Streamed theater that you’ve actually enjoyed?

[jesse benet]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 6:26pm

I know the drawbacks and benefits of streamed theater has been argued back and forth since even before this pandemic began, and Im ITCHING for live theater to return when its safe to, but -- has there been any streams (lived or prerecorded) lately that youve enjoyed?

I found the National Theatres stream of A Midsummers Nights Dream to absolutely incredible in a way I couldnt expect: the subversion of gender roles, the diversity of the cast, the modern comedy... Shakespeare and theater purists probably wouldve sh*t their pants but it absolutely wowed me. And it made hopeful that theater post-pandemic will be just adventurous.

I also loved the broadwayhd broadcast of Oklahoma. THAT was a show Id never seen nor thought Id enjoy but it was so dark (in content) and captivating... and Hugh Jackman was perfection.

[stoptheworld38]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 8:33pm

I really loved the Victory Gardens Fun Home!

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 10:58pm

The production of The Last Five Years from The Other Palace was done quite well with mostly minimal issues.  I have tickets to their upcoming production of Songs for a New World as well.

I've enjoyed the Shows Must Go On channel as well, with By Jeeves being a surprise delight, and I liked getting the chance to see The Wiz Live and Sound of Music Live (I couldn't sit through Peter Pan Live).

The National Theatre productions of Frankenstein and One Man Two Guvnors were also fantastic, and I'm glad that they're making some of their archives available.  Same with 54 Below at Home, I enjoyed the Bonnie Milligan/Natalie Walker concert and the Jonathan Larson Project.

Just came off of a viewing of Heroes of the Fourth Turning which was also done quite well. 

Ultimately, I'm pretty happy taking this time to see a lot of the shows I've missed before, and outside of the super basic Zoom readings, there's been some interesting work done in adapting pieces to a virtual setting (how I wish I could have gotten tickets to Lungs).

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 1:29am

Lungs was quite good. The NT@home shows, as a rule, have been quite good. The Leicester Curve Flowers for Mrs Harris had a great second act. Their archived single shot What The Butler Saw was hilarious. Hampstead’s shows were ... interesting. Really enjoyed the play about An Wei.
Still havent watched the Ian Dury jukebox musical but am looking forward to watching NT’s Amadeus and Irish Rep’s The Weir.

[jbird5]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 6:01am

Heroes almost worked better streaming than as a live show.

I also enjoyed Amadeus, but that is a full production.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 3:10pm

BUYER AND CELLAR. It was a work of genius.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 3:28pm

stoptheworld38 said: "I really loved the Victory Gardens Fun Home!"

My high school drama teacher's daughter played Small Allison in this production!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 4:58pm

Ditto Victory Gardens Fun Home. I loved it.

I also really enjoyed the Antonyos, if awards shows count!

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 5:03pm

Dollypop said: "BUYER AND CELLAR. It was a work of genius."

100% agreed. Perfection.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 9:08pm

Not quite streamed, but I'm thrilled to have the recording of the Live From Lincoln Center live broadcast of LCT's South Pacific, hosted by Alan Alda. And I can't believe that the show opened twelve years ago.

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 10:01pm

Apart from the full scale productions streamed by the NT (Small Island was particularly excellent btw), ROH, the Old Vic, and the Globe, I particularly enjoyed Love Letters, I thought it suited the medium very well and found it very moving

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 10:33pm

If we’re talking the Zoom quarantine readings the best one so far was from April, the “Lips Together Teeth Apart” one. I still think that cast need to do the show on broadway when it’s back. Everyone, especially Celia was brilliant.

[Shubert Alley Cat]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 11:41pm

OlBlueEyes said: "Not quite streamed, but I'm thrilled to have therecording of the Live From Lincoln Centerlive broadcast of LCT's South Pacific, hosted by Alan Alda. And I can't believe that the show opened twelve years ago."

Where did you obtain this recording?  Did this air on PBS once again?

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 6:59am

Significant Other. The original cast did a reading for the Actor's Fund that was very well produced. I'm glad I got to see Gideon Glick and Lindsay Mendez play those roles.

I and You for Plays in the House. Lauren Gunderson's play is twee but Andrew Barth Feldman and Samantha Williams found the heart of it.

Now. Here. This. Orange County's School for the Arts converted their production to Zoom for a large cast. The show actually works better with teenagers than it did with adults.

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 2:34pm

The Old Vic is doing another live performance ala Lungs - Three Kings at Old Vic 29 July to 1 August

One hour in length, but live.  

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 3:00pm

Very excited for that. I just don’t understand why places like The Public aren’t doing things like this.

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 3:15pm

union restrictions probably

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 3:16pm

I really enjoyed the NT Live productions of One Man, Two Governors, and Frankenstein.  The one that really surprised me, however, was their production of Les Blancs.  I originally saw Les Blancs, written by Lorraine Hansberry, in November 1970 (might have been 69), and thought that it was a total bore, even with an excellent James Earl Jones in the lead.  Asa result, I turned it on with a little trepidation, expecting to watch it for 10 minutes and then give up.  I ended up really liking it although I had two reservations.  I felt that the actor who played the James Earl Jones role became a little to emotional a little too early, which lessened the impact of his transformation for me.  Secondly, between scenes, there were atmosphere transitions involving African music and dancing.  They were done extremely well, but I thought they went on too long.  Nevertheless, I thought it was an outstanding production and I recommend it to anyone seriously interested in serious drama.

Re One Man, there were things I liked better and things I liked less.  Corden's performance was still stellar and I appreciated Tom Edden's performance as the elderly waiter even more in a way.  Since I had seen it live, and split a gut while he was on stage, the impact was not the same a second time, but I appreciated little things with his performance that I had not noticed before.  Just comic genius.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 11:20pm

Shubert Alley Cat, a lot of people recorded this on their TVs when it first ran. I think there's a VHS copy at my parents' house, and I'm sure there are many others floating around.