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, June 29, from the comfort of your couch for free (or at very low cost).

The Civilians: Against Women & Music!
At 3 p.m. ET, The Civilians, an invaluable Off-Broadway theatre company whose documentary-inspired productions include multiple musicals (Gone Missing, This Beautiful City, Pretty Filthy), shares an excerpt from its latest in-development show Against Women & Music. Written by Kate Douglas and Grace McLean, whose fascinating musical In the Green ran at Lincoln Center last year, Against Women & Music focuses on a female piano tuner in the Victorian era. The cast includes April Matthis from Toni Stone and Be More Chill's George Salazar. Register in advance in order to receive the free viewing link.

Pan Asian Rep: NuWorks 2020: Une Saison En Enfer
At 5 p.m. ET, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre brings its annual NuWorks developmental series online. Tonight's reading is Une Saison En Enfer, Shigeko Sara Suga's exploration of Arthur Rimbaud's dysfunctional romance with fellow 19th-century French poet Paul Verlaine. Register in advance in order to receive the free viewing link.

Frank Wood and Mary Testa in Bad Daughter
At 7 p.m. ET, Tony winner Frank Wood and three-time Tony nominee Mary Testa play overbearing parents in Bad Parents, a comedy by Julie Weinberg about a young woman who is forced to leave her secret and exciting life in Paris in order to care for her ailing father in New Jersey. Maria-Christina Oliveras, Lindsay Brill, RJ Vaillancourt and Kelechi Ezieabout round out the cast of this Create Theater reading. Register in advance in order to receive the free viewing link.

The Metropolitan Opera: La Fille du Régiment
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares La Fille du Régiment, Gaetano Donizetti's beloved romantic comedy about an orphan girl raised by a regiment of French soldiers who ends up falling for a rebel. Pretty Yende, Stephanie Blythe, Javier Camarena and Maurizio Muraro star in this 2019 mounting, which features a cameo by Oscar-nominated actress Kathleen Turner. Watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera's website. You can still stream yesterday's opera, Die Zauberflöte, until 6:30 p.m. ET today.

Daniel J. Watts' The Jam
At 7:30 p.m. ET, Broadway star Daniel J. Watts (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Hamilton) welcomes some of his talented peers for an evening of songs, storytelling and spoken word on his ongoing variety show The Jam. Tonight's lineup includes Emmy nominee Tituss Burgess, Ain't Too Proud Tony nominees Ephraim Sykes and Derrick Baskin, and Jennifer Florentino from Spielberg's upcoming West Side Story remake. Watch for free on BET's Instagram though donations to the Ali Forney Center are encouraged.

Bindlestiff Open Stage: Quarantine Edition
At 7:30 p.m. ET, run away with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus at the troupe's weekly live-streamed variety show, hosted by adorkable ringmaster Keith Nelson. This edition's cavalcade of amazing acts includes Circus Amok's knife-and-joke-throwing bearded lady Jennifer Miller, contortionist and aerialist Miss Ekaterina, unicyclist Wesley Williams, Alexis and her trick-performing puppies, and sword swallower and fire eater Adam Realman. Watch for free on Bindlestiff's Facebook page though donations are encouraged.

Lincoln Center Dance Week: New York City Ballet's Tribute to Balanchine
At 8 p.m. ET, Lincoln Center at Home presents New York City Ballet's tribute to its legendary co-founder, choreographer George Balanchine, who created more than 120 pieces for the troupe. Recorded at the venue in 1983, this program is comprised of three Balanchine ballets: Vienna Waltzes set to music by Johann Strauss II, Franz Lehar and Richard Strauss; Mozartiana set to a Tchaikovsky score; and Who Cares? danced to George Gershwin. Watch for free on Lincoln Center's Facebook page.

Stars in the House: Andréa Burns
At 8 p.m. ET, On Your Feet! diva Andréa Burns continues her Monday night guest hosting duties on Stars in the House. Tonight she welcomes Broadway vets and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend stars Donna Lynne Champlin and Gabrielle Ruiz. Watch for free on YouTube though donations to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund are encouraged.

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 "Miranda Sings" YouTube star and Waitress alum Colleen Ballinger, powerhouse belter Klea Blackhurst, jazz singer La Tanya Hall and ukelele master Andrew Swackhamer. Watch for free on YouTube though tips via the Venmo app are appreciated.

Queerly Festival: Performance Check
At 8 p.m. ET, the Queerly Festival, an annual showcase of cutting-edge LGBTQ artists usually held at FRIGID: New York's Kraine Theatre, goes virtual this year with two and a half weeks of indie performances. Tonight's offering is Performance Check, a live-streamed, interactive Dungeons & Dragons game run by a bunch of self-declared theatre nerds with a queer bent. Tickets are $15.

Muny Magic in Your Home: Our Leading Ladies
At 9:15 p.m. ET, after 102 years, the shows won't go on at The Muny this summer. Thankfully, the beloved St. Louis institution is sharing some past performances from its intimate cabaret series. Tonight, enjoy a concert by four of the theatre's marvelous female headliners of recent years, as Danielle Bowen, Ali Ewoldt, Stephanie Gibson and Elena Shaddow pay tribute to Muny stars of the past, including Ethel Merman, Shirley Jones and Bernadette Peters. Watch for free on the Muny's YouTube channel.

Available to Watch All Day

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey
It's the penultimate day to watch The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, writer-performer James Lecesne's one-man play about how the disappearance of a gay teenager impacts a small New Jersey town. Lecesne, who earned an Oscar for his short film Trevor, portrays all the characters in this award winner, which was a hit Off Broadway. Watch for free until Tuesday on the 92nd Street Y's website though donations are encouraged.

Pride Plays: The Men from the Boys
It's your last chance to watch a reading of The Men from the Boys, Mart Crowley's sequel to his groundbreaking 1968 play The Boys in the Band, a frank, witty and poignant portrait of a group of gay men in the pre-Stonewall era. The Men from the Boys features many of the same characters 35 years later reuniting at a funeral, with some younger gay men in tow. Zachary Quinto, who starred in the Tony-winning revival of The Boys in the Band in 2018, directs a cast that includes Tony winner Denis O'Hare, Tony nominee Lou Liberatore, Mario Cantone and Telly Leung. Watch for free until 7 p.m. ET on YouTube though donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS are encouraged.

Pride Plays: Masculinity Max
It's the penultimate day to watch a reading of MJ Kaufman's Masculinity Max, about a recently transitioned trans man flirting with toxic masculinity and male privilege. Will Davis directs a cast that includes Ty Defoe, David Greenspan, Judy Gold, Aneesh Sheth, Kelli Simpkins and Vishal Vaidya. Watch for free until Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on YouTube though donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS are encouraged.

Christine Lahti in Gloria: A Life
PBS presents Gloria: A Life, Emily Mann's vibrant bio-play about feminist icon Gloria Steinem starring Christine Lahti. The show played for months Off Broadway and is as engaging as it is informative, with insightful recreations of Steinem's seminal moments such as her 1963 undercover assignment at the Playboy Club, her co-founding of Ms. magazine in 1971 and the 1977 Houston Women's Conference. A multiracial, all-female ensemble embodies a variety of her peers. Watch for free until Friday, July 24 on PBS' website.

National Theatre: A Midsummer Night's Dream
London's National Theatre presents the Bridge Theatre's lauded 2019 mounting of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Bard's beloved romantic comedy about sparring fairies messing with lovesick humans in a magical forest. Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie pulls double duty as Titania and Hippolyta, with hilarious support from UK stage vets Oliver Chris, David Moorst and Hammed Animashaun. Watch for free until Thursday at 2 p.m. ET on the National Theatre's YouTube channel.

Stratford Festival: The Adventures of Pericles
Ontario's venerable Stratford Festival continues its Shakespeare on Film series with The Adventures of Pericles, a rechristening of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, written at least in part by the Bard. Rarely staged, the play follows the dramatic journey of the title character, who gains, loses and then unexpectedly reunites with his family. Watch for free until Thursday, July 16 on the fest'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: Tituss Burgess. Photo by Jeff Mills.