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 that you can watch today, Wednesday, April 22, from the comfort of your couch for free (or at very low cost).

One of the last productions TDF Stages covered before the shutdown began, Hilary Bettis' 72 Miles to Go… at Roundabout Theatre Company, was filmed before it prematurely closed, and it's now available to watch online. A drama about a decade in the life of a Mexican-American family whose matriarch has been deported, the play is streaming on the theatre's website for $20 through Friday.

One of NYC's most celebrated Latinx theatre companies, Repertorio Espanol, is streaming its hit production of Valor, agravio y mujer, a delicious revenge comedy filled with deceit, seduction and cross-dressing written by 17th-century Spanish playwright Ana Caro. Performed in Spanish without subtitles, the show is available to watch for free through Sunday on the theatre's Vimeo channel with the password VALOR2020.

Playwright Neil LaBute's Ten X Ten series of filmed monologues continues with new pieces performed by Bill Pullman and two-time Tony winner Judith Light. Watch them for free on St. Louis Actors' Studio's Vimeo channel.

Duo Multicultural Arts Center in the East Village presents the raucous comedy All About Meat about the Garcias, a Cuban family with a chorizo empire that decides to open an escort service. The play, which ran for more than 300 performances, was followed by All About Sex and All About Power, but the fourth installment in the over-the-top saga, All About Fame, had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Watch the romp that started it all for free on YouTube.

A just launched theatre collective, Deaf Broadway, is posting videos of actors performing famous musicals in American Sign Language alongside the shows' original recordings. The initiative has two goals: to give Deaf actors from around the world a chance to show off their skills, and to make these beloved shows accessible to those who speak ASL. First up is Into the Woods and you can watch for free on the group's Vimeo channel.

At 1 p.m. EST, R&H Goes Live! presents Matt Doyle (who was bringing down the house nightly in Company when the shutdown hit) crooning his modern take on "Hello, Young Lovers" from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I, followed by a Q&A with host Laura Osnes. Doyle will presumably talk about his experience fighting COVID-19, from which he recently recovered. Watch for free on the Rodgers and Hammerstein YouTube channel.

At 2 p.m. ET, Stars in the House presents a live reading of The Little Dog Laughed, Douglas Carter Beane's uproarious Tony-nominated comedy about an up-and-coming actor whose ambitious agent worries his gay flings will derail his career. Two members of the original Broadway cast are reprising their roles: Johnny Galecki (of Roseanne and Big Bang Theory fame) as a charming hustler and the riotous Julie White, who won a Tony Award for her acerbic turn as the no-holds-barred agent. Catch it for free on The Actors Fund's YouTube channel. Note: this performance won't be available after-the-fact so you have one chance to watch.

At 5 p.m. ET, it's a bonus opera from the Metropolitan! Ever since the shutdown began, the opera house has been sharing productions from its Live in HD series nightly at 7:30 p.m. But a few weeks ago, it quietly launched another online initiative to engage audiences: weekly student streams that debut on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. These operas have been specially selected for families, and Zoom education sessions leading up to the screening teach school-age kids about opera. This week's offering is the Met's 2015 mounting of Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow, helmed by Tony-winning director Susan Stroman, and starring Tony Award winner Kelli O'Hara and opera legend Renée Fleming, who's recently been performing on Broadway. So there's a lot of theatre crossover. Watch for free on the Metropolitan Opera's website anytime through Friday at 5 p.m.

At 6:30 p.m. ET, cabaret haven Feinstein's/54 Below continues its #54BelowatHome series with a recording of the concert I Wish: The Roles That Could Have Been, featuring Broadway performers crooning numbers they've always wanted to sing on stage in front of an audience, and not just in their showers. The impressive lineup includes Etai Benson (The Band's Visit, Wicked), Ann Harada (Avenue Q, Cinderella), Jawan M. Jackson (Ain't Too Proud), Taylor Iman Jones (Head Over Heels, Groundhog Day), Alexandra Socha (Head Over Heels, Spring Awakening), Jason SweetTooth Williams (Be More Chill) and Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on The Roof), who conceived of the evening and also serves as host. Watch for free on Feinstein's/54 Below's YouTube channel. Note: this performance won't be available after-the-fact so you have one chance to watch.

At 7 p.m. ET, Ballet Hispánico presents 3. Catorce Dieciséis, a 2017 work choreographed by Tania Pérez-Salas, one of Mexico's leading contemporary dance-makers. Set to music by Vivaldi and other Baroque composers, the piece uses Pi as inspiration as it examines the circularity of life. Watch for free on Ballet Hispánico's Facebook page.

At 7 p.m. ET, Zalmen Mlotek—the artistic director of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, which produced Yiddish Fiddler—performs a special living room concert in honor of Mikhl Baran, a World War II vet and prominent member of NYC's Yiddish-speaking community who passed away last week. Expect Yiddish songs of tribute, mourning and uplift. Watch for free on Folksbiene's Facebook page.

At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares its 2009 mounting of Offenbach's Les Contes d’Hoffmann, starring Anna Netrebko, Kathleen Kim, Ekaterina Gubanova, Joseph Calleja and Alan Held, and conducted by James Levine. 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, Tosca, until 6:30 p.m. today.

At 8 p.m. EST, Seth Rudetsky dishes about his favorite Broadway stories with stage actors Paul Castree (who appeared in Rudetsky's Disaster!), Chris Fitzgerald (three-time Tony nominee for his comedic turns in Waitress, Young Frankenstein and Finian's Rainbow), Camryn Manheim and Julia Murney, who starred in the Off-Broadway incarnation of Wild Party. Rudetsky is a master at getting artists to tell outrageous tales, so we expect lots of laughs. This twice daily series supports The Actors Fund, and you can watch for free on the organization's YouTube channel.

At 8 p.m. ET, NY-based theatre company spit & vigor presents Casey Wimpee's The Brutes about the renowned theatrical Booth family: brothers Edwin, Junius Jr. and John Wilkes, whose legacy took a murderous turn. This performance was recorded at the Gramercy Park social club The Players, once home to Edwin Booth, and members of the Booth family were in attendance! Tickets are available to purchase from the theatre but TDF members get a discount.

At 9 p.m. ET, omigod you guys, Broadway Podcast Network is hosting a Legally Blonde reunion! Stars from the Broadway musical's original cast set to appear include Laura Bell Bundy, theatre's most adorable couple Orfeh and Andy Karl, Richard Blake, Leslie Kritzer and Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford (who was an understudy!), plus director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell and songwriters Larry O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin. Watch for free on Broadway Podcast Network's YouTube channel.

At 9 p.m. ET, California's lauded South Coast Repertory shares a recording of its production of Outside Mullingar, Pulitzer Prize winner John Patrick Shanley's Irish rom-com about a land dispute, a grudge and a mismatched pair. The play was a hit on Broadway in 2014 with Debra Messing. Tickets are available to purchase from the theatre but TDF members get a discount.

If you missed New York City Ballet's launch of its online season yesterday, you can still see its first offering: a 2017 performance of George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante featuring Tiler Peck and Andrew Veyette. Watch for free on NYCB's YouTube channel through Friday at 8 p.m.

It's the last day to watch London's National Theatre's dynamic stage adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Olivier winner Patsy Ferran (a celebrated actress across the pond who was scheduled to make her Broadway debut in the now-cancelled Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and Dr. Who's Arthur Darvill star in the play, which was recorded for the National's NT Live series. Watch for free anytime through tonight on the theatre's YouTube channel.

Shakespeare's Globe in London shares a recording of its 2009 mounting of Romeo & Juliet, directed by Dominic Dromgoole and starring Ellie Kendrick and Adetomiwa Edun. Watch for free anytime through Saturday, May 3 on the theatre's YouTube channel.

London's Hampstead Theatre continues its #HampsteadTheatreAtHome series with a recording of its 2014 production of Tiger Country, Nina Raine's play about the behind-the-scenes drama in a busy hospital over the holidays. It's eerily timely. Watch for free anytime through Sunday on the company's website.

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

Top image: Orfeh and Laura Bell Bundy in Legally Blonde on Broadway. Photo by Paul Kolnik.