by Keith Emerald –
For those of you missing the excitement of a live-theatre experience during the pandemic, one of the coolest ways you can enjoy your favorite production is to go to www.broadwayhd.com. This website streams a wide array of live theatrical shows to subscribers such as Broadway Classics like Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Peter Pan, The Sound of Music, Falsettos, Kinky Boots, 42nd Street and so many more. Other options included stage productions of Shakespeare
On a local level, we have compiled a list of what some of the theatres and other art institutions are doing to keep the arts in Southern California and stay connected with their patrons.
The Center Theatre Group which is comprised of The Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and the Kirk Douglas Theatre has created an innovation to keep their audiences engaged during the pandemic.
The May series will highlight “L.A. Theatre Goes Digital: Creating Online” (May 7), “L.A. Playwrights: Writing for a Changing World” (May 21) and “A Theatre Fundraising: Inspiring and Cultivating Support in a Time of Uncertainty” (June 4).
Other discussions to be scheduled include “Artist and Company Resources: Navigating the Field of Artist Relief,” “L.A. Actors: Who is the Audience? Where is the Stage? What is the Part?” and “L.A. Designers: Finding Inspiration.” Panelists will be announced closer to each discussion.
All discussions will begin at 3p.m. PT and include a question and answer session – audience members who wish to participate must register in advance at CTGLA.org/LATheatreSpeaks. The discussions will also be live-streamed and archived at Facebook.com/CTGLA.
Another option: The London Company that brought Ahmanson favorites War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time bring their amazing shows to theatres on screens all over the world through National Theatre Live. Now they’re coming to our houses…for free! Tune into their official YouTube channel for “National Theatre at Home,” featuring a new full-length play each Thursday night.
This will have to tide us over until our amazing partnership with the NT (a co-commissioning partner in our Edgerton Foundation Playwrights Initiative) continues with The Lehman Trilogy at the Ahmanson this fall.
Log onto theatrecentergroup.org to explore their virtual online options.
Free Audio Theater for Your Shelter-In-Place Listening Pleasure.
The theaters may be closed, but the show goes on at L.A. Theatre Works. The world’s leading producer of audio theater, LATW offers audiences around the globe free access to state-of-the-art recordings of both contemporary and classic plays, each performed by leading actors of stage and screen.
L.A. Theatre Works productions are aired weekly by radio stations across the U.S. and internationally. Every Friday, audiences can stream that week’s broadcast online for free, along with broadcasts from previous weeks.
L.A. Theatre Works weekly radio series, go to www.latw.org/broadcasts#recent
Listeners can hear additional titles by subscribing, also free, to L.A. Theatre Works podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and more. Some of the titles available include The Motherf***er with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis with Chris Rock, Bobby Cannavale, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Annabella Sciorra and Yul Vazquez; This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan, starring Mark Ruffalo, Josh Hamilton and Missy Yager; and Things You Shouldn’t Say Past Midnight, a bedroom farce by Peter Ackerman that might just be the funniest (and sexiest) play L.A. Theatre Works has ever recorded. Subscribe at https://latw.org/podcasts.
Finally, free access is always available to over 30 science-themed plays from the company’s “Relativity Series.” Titles include such award-winning plays as Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, starring Alfred Molina, Shannon Cochran and David Krumholtz; and Proof by David Auburn starring Robert Foxworth, Anne Heche, Kaitlyn Hopkins and Jeremy Sisto.
With lead funding provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, bridging science and the arts in the modern world, the plays in this series present science as a thoroughly human endeavor, bringing to life the people and stories behind the research and invention that shape and change our world. To stream plays from the Relativity Series, go to https://latw.org/relativity-series.
The Pacific Symphony has some interesting options, one is to log on to the website to see a concert — Watch+Listen (Quarantine Edition)
Let’s Stay Connected Through Music! Even though Pacific Symphony has temporarily suspended live concerts in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, as a public health precaution, the Symphony will stay in touch online, serving up culture and entertainment. The new Watch+Listen page provides you with a central overview of all the Symphony’s offerings online. Everything from Concert highlights to At home online to Facebook Watch Party’s + Facebook Live to Arts Online, Recordings.
Check out all that they have to offer at: www.pacificsymphony.org/enhance_your_experience
NoHo Arts District Needs Your Help.
Eighteen of the 22 live, professional theatres in the NoHo Arts District will close within two months because of Covid19. The NoHo Arts District is just one-square-mile and it has the second-largest concentration of theatres in the United States! The closure will harm the entire NoHo Arts District.
Did you know?
1. NoHo has 22 theatres in one square mile.
2. NoHo had the highest concentration of theatres outside of New York City.
3. NoHo theatres present more than 500 shows per year, including world premieres.
4. NoHo has 35 acting classes held any given night.
5. More than 20,000 people enjoy NoHo’s shows throughout the year.
6. NoHo theatres are an economic multiplier for local restaurants, bars, local businesses, etc. Theatre-goers spend on average of an extra $32 above the theatre ticket price for dinner, drinks and retail purchases.
To avoid shutting down 18 theatres in Los Angeles’ only performing arts district, we have created the “Save NoHo Theatres from COVID19” Go Fund Me campaign to help pay for 60 days of 18 theatres’ rent.
Please donate what you can: www.gofundme.com/f/savenohotheatres
Virtual Streaming Theatre in San Diego.
The Old Globe Theatre offers a variety of online options including Community Voices, a series of free online workshops dedicated to the process of creating short plays inspired by personal experiences. Everyone on the online-platform community is encouraged to participate.
Thinking Shakespeare Live: Sonnets! is a half-hour, “social-distance” version of Thinking Shakespeare Live! which will introduce the sonnets and then delve into one masterpiece of the form, exploring its language and how it works, and how it relates to Shakespeare’s work for the stage.
Check out their website for a complete list of online programs and classes at www.theoldglobe.org
La Jolla Playhouse introduces a series of inventive, digital Without Walls (WOW) shows to enjoy at home! From intimate, one-on-one experiences to collective events, these brand new virtual WOW offerings bring world-class artists directly to you – fostering a connection with each other and allowing art to flourish.
Go see the menu at www.lajollaplayhouse.org
There is a multitude of Southern California live theatres with many do virtual streaming, please support your favorite theatres by going to their website to see what they are presenting or discover new ones by googling. Donations are appreciated while they struggle through this surreal chapter in time out. We all look forward to the day that they finally get to raise the curtain.