Broadway at Night
The Broadway that we adored and loved has been closed since mid-March. No more packed theaters, the audience a buzz with anticipation, the shuffling of Playbills or the hushed silence as the curtain is raised. All of it is on pause thanks to Covid-19.
But there is no reason to get withdrawals, just yet. There is plenty of streaming available of past and current shows to keep your appetite whet. Streaming a Broadway show at home could be a little different experience, you might not be totally submerged in a performance, made to forget everything going on in the outside world. But you are able to enjoy it on your couch, have a drink and also rewind to listen to dialogue that occasionally is mumbled or inaudible by an actor in the performance.
Theater for me is about the experience, losing oneself and also being taken on a journey that is outside of my every day life. During this time when we are all housebound, the idea of sitting in a dark theater watching actors on stage is something needed, wanted and craved.
To fill this void there have been a number of Live Broadcasts, streaming services and YouTube channels that can satisfy that desire.
The Actor’s Fund has been presenting a number of fantastic readings by actors. Most recently Love Letters, with Sally Field and Bryan Cranston on broadwaysbestshows.com . A fan of the stage play it was a brilliant reading by both actors on a zoom call, just as emotionally charged as sitting in a theater.
Smash was the TV hit from 2012, it chronicled the life of musical theater actors as they develop and rehearse a Broadway musical, Bombshell, the life of Marilyn Monroe. The series was cancelled in 2013, but is a huge hit with the Broadway loving community.
Smash had some amazing musical numbers, so the cast were reunited for a benefit, Bombshell in Concert, in 2015 at the Minskoff Theater to a live audience, the one off concert sold out in 15 minutes.
The Bombshell in Concert, was released earlier this week on PeopleTV, a Youtube channel, this release also features a Q&A with the original cast including Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee, Christian Borle, Jeremy Jordan and Debra Messing. This entire concert, if you were a fan of the original show, cannot help but lift your spirits and bring a smile to your face.
Lincoln Center Theater has a fantastic backlog of stage productions that have been recorded and they are releasing free of charge, available to stream for one week only through their webpage Lights, Camera, Theater. To access these amazing performances they are accessible through the website lct.org, which redirects to BroadwayHD where you can view the performance on your laptop or mobile device.
The shows that will be available through Lights, Camera, Theater are Pipeline with Karen Pittman, The Nance with Nathan Lane and Act One with Tony Shalhoub. All these performances were acclaimed hits.To access them free of charge will satisfy any theater fan.
Broadway might be taking an extended intermission, but it will be back stronger than ever with performers desperate to be on stage and entertain an audience. Until the time it is safe to return to the theater there are numerous avenues where you can get your theater fix with some amazing performers that shouldn’t be missed.
Follow Matt D’Silva on Twitter @MattDSilva