5 Shows to Watch This Weekend, Plus a Tribute to Broadway's Howell Binkley

With theaters closed around the country, some companies are making their productions available online. Below, you’ll find our weekly update of productions, videos, and other theater-related streaming content from across the US and elsewhere. Some streams are free, while others may charge a fee or request a donation. Either way, you’re sure to find something to scratch your theater itch. Theaters may be dark, but the shows go on.

This Weekend

1. North Coast Rep will stream Bernard Slades‘s Same Time, Next Year October 21-November 15. This wickedly funny comedy explores a 25-year love affair between two seemingly ordinary people who meet once a year and deftly examines the monumental political, social, and most of all, the personal changes that impact the lovers during that quarter century. Featuring married couple Bruce Turk and Kate McNichol. To purchase tickets, click here.

2. Working Theater will present American Dreams October 21-25. Imagine a world where the only way to gain US citizenship is by competing in a live online game show — where you, the people, decide who wins! Welcome to American Dreams: It’s a game. It’s a show. It’s America. This playful participatory performance takes a page from America’s favorite game shows and uses voting, polling, trivia and more to explore what it means to be(come) a citizen. Read our review here. For tickets, click here.

3. Broadway On Demand and the Denver Actors Fund, is proud to present the exclusive radio-play production of John Moore‘s play Waiting for Obama on Saturday, October 24, at 8pm ET on BroadwayOnDemand.com. In Waiting for Obama, a Colorado family is convinced that President Barack Obama is coming for their guns … and they may well be right. This magical and surreal exploration of relationships touched by tragedy leaps head-first into one of America’s most complex conundrums: guns. For tickets and more information, click here.

4. St. Ann’s Warehouse will stream Phyllida Lloyd‘s all-female The Tempest October 23-29. Her Shakespeare trilogy of Julius Caesar, Henry IV, and The Tempest will also be seen over the course of one marathon weekend, October 30-November 1. For tickets and more information, click here.

5. Ken Davenport presents The Doo Wop Project: Live In Your Living Room, a virtual theatrical concert, broadcast live from Shubert Studios, on Sunday, October 25, at 7pm. For tickets and more infomation, click here.

6. Howell Binkley: A Celebration of Light and Love, a video tribute in memory of lighting designer Howell Binkley created by Suspension Productions, will be available for viewing here beginning Sunday, October 25 at 8pm ET. Binkley designed the lighting for 52 Broadway shows, received nine Tony Award nominations and won two Tony Awards. Theater luminaries including Ariana DeBose, Chita Rivera, and Paul Nolan will join.

7. Broadway for Biden‘s ambitious seven-part Town Hall series, produced by the Broadway Podcast Network, will conclude this weekend with back-to-back events amplifying Latinx and Black voices within the Broadway community. Spotlight on Latinx Voices will stream on Saturday, October 24, at 2pm ET, and Black Voices on Broadway will stream on Sunday, October 25, at 2pm ET. Both filmed panel discussions will stream for free here and will remain online following the event. To learn more, get involved, or make a donation, click here.

Upcoming

* Off-Broadway’s Irish Repertory Theatre will debut its virtual production of Eugene O’Neill‘s A Touch of the Poet beginning October 27 and running through November 1. The prerecorded performance will stream Wednesday, October 28, at 3pm and 8pm; Thursday, October 29, at 7pm; Friday, October 30, at 8pm; Saturday, October 31, at 3pm and 8pm; and Sunday, November 1, at 3pm. The company is led by Robert Cuccioli as Con Melody, alongside Belle Aykroyd, Ciaran Byrne, Kate Forbes, Mary McCann, Andy Murray, David O’Hara, Tim Ruddy, David Sitler, and John C. Vennema. Reservations are free, with a suggested donation of $25. To view a performance, audience members must register for one of the performance dates. A link will be sent to all registrants two hours before the performance begins. Click here for more information and to register for tickets.

* New York City Center will stream two of its Fall for Dance Festival programs through November 1. The 17th Fall for Dance Festival invites audiences around the world to experience this annual sold-out “highlight of New York City’s cultural calendar” (The New York Times) in its first-ever digital dance celebration — with all the palpable energy of a live performance. Alicia Graf Mack and David Hallberg host two stunning programs showcasing the resiliency of extraordinary New York City artists coming together — as we take the first crucial steps to returning to our stage. To learn more and purchase tickets to Program 1, click here. For Program 2, click here. To purchase for both programs, click here.

* The first show of Hershey Felder‘s new online season will be A Paris Love Story, taking place Sunday, November 22, at 8pm ET. The work casts Felder as Claude Debussy and will explore how Debussy’s work (such as “Clair de Lune”) helped usher in the new world of “musical impressionism.” Buy tickets for A Paris Love Story here.

* The “Spotlight on Plays” series will stream David Mamet‘s Race on Thursday, October 29 at 8pm ET. The cast stars Ed O’Neill, 2020 Tony Award nominee David Alan Grier re-creating his Tony-nominated performance, Alicia Stith, and Richard Thomas, also re-creating his role from the 2009 Broadway production. Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad directs. The stream will be available until Monday, November 2. Tickets are available here. Proceeds will be donated to the Actors Fund.

* The TheaterWorksUSA production of Joe Iconis‘s off-Broadway children’s musical We the People: America Rocks! will debut online throughout the rest of election season, premiering October 24 at 8pm on Stars in the House. Filmed live without an audience at Paper Mill Playhouse, the capture will be made available to schools and theaters throughout the academic year. For more information, click here.

* TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is encouraging its audiences to “get out the vote” and stand up for racial justice. Hold These Truths, which shares the story of a Japanese American who passionately defends his Constitutional rights against his own country, will be offered via video streaming October 6-November 3.

* Atlantic Theater Company‘s Fall Reunion Reading Series launches October 22 and will include broadcasts of Skeleton Crew by MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Dominique Morisseau, and Lortel and Obie Award winner Guards at the Taj by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph. Tickets to the readings, which will be broadcast via Atlantic Theater Company’s YouTube channel, are free and available to reserve here, with a suggested donation of $25 per viewer.

* Signature Theatre will present a free virtual reunion reading of the Obie Award-winning Signature Theatre production of The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead by Pulitzer Prize winner and Residency 1 playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. The play will stream on Tuesday, October 27 at 6pm ET. Following the reading Suzan-Lori Parks, Lileana Blain-Cruz, and the cast will participate in a talkback. The reading (no talkback) will be available to stream on demand until October 31 at 6pm ET. To attend this free event via virtual stream, RSVP at here.

* Joe DiPietro‘s play Conscience, starring Harriet Harris, returns as a virtual reading October 27-30. The world premiere of the production was canceled at the George Street Playhouse days after it opened because of the pandemic. The play deals with Senator Margaret Chase Smith, who stood on the Senate floor and delivered her “Declaration of Conscience” in a historic moment of political courage. For tickets, click here.

* Kerry Butler and Gavin Lee will star in an online presentation of A Very Brady Musical, presented as a benefit for Maine’s Ogunquit Playhouse. It will air on October 28 at 7pm ET and will then be available for 96 hours. Written by Lloyd J. Schwartz, Hope Juber, and Laurence Juber, the musical is a nostalgic look back at the CBS series The Brady Bunch, and follows the adventures of the Brady kids after they mistakenly start to think that their parents are divorcing. For tickets, click here.

* Resounding, a live immersive audio entertainment company, will debut with a production of Dracula, on Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, at 8pm. Based on Orson Welles‘s radio play, Dracula will star Tony-nominated Norm Lewis as Count Dracula along with Lindsay Nicole Chambers as Mina Murray, Siho Ellsmore as Lucy Westenra, Chris Renfro as Jonathan Harker, Dick Terhune as Prof. Van Helsing, Stuart Williams as Dr. Seward, and John Stimac. For tickets, click here.

* Howard Koch‘s historic adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel War of the Worlds will be presented by Keen Company and aired via Broadway On Demand on October 30 at 8pm. The cast will feature Jason Tam, Arnie Burton, Morgan Siobhan Green, Khiry Walker, Dan Domingues, and Courtney Thomas. For tickets, click here.

* The Actors Fund and the Lymphoma Research Foundation have announced a one-night concert production of The Nightmare Before Christmas, presented by James Monroe Iglehart in cooperation with Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, and Disney Media Group. The show will take place on October 31 at 7pm. Tickets cost $4.99. Joining Iglehart in the cast are Rafael Casal, Adrienne Warren, Danny Burstein, Nik Walker, Lesli Margherita, Rob McClure, and more to be announced. Purchase tickets here.

* The Geffen Playhouse has announced its winter 2020 lineup of digital theater, part of its Geffen Stayhouse initiative. The three world premieres are Chelsea Marcantel‘s Citizen Detective, The Future by Helder Guimarães, and Sri Rao‘s Bollywood Kitchen. For tickets and more information about Citizen Detective, click here. For tickets and more information about The Future, click here. For tickets and more information about Bollywood Kitchen, click here.

* George C. Wolfe‘s film adaptation of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the third installment in August Wilson’s Century Cycle, will premiere on Netflix on December 18. It depicts the racism and exploitation in the music industry through a 1920s recording session with the legendary blues singer Ma Rainey. The film, produced by Denzel Washington and Todd Black, is led by Oscar and Tony winner Viola Davis as Ma Rainey and Chadwick Boseman, in his final screen role, as Levee. Watch the trailer below:

* Netflix has released the first trailer for the new movie-musical Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, which will be released on November 22. Christine Baranski will play Regina, with Parton playing her angel. The cast also includes Jenifer Lewis as Margeline, Treat Williams as Carl, Josh Segarra as Pastor Christian Hathaway, Jeanine Mason as Felicity, Mary Lane Haskell as Jenna Hathaway, and Matthew Johnson as Mack. Watch below:

Christine Baranski will play Regina, with Parton playing he

More Streaming Channels

* Heidi Schreck‘s Tony-nominated What the Constitution Means to Me is airing on Amazon Prime Video. The stage production was filmed live at the Helen Hayes Theater during the final week of its Broadway run by director Mirelle Heller. The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. To watch on Amazon Prime, click here.

* HBO is airing Spike Lee‘s filmed version of David Byrne’s American Utopia. The concert, which features choreography and musical staging by Annie-B Parson, includes songs from Byrne’s album American Utopia along with songs from Talking Heads and Byrne’s solo career. To watch on HBO via Amazon Prime, click here.

* Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s blockbuster musical Hamilton streams on Disney Plus, featuring the original cast, led by Miranda as Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Jonathan Groff as King George, Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds, Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison, and Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton. To find out how to watch, click here.

* Netflix has released Joe Mantello‘s film remake of Mart Crowley‘s The Boys in the Band. The company is made up of Jim Parsons (Michael), Zachary Quinto (Harold), Matt Bomer (Donald), Andrew Rannells (Larry), Charlie Carver (Cowboy), Robin De Jesús (Emory), Brian Hutchison (Alan), Michael Benjamin Washington (Bernard), and Tuc Watkins (Hank). In the video below, explore why The Boys in the Band continues to remain relevant today:

* Amazon Prime has released Julie Taymor‘s Gloria Steinem biopic The Glorias, written by Taymor and Sarah Ruhl, on its Prime Video platform. Spanning five decades, the film has multiple actors playing Steinem at various ages: Ryan Kira Armstrong as Young Gloria, Lulu Wilson as Teen Gloria, Alicia Vikander as Gloria ages 20-40, and Julianne Moore as Steinem through the present. The cast also includes Bette Midler as Bella Abzug, Janelle Monáe as Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Timothy Hutton as Leo Steinem, Lorraine Toussaint as Florynce Kennedy, Enid Graham as Ruth, Kimberly Guerrero as Wilma Mankiller, Monica Sanchez as Dolores Huerta, and Margo Moorer as Barbara Jordan. To watch, click here.