Who:Bill T. Jones,Khary Lazarre-White,Carrie Mae Weems, Dr. Aletha Maybank, Jamilah Lemieux What: Panel discussion sponsored by NewsOne and the Brotherhood/Sister Sol (Bro/Sis) Where:NewsOne Facebook page When: Wednesday, May 13, free, 3:00 Why: NewsOne, which focuses on “current events and their impact on black lives,” will be hosting a live discussion on May 13 at 3:00 titled “Covid-19: The Intersection of Race, Art, Social Justice, and Medicine.” The free event features legendary dancer-choreographer and New York Live Arts artistic director Bill T. Jones, social entrepreneur, writer, activist, and attorney Khary Lazarre-White, visual artist Carrie Mae Weems, and American Medical Association chief health equity officer Dr. Aletha Maybank discussing Covid-19 and its effect on black life in America; the conversation will be moderated by writer, speaker, and communications consultant Jamilah Lemieux.
Who: Neil Gaiman, LeVar Burton, Rosario Dawson, Dakota Fanning What: Livestreamed reading from the New York Public Library Where:NYPL Facebook page When: May 12-18, free with advance registration, 6:00 Why: Prior to the pandemic, award-winning writer Neil Gaiman was scheduled to present “Mind of a Storyteller” as part of the New York Public Library’s LIVE from NYPL series at the main branch on Fifth Ave. at Forty-First St. But with the Covid-19 shutdown, Gaiman and the NYPL have come up with a live, online alternative. From May 12 to 18 at 6:00, Gaiman and special guests will read the full text of his 2002 Hugo- and Nebula-winning novella Coraline — which was also turned into an Oscar-nominated 2009 animated film and a graphic novel — about a girl who finds a different kind of escape from her house, which is particularly relevant as we are all sheltering in place at home. [Ed. note: In another part of my life, I work for HarperCollins, which publishes Gaiman’s adult and children’ books.] Gaiman will read chapters one and two on May 12 and three and four on May 13, LeVar Burton will read chapter five on May 14 and chapters six and seven on May 15, Rosario Dawson will read chapters eight and nine on May 16 and ten and eleven on May 17, and Dakota Fanning will finish the creepy tale with chapters twelve and thirteen on May 18. You can register for the free event here, where you can also find out how to access the ebook to follow along gratis as well.
Paul Dooley gives a talk about Buter Keaton at Retroformat Los Angeles (photo courtesy Retroformat)
Who: Paul Dooley, Cliff Retallic What: Livestreamed classic silent movies with special guests Where:Retroformat Facebook page When: Monday nights at 10:30, free with RSVP Why:Retroformat in Los Angeles has teamed with Flicker Alley LLC, Lobster Films, and Blackhawk Films to present #SilentMovieMondays, livestreamed screenings of silent classics on Facebook, with live musical accompaniment by Retroformat musical director Cliff Retallick, special guest lecturers, and Q&As. On May 4, they showed Max Linder’s 1921 Seven Years Bad Luck and had a talk with self-described “cinevore” Serge Bromberg. On May 11, the great Paul Dooley, the ninety-two-year-old star of stage and screen, including such films as A Wedding, Breaking Away, Popeye, Cars, and Sixteen Candles, will be on hand to talk about Buster Keaton, who will be featured in one of his all-time best, One Week, about a pair of newlyweds and their new home, as well as Cops, in which he gets in trouble with the LAPD. Dooley, who refers to himself as “a household face” and was the cocreator of the long-running children’s show The Electric Company, considers Keaton his hero; he played a Keystone cop in one of Keaton’s 1964-65 Ford Econoline commercials. Retroformat, whose “sole mission is to educate and inspire enthusiasm for the art and history of silent film,” will continue the series during the pandemic shutdown with future titles and guests to be announced.
Who:Red Bull Theater company What:Conversation about William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, live online unrehearsed reading of play Where:Red Bull Theater website and Facebook Live When: Monday, May 11 and 18, free (donations accepted), 7:30 Why: No other New York City theater company has taken advantage of livestreaming during the pandemic shutdown like Red Bull has. The troupe, which specializes in Elizabethan and Jacobean comedy and tragedy, has been hosting events on its online sites every Monday night at 7:30, alternating between RemarkaBULL Podversations, in which actors discuss famous speeches, and live, unrehearsed Zoom readings with the original casts of previous Red Bull productions. On April 13, Michael Urie took on the “Queen Mab” speech from Romeo & Juliet, followed April 27 by Elizabeth Marvel tackling Mark Antony’s “Cry Havoc” monologue from Julius Caesar. Meanwhile, the company held live reunion readings of John Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore on April 20 and Ford, Thomas Dekker, and William Rowley’s The Witch of Edmonton on May 4. (While the podversations can still be viewed on the website, the readings are available only through the Friday of that week.)
Red Bull now turns its attention to the Bard’s Coriolanus, which it staged in the fall of 2016 at the Barrow Street Theatre in a dynamic production set during the Occupy movement that I wrote was transported to “up-to-the-minute contemporary times in a fast and furious immersive adaptation bursting with passion and energy.” On May 11 at 7:30, the podversation “There Is a World Elsewhere” delves into two speeches from the play, with Dion Johnstone, who starred as Cauis Martius, and Lisa Harrow, who played Volumnia, in conversation with Red Bull associate producer Nathan Winkelstein. And nearly the entire original cast will be back on May 18 for a live, unrehearsed reading, with Matthew Amendt as Tullus Aufidius, Zachary Fine as Titus Lartius, Rebecca S’Manga Frank as Virgilia, Harrow as Volumnia, Merritt Janson as Brutus, Johnstone as Cauis Martius, Aaron Krohn as General Cominius, Patrick Page as Menenius Agrippa, Olivia Reis as Young Martius, Lily Santiago as Valeria, Stephen Spinella as Sicinius, and Edward O’Blenis in multiple small roles, along with composer Brandon Wolcott, all performing from wherever they are sheltering in place. Both events are free, but donations are accepted. Up next will be Zoom reunion readings of Red Bull’s 2005-6 version of Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy on June 1 and Jeffrey Hatcher’s fab 2017 adaptation of Gogol’s The Government Inspector on June 15.
Who: More than fifty Broadway performers What: Mother’s Day benefit for the Broadway Cares COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund Where:Broadway.com When: Sunday, May 10, free (donation suggested), 3:00 Why: Broadway tickets are a popular Mother’s Day gift from children. This year, there is currently no Broadway, and most Americans will not be able to visit their mothers because of the coronavirus shutdown. So Broadway.com has teamed with Broadway Cares for a holiday spectacular, presenting Broadway Does Mother’s Day, a one-time-only livestreamed event featuring more than fifty Broadway stars (and their children and mothers) in a Sunday matinee of comedy sketches, musical numbers, and surprises. The celebration will include performances from the casts of such shows as Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, Beetlejuice, Chicago, Come from Away, Company, Dear Evan Hansen, Diana, Girl from the North Country, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Jagged Little Pill, Mean Girls, Mrs. Doubtfire, Sing Street, and Moulin Rouge! All proceeds go to the Broadway Cares COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund, which “helps entertainment professionals meet coronavirus-related expenses and other challenges brought about by the evolving pandemic” and are part of a matching program. Below are the announced participants in this holiday extravaganza.
Jill Abramowitz • Annaleigh Ashford • Kate Baldwin • Jenni Barber • Laura & Linda Benanti • Denée Benton • Betty Buckley • Liz Callaway • Carolee Carmello • Miguel Cervantes • Linda Cho • Victoria Clark • Jenn Colella • Chuck, Eddie & Lilli Cooper • Lea DeLaria • Claybourne Elder • Eden Espinosa • Beanie Feldstein • Harvey Fierstein • Victor Garber • Leah C. Gardiner • Molly Griggs • Ann Harada • Jennifer Holliday • Robyn Hurder • James Monroe Iglehart • Sheryl Kaller • Ryan Kasprzak • Judy Kaye • Celia Keenan-Bolger • Kylie Kuioka • LaChanze • Raymond J. Lee • Lesli Margherita • Ellyn Marie Marsh • Michael McElroy • Alexis Michelle • Bonnie Milligan • Brian Stokes Mitchell • Anisha Nagarajan • Manu Narayan • Bernadette Peters • Greg Anthony Rassen • Amanda Spooner • Jason “SweetTooth” Williams • NaTasha Yvette Williams • Vanessa Williams • Betsy Wolfe • Shahadi Wright Joseph
Who:Billy Bragg, Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Earle, Shovels & Rope, Rufus Wainwright, Richard Thompson, the Indigo Girls, Jorma Kaukonen, Todd Snider, KT Tunstall, Loudon Wainwright, Amy Helm, Joseph Arthur, Stella Donnelly, Andrew Bird, Fink, Joan Osborne, the Mountain Goats, Valerie June, Stephin Merritt, Rita Houston What: Special livestreamed Mother’s Day benefit concert from City Winery Where: Private YouTube link sent two hours before showtime When: Sunday, May 10, $10, 5:00 Why: “I love you and that’s why I’m going to stay away,” Billy Bragg sings to his mother in his March 21 video, “Can’t Be There Today.” The English singer-songwriter and activist was quick to follow social distancing guidelines, even if it meant not seeing loved ones. He has now teamed up with City Winery, where he is a regular performer, for a livestreamed Mother’s Day concert on Sunday, May 10, at 5:00, and there is an all-star lineup joining him from wherever they are sheltering in place. The roster so far features Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Earle, Shovels & Rope, Rufus Wainwright, Richard Thompson, the Indigo Girls, Jorma Kaukonen, Todd Snider, KT Tunstall, Loudon Wainwright, Amy Helm, Joseph Arthur, Stella Donnelly, Andrew Bird, Fink, Joan Osborne, the Mountain Goats, Valerie June, and Stephin Merritt, hosted by Rita Houston.
Tickets to the YouTube show are $10, with all proceeds benefiting the United Nations Foundation, which “addresses sexual and reproductive health and rights in the COVID-19 pandemic.” Showing as always that he is ahead of the curve, Bragg explained in a statement about the song, “The coronavirus pandemic is going to affect our lives in ways we’ve yet to grasp. In the coming months, most of us will be forced to miss family gatherings, including Mother’s Day, which in the UK fell on the first weekend of isolation [March 22]. My new song touches on the emotional cost of this crisis.” Watch the concert with your mother, or in your mother’s memory. And stay safe and healthy out there; it’s not worth risking your life — or your mother’s — just to tell her you love her in person on Sunday.
Who:Chorus Productions What: Live online escape room challenge Where: Zoom (link emailed to ticket holders at 9:45) When: Saturday nights at 10:00, $10 (tickets available here) Why: While sheltering in place, exiled to our rooms, all of us could use a little escape. The internet has become the go-to diversion for live entertainment, with Zoom, Facebook Watch, and Instagram Live concerts, plays, dance, interviews, art tours, and more. New York City-based theater company Chorus Productions, which specializes in immersive presentations, has come up with a unique approach to escape rooms, where friends and strangers have to come together in order to solve a mystery that takes them through different physical spaces. On Saturday nights at 10:00, you can experience Eschaton, a sixty-minute Zoom journey through a virtual nightclub that, as the game’s name implies, could lead to the end of the world if you don’t figure out the puzzle; you’ll need your cell phone in addition to your desktop computer. Each room features dancers, DJs, and others (including pole dancer Alethea Austin, burlesque performer Lilin, and magician Greg Dubin) who offer clues on how to continue your adventure and eventually save the planet from destruction. The show is still in its early stages, so there might be some technical glitches here and there, but it is evolving every week. Tickets are only $10, but there are very limited spots available. Good luck!
