Top 5 Stage Performances to Stream This Weekend October 9-12
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 curated list spotlights the five best options to stream this holiday weekend, Friday, October 9 to Monday, October 12, for free or at low cost.
Live from 54 Below: Kym Johnson: What I Did for Love
Live-streaming Saturday, October 10 at 7 p.m. ET for $33.50.
Kym Johnson from Dancing with the Stars makes her 54 Below debut with a song-and-story-filled cabaret about her life and career. With musical direction by the esteemed Billy Stritch, What I Did for Love traces her journey from Oz to the US as she pursued her dreams. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy‘s Carson Kressley guest stars. Streaming live from the cabaret hub’s swanky stage. If you prefer to attend in person, click here for info.
—
Red Bull Theater: The King Born a Woman
Streaming until Sunday, October 11 for $30.
NYC’s Red Bull Theater, which revitalizes undersung classics, presented an in-person reading of The King Born a Woman earlier this week and you can watch a recording through Sunday. A new English translation of the politically charged comedy by Spain’s Golden Age playwright Luis Vélez de Guevara, it centers on a young monarch masquerading as a man so she can retain the throne. The incredibly talented Marianna Gailus, most recently seen alongside Hugh Jackman in New Born, stars. Presented in association with UCLA’s Diversifying the Classics initiative.
—
Lucille Lortel Theatre: American Nightmare
Streaming until Monday, October 19 for FREE.
As part of its commitment to emerging playwrights, the Lucille Lortel Theatre is presenting a series of free public readings, including a few online. Hassan Abdulrazzak’s American Nightmare is about an up-and-coming American diplomat tasked with striking a deal with an Arab sheikh. But what must he give up to get what his country wants?
—
PBS Great Performances: Suffs
Streaming until Saturday, October 31 for FREE.
Winner of the 2024 Tony Awards for score and book, Shaina Taub’s enthralling musical Suffs celebrates the American women’s suffrage movement. In a Hamilton-style power move, Taub also stars in the show as activist Alice Paul, who relentlessly rallies her peers to back the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in 1920. Emily Skinner, Jenn Colella and The Book of Mormon Tony winner Nikki M. James play a few of her fellow feminists. Leigh Silverman (Violet) directs this history-inspired epic, which features an all-female-identifying and nonbinary cast.
—
National Theatre at Home: Yerma
Streaming for $10.
Billie Piper earned raves on both sides of the pond for her searing performance in Yerma, playwright-director Simon Stone’s radical modern-day reinvention of Lorca’s classic tragedy. Piper plays Her, a successful journalist in her thirties trying to have a child with her partner. But, thanks to a no-holds-barred blog and multiple rounds of IVF, her quest to give birth leads her down a destructive path, and she ends up alienating everyone around her as she sinks into despair. 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.
—