-the-fact.

Irish Repertory Theatre: Molly Sweeney
At 7 p.m. ET, the venerable Irish Repertory Theatre presents Molly Sweeney, Brian Friel's popular drama about a woman blind since infancy whose sight is restored with unexpected consequences. Geraldine Hughes and Ciarán O'Reilly reprise their performances as Molly and her husband from the theatre's hit 2011 production, alongside Paul O'Brien as the surgeon who changes the title character's life. Told in series of monologues, Molly Sweeney was filmed remotely earlier this month. Tickets are free but required in order to get the viewing link; donations are encouraged. 

American Ballet Theatre: Together Tonight
At 7 p.m. ET, in honor of American Ballet Theatre's 80th anniversary, the dance troupe is hosting an online gala featuring live performances, archival recordings and a slew of special guests, including Broadway stars Chita Rivera, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Liev Schreiber alongside dance luminaries such as Alessandra Ferri, Carla Fracci and Misty Copeland. Performances include excerpts from Swan Lake, dances by Michelle Dorrance and Jessica Lang, and songs by Cynthia Erivo and Tony Bennett. Watch for free on ABT's YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.

Thomas Adès' The Tempest at the Met
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares its 2010 mounting of Thomas Adès' The Tempest, starring Audrey Luna, Isabel Leonard, Alek Shrader, Alan Oke and Simon Keenlyside, conducted by Adès. 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 opera, Werther, until 6:30 p.m. today.

National Dance Institute Gala
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the National Dance Institute, a nonprofit arts education organization founded in 1976 by ballet legend Jacques d'Amboise, is hosting a virtual gala. The event will fuse live dance and music performances with archival recordings, and guests include Alec Baldwin, Tony winner Mandy Patinkin, Josh Groban, four-time Tony nominee Judy Kuhn, and Charlotte d'Amboise and her husband Terrence Mann. Watch for free on YouTube though donations are encouraged.

New York City Ballet: George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins
At 8 p.m. ET, New York City Ballet shares an uplifting lineup of pieces by two of the troupe's signature choreographers: George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. The program features Robbins' "Spring" from The Four Seasons and Afternoon of a Faun, alongside Balanchine's "Theme and Variations" from Divertimento No. 15 "Third Variation: Phlegmatic" from The Four Temperaments and "Rondo" from Western Symphony. Dancers include Sara Mearns, Sterling Hyltin, Joseph Gordon and Ask la Cour. Watch for free on NYCB's YouTube channel through Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

Available to Watch All Day

Victory Gardens Theater: Fun Home
Starting today for two weeks, Chicago's lauded Victory Gardens Theater is streaming its 2017 production of Fun Home. Written by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, the Tony Award-winning musical was inspired by Alison Bechdel's autobiographical graphic novel about grappling with her sexual identity while being raised by her closeted father in a funeral home. Tickets are $20 and buyers can view the recording once anytime through May 24.

Andrew Scott in Sea Wall
Simon Stephens' devastating monologue Sea Wall, previously seen on Broadway paired with Nick Payne's solo A Life, is available to watch online. This 2012 recording stars Andrew Scott of Fleabag fame, and he is heartbreaking as a man who recalls how a trip to the south of France with his family changed the course of his life. Even though you see the end coming, it still packs a gut punch. Watch for free anytime through Sunday, May 17 on YouTube.

Shakespeare's Globe: Macbeth
London's venerable Shakespeare's Globe has been releasing a new show from its archives every two weeks (the current offering is The Two Noble Kinsmen), but this is a bonus production! This one-act version of Macbeth was created for the theatre's education series Playing Shakespeare, and Ekow Quartey and Elly Condron star as the bloodthirsty aspirational couple. Watch for free on the theatre's YouTube channel.

Antony and Cleopatra with Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo
London's National Theatre shares its acclaimed 2018 production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, starring Tony winners Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo as the Roman general and the Egyptian queen torn between love and war. Simon Godwin directs this politically charged epic, which you can watch for free through Thursday, May 14 at 2 p.m. ET on the National Theatre's YouTube channel.

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Raven Snook is the Editor of TDF Stages. Follow her at @RavenSnook. Follow TDF at @TDFNYC.

Top image: Michael Feinstein. Photo by Kevin Alvey.