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 1 to Monday July 4, for free or at low cost.

Sunday, July 3

Live from Feinstein's/54 Below: 10 Years of New Writers!
On Sunday at 7 p.m. ET, even though Feinstein's/54 Below has reopened for in-person performances, the swanky cabaret club continues to stream select shows live from its stage. Tonight, celebrate a decade of musical theatre debuts with 10 Years of New Writers! Songwriters including Georgia Stitt, Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk, Drew Gasparini and Joe Iconis will revisit their early work with performances by Broadway vets such as Ben Fankhauser, Analise Scarpaci and Wren Rivera. Tickets are $15. If you prefer to attend in person, click here for info.

Monday, July 4

PBS: A Capitol Fourth
On Monday at 8 p.m. ET, country star Mickey Guyton hosts the 42nd edition of this annual concert live from the US Capitol. The starry lineup includes many Broadway favorites, including Tony winner Cynthia Erivo, Darren Criss and the legendary Chita Rivera. Spectacular fireworks end the evening with a bang. Watch for free on PBS' website or on your local PBS TV station.

NBC: Macy's 4th of July Fireworks
On Monday at 8 p.m. ET, newly minted Tony winner Joaquina Kalukango is one of the many Broadway performers lifting their voices in song at Macy's iconic 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular. The Paradise Square star will croon a special arrangement of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" and "America the Beautiful." The lineup also includes Lin-Manuel Miranda, James Monroe Iglehart and other Freestyle Love Supreme improvers, and cast members from Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Watch for free on NBC.

All Weekend

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 continues the fifth season of its American Songbook at NJPAC concert series with 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 performance 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 kicks off the fifth season of its American Songbook at NJPAC concert series with 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.

Mint Theater Company: Conflict
Off Broadway's esteemed Mint Theater Company, which has been unearthing forgotten plays since 1992, presents a recording of Miles Malleson's Conflict, a love triangle set in the roaring '20s, with one woman torn between two candidates for Parliament. Jenn Thompson helmed this 2018 production featuring Jeremy Beck, Henry Clarke, Graeme Malcolm, James Prendergast, Jessie Shelton, Jasmin Walker and Amelia White. Watch for free until Sunday, July 10 on the Mint's website by clicking the video and entering your email address, no password required. Closed captions are available.

TheatreSquared: Miss You Like Hell
Arkansas' TheatreSquared is currently presenting an in-person production of Miss You Like Hell, but you can also watch a recording at home. Seen Off Broadway in 2018, this powerful musical by Quiara Alegría Hudes and Erin McKeown follows an undocumented Latina mother who reconnects with her estranged teenage daughter for a cross-country road trip that will determine their future. Chance encounters with eclectic characters along the way bring them closer to understanding what sets them apart, and what bonds them forever. A timely musical meditation on family. Tickets start at $25 and the recording is viewable until Sunday, July 17.

Disney+: Trevor the Musical
This musicalization of Celeste Lecesne's Oscar-winning short of the same name ran Off Broadway last fall, and now you can watch a recording on Disney+. The moving story of a theatrical 13-year-old boy grappling with his sexual orientation in 1981, Trevor the Musical is written by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis, who previously adapted another landmark LGBTQ movie for the stage: Southern Comfort. Talented 13-year-old newcomer Holden William Hagelberger from Sugarland, Texas stars as the title character, a Diana Ross-obsessed middle schooler who goes through some really tough times before learning how to love himself. Disney+ subscribers can watch for free.

FRIGID New York: Queerly Festival
Put on your lavender-colored glasses for FRIGID New York's eighth annual Queerly Festival, a grab bag of solo shows, stand-up, improv, drag, even a ditty called Big Gay Love Story, the Musical. A broad spectrum of queer artists, including Last Comic Standing finalist Michele Balan and a Sylvia Rivera bio-play, are part of this diverse celebration of all things LGBTQIA2S+. Can't make it in person? Most performances are also being live-streamed and tickets are pay-what-you-wish. Browse the calendar to see which performances pique your interest.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Love Stories
Last chance! Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater presents the finale of Love Stories, Judith Jamison's vibrant 2004 collaboration with hip-hop pioneer Rennie Harris and Robert Battle, who took over from her as the troupe's artistic director in 2011. Set to Stevie Wonder songs, this performance was recorded live on stage last year at Ailey's opening night gala. Watch for free until Sunday on Ailey's YouTube channel though donations are encouraged.

The Orchard
Last chance! On Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m. ET, there are two ways to experience The Orchard, theatre director Igor Golyak's mind-blowing riff on Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. In-person audiences at the Baryshnikov Arts Center will see Mikhail Baryshnikov and Tony nominee Jessica Hecht in this classic tale of a Russian family contemplating the demise of their estate and way of life. Streaming audiences experience the play in a totally different way, with Baryshnikov portraying Chekhov, who takes you on a virtual tour of the theatre where each space holds a different memory. Oh, and did I mention the 12-foot robotic arm that's programmed to cater to the characters? If this all sounds confounding, I encourage you to read the feature in The New York Times, which gives a nice backstory on Golyak and his Massachusetts-based Arlekin Players Theatre, who have been creating exciting virtual works via their Zero Gravity (zero-G) lab throughout the pandemic. Golyak is a Russian theatre trained Ukrainian immigrant, so his take on this Chekhov classic is personal, political and heartbreaking. Tickets for the streaming experience are $29. If you prefer to attend in person, click here for info.

Broadway on Demand: Allegiance
Last chance! Broadway on Demand presents Allegiance, a landmark musical about an American family forced by the US government into a Japanese internment camp during World War II. The show is loosely based on the life of Star Trek's George Takei, who stars alongside Katie Rose Clarke, Telly Leung and Tony winner Lea Salonga. A 48-hour rental costs $12 and the recording is viewable until Tuesday, July 5 at 10:30 p.m. ET.

All Arts: King Lear Starring James Earl Jones
Here's a gem from the vaults: All Arts is streaming a 1974 mounting of King Lear headlined by James Earl Jones! Filmed live on stage at the Delacorte Theater for the New York Shakespeare Festival (now known as Shakespeare in the Park), the production also features Raul Julia, Rosalind Cash and Paul Sorvino. A great way to get psyched for the current Shakespeare in the Park season! Watch for free on All Arts' website.

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

Top image: Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is streaming all weekend for free on All Arts.