TDF Stages

While in-person theatre is back in NYC, there are still wonderful shows to stream at home. Below are performances you can watch online this weekend, Friday, July 22 to Sunday, July 24, for free or at low cost.

Saturday, July 23

Live from 54 Below: Kate Baldwin and Aaron Lazar: All For You
On Saturday at 7 p.m. ET, even though 54 Below has reopened for in-person performances, the swanky cabaret club is continuing to stream select shows live from its stage. Tonight, catch Kate Baldwin and Aaron Lazar, who recently starred in a critically acclaimed revival of The Bridges of Madison County at New Jersey's Axelrod Performing Arts Center. Backed by eight members of The American Pops Orchestra, these sumptuous singers will croon numbers from that Jason Robert Brown musical, as well as from roles past and, hopefully, future. Tickets are $25. If you prefer to attend in person, click here for info.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival: unseen
On Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, the lauded Oregon Shakespeare Festival kicks off its new Theatre on Film series with a recording of unseen, which recently wrapped up its in-person run at the regional favorite. Written by acclaimed playwright Mona Mansour, the play centers on Mia, an American war photographer, who wakes up at the site of a massacre in Syria, unsure of how she got there. With her Turkish girlfriend and her Californian mother, Mia slowly piece together the details of her past to figure out what happened. The screening will be followed by a talkback with the writer, director Evren Odcikin and the cast. Tickets are $35.

All Weekend

PBS Great Performances: The Sound of Music
PBS Great Performances presents the 2015 live UK broadcast of The Sound of Music, starring Kara Tointon as Maria, Julian Ovenden as Captain von Trapp, Katherine Kelley as Baroness Schraeder and Maria Friedman as the Mother Abbess. This critically acclaimed mounting of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic features iconic songs including "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain, "Edelweiss" and the title tune. Watch for free until Sunday, July 31 on PBS' website.

National Theatre at Home: Jane Eyre
In 2020, London's lauded National Theatre launched its own streaming service featuring professional stage captures of its productions. While you can buy a subscription, shows are also available to rent individually for 72 hours. New to the roster is Jane Eyre, Sally Cookson's critically acclaimed stage adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's beloved novel. Coproduced by the National Theatre and Bristol Old Vic, this sweeping epic chronicles one woman's fight for freedom and fulfilment on her own terms as she grapples with poverty, injustice and a bitter betrayal. Jane Eyre costs $10 and captions are available. It's just one of many fantastic National Theatre shows you can stream, so be sure to browse the entire list.

Riot Act
Alexis Gregory wrote and stars in the compelling solo show Riot Act, which was a hit on stage in the UK and then recorded at London's Hackney Empire. Inspired by real-life interviews, this one-man play has Gregory conjuring a series of gay activists through the ages, including a Stonewall survivor, an '70s radical drag artist and a '90s AIDS activist. Tickets are £10, approximately $12, and the recording is viewable until Wednesday, August 31.

Theater of War Productions: The Suppliants Project
In case you missed it, Theater of War Productions, a company that uses classical texts to examine contemporary issues, recently presented a performance starring Oscar Isaac, Willem Dafoe and David Strathairn, and you can watch a recording this weekend. The actors performed excerpts from Aeschylus' The Suppliants, an ancient Greek tragedy about women seeking asylum in the city of Argos, alongside a chorus of Ukrainians. Afterward, the artists and the audience participated in a town hall-style discussion about the War in Ukraine. Watch the recording for free on Theater of War's YouTube channel.

All Arts: Conversations 1967: Peter Brook
To honor the long and rich career of visionary director Peter Brook, who died earlier this month at age 97, All Arts has unearthed an incredible interview from its archives! Watch as Brook, less than a year out from winning his first Tony Award for helming Marat/Sade on Broadway, discusses his career as a stage and screen director with theatre critic Elliot Norton. Watch for free on All Arts' website.

New Ohio Theatre: Ice Factory
Attention avant-garde theatre lovers: New Ohio Theatre's 29th annual, Obie-winning fest is all about emerging artists taking risks. Ice Factory invites cutting-edge NYC companies to present their latest works in progress over four days. The subjects are timely and the offerings diverse, and the second performance of each show will also be available to live-stream at home, with a recording viewable through Saturday, August 27. As of this weekend, you can watch recordings of the following works for $20 each:

• ISLA, a devised piece from Hit the Lights! Theater Co. using actors and shadow puppetry to tell the true story of one family's escape from Cuba.
• The Weaver (part II): Paradigm, a devised piece from TÉA Artistry about institutional racism in the health care industry as a young hospital patient loses his temper, triggering a drastic series of events. This is the second installment in a series exploring the nuanced dynamics of racism through both a personal and communal lens.
• Trash Body Monkey House, a devised work conceived and directed by Jen Pitt exploring the darkness underlying all comedy. Performed by women, this physical theatre piece asks, what if Molière and his minions had indulged their depression?

The Workshop Theater: Memories of Over-Development
The Workshop Theater presents Memories of Over-Development, a new filmed play by Obie winner Caridad Svich inspired by interviews with real-life survivors of dictatorships. These seven reenactments of incredible and harrowing stories share a rebellious look at where we've been and where we are right now. The cast includes Tony winner Frank Wood. Tickets are $10 and the recording is viewable until Wednesday, August 3 at 7 p.m. ET.

Irondale: On Women Festival
Brooklyn's lauded Irondale theatre is currently presenting its annual On Women Festival and this year's edition is a hybrid event, with eight new works by female-identifying playwrights being streamed online. The lineup includes pieces about PTSD, motherhood, sexuality, creating art via Zoom and an interactive meditation on memes. Tickets for the entire New Media Storytelling lineup are $10 and the recordings are viewable until Saturday, July 30.

Abrons Arts Center: VITRUVIAN
Abrons Arts Center presents VITRUVIAN, a solo performance by Jerron Herman about the ways natural phenomena and history enter and live in the body. This made-for-video work shares the allegorical tale of the life cycle of the Vitruvian man as he traverses multiple hemispheres. Tickets start at $6 and the recording is viewable until Saturday, July 30.

All Arts: Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream
All Arts presents Julie Taymor's critically acclaimed mounting of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was recorded live on stage at Brooklyn's Theatre for a New Audience. Stage stalwarts Tina Benko, David Harewood and Max Casella lead the cast of this enchanting romantic comedy about young lovers and magical sprites crossing paths in the woods. Taymor puts her creative stamp on the Shakespeare classic, which features projections, puppets and more than a dozen children as fairies. Watch for free on All Arts' website.

American Songbook at NJPAC: James Monroe Iglehart
NJ PBS' American Songbook at NJPAC concert series presents James Monroe Iglehart. Beloved for his star turns in Memphis, Chicago and Hamilton, he won a Tony Award for his tour-de-force performance as the Genie in Aladdin. This hour-long cabaret features songs from his career as well as personal favorites, and was recorded live onstage earlier this year at the NJ Performing Arts Center. Musical theatre maven Ted Chapin hosts. Watch for free on NJ PBS' website.

American Songbook at NJPAC: Melissa Errico
NJ PBS' American Songbook at NJPAC concert series presents Tony nominee Melissa Errico. Known for her crystalline soprano and nuanced interpretations of songs by Stephen Sondheim and Michel Legrand, Errico has also starred in classic shows such as My Fair Lady, Finian's Rainbow and Do I Hear A Waltz? This hour-long performance features songs from her career as well as personal favorites, and was recorded live onstage earlier this year at the NJ Performing Arts Center. Musical theatre maven Ted Chapin hosts. Watch for free on NJ PBS' website.

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

Top image: The National Theatre and Bristol Old Vic's production of Jane Eyre, which can be streamed all weekend. Photo by Manuel Harlan.