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Even though in-person theatre and dance are back in full swing, in the name of accessibility, we're continuing to round up performances to watch online from the comfort of home. Our carefully curated list spotlights the five best options to stream this weekend, Friday, May 5 to Sunday, May 7, for free or at low cost.
Live-streaming Sunday, May 7 at 7 p.m. ET for $25
Hadestown has been quite the journey for Jewelle Blackman. She started out as one of the original Fates in the Broadway musical, then graduated to playing Persephone, the queen of the underworld. Now she returns to 54 Below to croon her favorite tunes alongside some of her talented pals, including Hadestown's Tony-nominated Eurydice, Eva Noblezada. Streaming live from the cabaret hub's swanky stage. If you prefer to attend in person, click here for info.
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Streaming until Sunday, May 14 for $25
Fresh off its Broadway premiere, Douglas Lyons' raucous comedy Chicken & Biscuits comes to Arkansas' TheatreSquared, where it's also being streamed to at-home audiences. When the matriarch of a Black family dies, his disparate daughters show up at his funeral and are immediately at each other's throats. But things get even messier when skeletons start coming out of the closet. This hilarious romp about a loving but dysfunctional family is a delicious treat.
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Streaming until Sunday, May 21 for $29
Philadelphia's acclaimed Wilma Theater is well known for streaming groundbreaking plays—the theatre presented the world premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham online during the shutdown. Now you can watch the theatre's latest production, Eternal Life Part I, which was recorded live on stage. Nathan Alan Davis' surreal and touching meditation on mortality centers on a family that's trying to live forever. Morgan Green, who helmed the virtual premiere of Fat Ham, directs.
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Streaming for $10
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. New to the roster is the National Theater's acclaimed 2023 revival of Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky, about a group of artistic Black friends trying to navigate the Great Depression in the waning days of the Harlem Renaissance. Nominated for three Olivier Awards and recorded live on stage, this production stars Samira Wiley (The Handmaid's Tale, Orange Is the New Black) in her UK stage debut. A 72-hour rental 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.
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Streaming on All Arts for FREE
Here's an uplifting concert from the vaults: NJ PBS' American Songbook at NJPAC concert series reshares this 2017 all-star salute to great Broadway composers. Billy Porter, Christine Ebersole, Tom Wopat, Marc Shaiman, Santino Fontana, the late Marin Mazzie, Annie Golden, Brian Stokes Mitchell and others croon iconic show tunes by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim and Stephen Schwartz. Pianist and American Songbook master Michael Feinstein hosts.
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Top image: Samira Wiley in Blues for an Alabama Sky, which is streaming through National Theatre at Home. Photo by Marc Brenner.
Raven Snook is the Editor of TDF Stages. Follow her on Facebook at @Raven.Snook. Follow TDF on Facebook at @TDFNYC.
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