TDF Stages

With in-person theatre out of commission for the foreseeable future, many companies and performers from Broadway and beyond are showcasing their work online. Below are performances you can watch today, Monday, November 30, from the comfort of your couch for free or at low cost.

The Seth Concert Series: Patti Murin and Colin Donnell
At 3 p.m. ET, apparently, hosting a daily online talk show and a Sirius XM Satellite Radio series isn't enough for the multitalented Seth Rudetsky. Well-known for his skills as a pianist, music director and interviewer, he's hosted a series of intimate live concerts with Broadway stars for the past decade. This year he brings the show online. Last night's headliners were Patti Murin and Colin Donnell and you can watch a recording today. One of Broadway's most adorable couples, the two met in 2013 while costarring in a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's romantic comedy Love's Labour's Lost at The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park. Since then she's gone on to star as Princess Anna in Frozen, while Donnell's been busy alternating between the small screen (Chicago Med, Arrow) and the stage. This summer they premiered their favorite collaboration, daughter Cecily. Tickets are $25.

Theater in Quarantine: Closet Works
At 7 and 9 p.m. ET, downtown multihyphenate Joshua William Gelb, known for deconstructing complicated classics like The Jazz Singer, performs a series of brief dance pieces in his closet created by Hadestown associate choreographer Katie Rose McLaughlin in collaboration with French choreographer Van-Kim Tran. Watch for free on Gelb's YouTube channel.

The Metropolitan Opera: Eugene Onegin
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera presents Tchaikovsky's romantic tragedy Eugene Onegin, with Dmitri Hvorostovsky as the title character, the object of affection for Renée Fleming's Tatiana. Ramón Vargas costars in this 2007 mounting. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera's website. You can still stream yesterday's opera, Simon Boccanegra, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.

ABC: The Disney Holiday Sing-Along
At 8 p.m. ET, ABC continues its starry sing-along series with this holiday special featuring pop and stage idols crooning seasonal tunes. The lineup includes Hamilton Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr. singing "What's This?" from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Kerry Washington doing "Joy to the World" and cast members from The Lion King, Aladdin and Frozen performing "Let It Go." Watch for free on TV on ABC.

Jim Caruso's Pajama Cast Party
At 8 p.m. ET, cabaret maven Jim Caruso welcomes renowned singers and up-and-comers at Pajama Cast Party, a live-streamed version of his popular weekly Cast Party gatherings that have taken place at Birdland for years. Tonight's lineup includes Motown Tony nominee Charl Brown, Broadway vets James Snyder and Kara Lindsay, and Forbidden Broadway funny lady Christine Pedi. Watch for free on YouTube though tips via the Venmo app are appreciated.

Bindlestiff Open Stage: Quarantine Edition
At 8 p.m. ET, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus continues its weekly live-streamed variety show hosted by adorkable ringmaster Keith Nelson. This evening's cavalcade includes magicians Rehman Shah and The Great Kaplan, acrobat Ekaterina Sknarina and tightwire walker KerrPlunk. Watch for free on Bindlestiff's YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.

Theater Mitu: remnant
At 8 p.m. ET, the high-tech, avant-garde Brooklyn collective Theater Mitu reimagines remnant, its 2018 multimedia meditation on war, death and loss for digital consumption. Crafted out of extensive interviews and research with doctors, soldiers and other experts, the show is helmed by the company's artistic director, Rubén Polendo. Tickets are $10.

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The New York Pops Benefit Concert with Kelli O'Hara
An encore stream by popular demand! The New York Pops team up with Tony winner Kelli O'Hara for an evening of uplifting music. Recorded live at Connecticut's Riverside Yacht Club in September, this concert features highlights from O'Hara's illustrious Broadway career, including leading roles in revivals of The King and I, Kiss Me, Kate and The Pajama Game, as well as new musicals The Bridges of Madison County and The Light in the Piazza. She also croons American Songbook favorites and original tunes she wrote with her husband, Greg Naughton. Tickets start at $20 but if you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase them at a discount. The recording is viewable until Tuesday, December 1.

The American Dance Guild Performance Festival: 10 Years Over 10 Weeks
Each year, the American Dance Guild produces a festival that includes salutes to iconic dance-makers. Since the event is virtual this year, the organizers are transforming it into a retrospective of the last decade of honorees, with archival recordings released every Monday. The eighth features tributes to 2017's masters Garth Fagan, Martha Myers and the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers. Watch for free until Sunday on Vimeo though donations are encouraged.

Jefferson Mays in A Christmas Carol
Jefferson Mays is a master at playing multiple characters in the same show. He won a Tony Award for doing just that in I Am My Own Wife (40 different roles!), and earned a nomination for portraying eight members of the ill-fated D'Ysquith family in A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder. He's at it again in this solo adaptation of A Christmas Carol in which he plays everyone from Scrooge to Tiny Tim. Originally mounted at LA's Geffen Playhouse in 2018, the production was reimagined for digital consumption by director Michael Arden (Once on This Island) and costume and set designer Dane Laffrey, who restaged and recorded it during quarantine at the stunning United Palace theatre in Washington Heights. The result is a fresh and intimate take on Dickens' timeless tale featuring Mays in a tour-de-force performance—make that performances. Tickets are $50 and a portion of the proceeds goes to TDF! The recording is viewable until Sunday, January 3.

Estella Scrooge: A Christmas Carol with a Twist
A tuneful, modern-day take on the old Christmas chestnut, this new holiday musical comes from John Caird and Paul Gordon, the team behind Broadway's Jane Eyre, and incorporates popular characters and plot lines from multiple Charles Dickens' novels. Betsy Wolfe (Waitress) is the title character, a ruthless real estate mogul, who heads to her hometown for the holidays to foreclose on a hotel for the homeless run by her childhood sweetheart, Philip "Pip" Nickleby (Clifton Duncan). But soon three spirits arrive to scare her sweet. Broadway favorites Lauren Patten (Jagged Little Pill), Patrick Page (Hadestown), Carolee Carmello (Parade) and Danny Burstein (Moulin Rouge!) costar. Tickets start at $25 and the recording is available until Thursday, December 31.

PBS' Great Performances: Lea Salonga in Concert
PBS' Great Performances presents Lea Salonga in concert at the Sydney Opera House. Backed by a lavish orchestra, the Tony winner belts out numbers from her three-decade career, including "On My Own" from Les Misérables, "Why, God, Why?" from Miss Saigon and "A Whole New World" from Disney's animated movie Aladdin. Watch for free until Friday, December 25 on PBS' website.

MNM Theatre Company: Closer Than Ever
Florida's MNM Theatre Company presents Closer Than Ever, Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire's witty musical revue of insightful songs about love and life. Propelled by theme not plot, the show features a cast of four and was filmed live on stage during quarantine in an empty theatre. Director Jonathan Van Dyke's clever blocking delivers a sense of intimacy while keeping actors socially distant. Tickets are $20 and the recording is viewable until Thursday, December 31.

Basil Twist's Symphonie Fantastique
Puppet master Basil Twist presents a recording of his breakthrough show Symphonie Fantastique, an underwater ballet danced by vibrant pieces of fabric, sheets of plastic and other inanimate objects to Berlioz's title composition. A one-of-a-kind spectacle, this production was filmed during the show's 20th anniversary run at HERE Arts Center in 2018 and includes behind-the-scenes moments illustrating how the magic is made. Tickets are $20 for a 48-hour rental.

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

Top image: Leslie Odom Jr., one of the stars of The Disney Holiday Sing-Along.