this week in (live)streaming

THE FABULOUS RACHEL BROSNAHAN: THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL

Rachel Brosnahan will talk about Mrs. Maisel and more at Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center live event

Who: Rachel Brosnahan, Jessica Shaw
What: #EmanuelAtHome live interview
Where: Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center Zoom
When: Monday, August 17 , free with RSVP, 6:30
Why: Okay, let’s get real: What was up with the season three finale of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel? You can find out that and much more when Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan, who plays the title character, an astute Jewish comedian and divorcee with two children and a spectacularly abrasive and honest manager, participates in a live discussion with SiriusXM’s Jessica Shaw on August 17 at 6:30. The free event is part of Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center’s #EmanuelAtHome programming; the Upper East Side institution has been staying busy during the pandemic lockdown with virtual talks and celebrations with such guests as Natan Sharansky, the cast of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, Sheila Nevins and Judy Gold, Alan Zweibel and Judd Apatow, and others. In addition to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the Milwaukee-born Brosnahan has appeared on such other shows as House of Cards and Manhattan in addition to numerous films and several plays.

THEATRE FOR ONE: HERE WE ARE

Who: Candis C. Jones, Carmelita Tropicana, DeLanna Studi, Eisa Davis, Jaclyn Backhaus, Lydia R. Diamond, Lynn Nottage, Mahira Kakkar, Nikkole Salter, Patrice Bell, Rebecca Martinez, Regina Taylor, Russell G. Jones, Shyla Lefner, Stacey Rose, Tamilla Woodard, Taylor Reynolds, Tiffany Nichole Greene, Zuleyma Guevara
What: Microplays performed for one person at a time
Where: Theatre for One online
When: Thursdays, August 20 – October 29, free with advance RSVP, 6:00 – 7:30 (reservations available the Monday before the show at 10:00 am)
Why: Since 2010, Tony-nominated set designer Christine Jones has been presenting Theatre for One, short plays performed for one person at a time inside a mobile four-by-eight-foot repurposed musical equipment container, at such locations as Times Square, the Brookfield Place Winter Garden, Zuccotti Park, the Signature Theatre, and the Grace Building. With the pandemic lockdown, Jones and Brookfield Place are taking the show online, reimagining its motto of “Intimate Exchanges in Public Spaces” for private spaces, where specially commissioned plays by BIPOC women about intimacy and isolation at this challenging moment in history will be staged in computer boxes, for one audience member at a time, sitting in the confines of wherever they are sheltering in place. “Here We Are” is also being held in conjunction with the hundredth anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, but a century later, voter suppression, particularly of people of color, is still a major issue.

Co-artistic directors Jones and Jenny Koons said in a statement, “American theater is facing both a historic crisis and a historic opportunity: the COVID-19 crisis and the opportunity to fundamentally address white supremacy in our culture. A spectrum of responses is essential to create lasting change in the fight against systemic racism. The Black Lives Matter and We See You WAT movements, and all of the theater artists fighting racism in our community, inspire us. ‘Here We Are’ is our vision of American theater: one where a vibrant chorus of the most innovative and eloquent artists are centered to share their voices. Theatre for One is made by many. We are committed to creating intimate exchanges in equitable digital and physical spaces.”

The all-star roster for “Here We Are” includes playwrights Jaclyn Backhaus, Lydia R. Diamond, Lynn Nottage, Carmelita Tropicana, DeLanna Studi, Regina Taylor, Nikkole Salter, and Stacey Rose, directors Tiffany Nichole Greene, Candis C. Jones, Rebecca Martinez, Tamilla Woodard, and Taylor Reynolds, and actors Russell G. Jones, Mahira Kakkar, Patrice Bell, Shyla Lefner, Zuleyma Guevara, and Eisa Davis. Eight microplays (three of which are Pandemic Fight, Here We Are, and Before America Was America) will be performed Thursday nights from 6:00 to 7:30 (with additional, later shows some evenings), August 20 through October 29; free tickets will be available each preceding Monday at 10:00 am. There will be some interactivity, so have your computer audio and camera at the ready.

FROM THE ARCHIVE — COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES #139: HAIR 50th ANNIVERSARY (with live Q&A)

La MaMa is livestreaming it 2017 fiftieth anniversary celebration of Hair (photo courtesy La MaMa)

Who: Chris Kapp, Michal Gamily, James Rado, Galt MacDermot, Michael Butler, Annie Golden, Andre De Shields, Ellen Foley, Walter Michael Harris, Melba Moore, Natalie Mosco, Jill O’Hara, Peppy Castro, Dale Soules, Shaleah Adkisson, Lauren Elder, Shelley Ackerman, Debbie Andrews, Andy Berger, Richard Cohen, Dave D’Aranjo, Nina Machlin Dayton, Magie Dominic, Aaron Drescher, Merle Frimark, Ula Hedwig, Antwayn Hopper, Rev. Marjorie Lipari, Thayer Naples, Allan F. Nicholls, Robert I. Rubinsky, Charles Valentino, Balint Varga, Jared Weiss
What: Archival livestream of 2017 performance and live Q&A
Where: LaMaMa and Facebook Live
When: Saturday, August 15, free (donations accepted), 11:00 am
Why: On October 1, 1967, a little rock opera by James Rado, Gerome Ragni, and Galt MacDermot opened at New York City’s brand-new Public Theater, the first show by living artists that New York Shakespeare Festival founder Joe Papp produced. Known as the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, Hair has propelled generations to stand together, challenge the status quo, celebrate multiculturalism, and work for peace. Fifty years after the Summer of Love, La MaMa, on January 21, 2017, gathered dozens of actors who had performed in the many iterations of the show, from the original off-Broadway version to productions around the world and the 1979 film, for a tribute concert as part of its Coffeehouse Chronicles series, which explores the history of off-off-Broadway.

The presentation featured such stars as Annie Golden, Andre De Shields, Ellen Foley, Walter Michael Harris, Melba Moore, Natalie Mosco, Jill O’Hara, Peppy Castro, and Dale Soules singing songs from the musical; the evening was hosted by Chris Kapp and Michal Gamily and included an interview with Rado and McDermot. On August 15 at 11:00 am, La MaMa will livestream that performance in its entirety — you can get a taste by watching videos of De Shields singing “I Got Life” and Moore performing “Aquarius” — followed by a live Q&A with the eighty-eight-year-old Rado. As revolutionary as Hair was, it’s a shame that so much of its narrative about such social ills as white male dominance, militarization and war, racism, homophobia, and government overreach is still so relevant today, but the music is so energizing and exhilarating, maybe it will spur you to keep fighting the good fight, now more than ever, while having a great time.

VIRTUAL SERLINGFEST 2020

serlingfest

Who: Anne Serling, Marc Scott Zicree, Richard Christian Matheson, Christopher Beaumont, Mark Dawidziak, more
What: Virtual festival honoring Rod Serling
Where: Facebook Live
When: Saturday, August 15, free (donations encouraged), 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Why: Just in case you didn’t already feel like you were living in the Twilight Zone, you can take part in the annual SerlingFest, which this year moves online. The virtual all-day 2020 edition features special guests and video presentations celebrating the creator of The Twilight Zone, the greatest television anthology series ever made, a prescient, ahead-of-its-time, socially conscious program hosted by the inimitable Rod Serling, who wrote many of the episodes as well. Born on Christmas Day in 1924 in Syracuse, Serling served in the military (earning the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star) before writing for radio and television, including Patterns in 1955, Requiem for a Heavyweight in 1956, The Twilight Zone from 1959 to 1964, Seven Days in May in 1964, Planet of the Apes (with Michael Wilson) in 1968, Night Gallery from 1970 to 1973, and other projects before passing away in Rochester on June 28, 1975, at the way-too-young age of fifty.

It’s free to watch on Facebook Live, but donations are encouraged to benefit the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 1986 “to educate the public about Rod Serling’s genius and his passion, hoping that they will understand and appreciate his mastery of the creative arts, his unique understanding of human relationships, his esteem as a writer, his generosity as a speaker in and around Binghamton, and his uncompromising commitment to quality.” Among the participants are Anne Serling, author of As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling; Marc Scott Zicree, author of The Twilight Zone Companion; Richard Christian Matheson and Christopher Beaumont, children of two of the best TZ writers, Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont, respectively; and Mark Dawidziak, author of Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone. It’s a different kind of marathon, but it could be one for the ages. (Be sure to watch the end of the above video for some very fun TZ references.)

BOLD 2020 TEN MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL

Who: Black theater creators
What: Short plays with talkbacks
Where: BOLD 2020 (link sent after registration and prior to event)
When: August 14, 21, 28, free with RSVP, 6:00
Why: With Kamala Harris being selected as Joe Biden’s running mate, the prominence of Black women in America takes another giant leap forward. Expect that to be part of the discussion when BOLD, an organization that “seeks to create a culture in which Black womxn are one another’s allies,” presents “BOLD 2020,” a virtual edition of its ten-minute play festival, consisting of six new works written and directed by Black women and streamed for free over three successive Friday nights. “Black womxn will change the world! The restoration of our culture is dependent on the amplification of the Black womxn’s voices,” BOLD cofounder Destinee Rea said in a statement. “In this year alone we have seen the ways Black womxn are using their voices to inspire, empower, and shift culture. We are in desperate need of their stories being contributed creatively, grafted into the American canon.”

August 14 will feature Brittani Samuels’s In My Arms, or Under My Foot (with Anastacia McCleskey, Tiffany Denise Hobbs, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Trevor Hayes) and Agyeiwaa Asante’s Dainty (with Amber Iman, Zurin Villanueva, Capathia Jenkins, and Candice Marie Woods), directed by Kristolyn Lloyd; on August 21, Chanel Carroll’s Choices and Lakhiyia Hicks’s Sermon I Wish I’d Heard will be directed by Bianca LaVerne Jones; and the festival concludes August 28 with Kristen Adele Calhoun’s The Oldest Town in Texas and Jazmine Stewart’s Queen Nanny, directed by Jones and Tavia Riveé Jefferson. Each night, the two plays will be followed by a live discussion with the creators and others.

A MUSICAL MEDITATION AND CELEBRATION OF RADICAL HEALING

Who: Nona Hendryx, Nubian Q.U.E.E.N.X., Monique Wilson, Hope Masike, Sara Curruchich English, Lebo Mashile, iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ, Rosa Chávez, Liza Jessie Peterson, Be Steadwell, Angela Davis, Divinity Roxx, Sophia Ramos, Cyndi Lauper, Phylicia Rashad, Billie Jean King, Joy Harjo
What: Global virtual music and activism event
Where: StreamYard and Zoom
When: Friday, August 14, $8 – $250, 4:00
Why: On August 14 at 4:00, musician, writer, actress, activist, and legendary powerhouse Nona Hendryx will host an epic virtual concert in support of women’s collective power for social justice. Held in conjunction with feminist organization JASS, “Radical Healing” will feature an international lineup of singer-songwriters, activists, and spoken-word artists celebrating multiracial and multicultural transformation. “By radical healing, we’re acknowledging the power of music to lift our spirits and connect us across all our differences,” Hendryx said in a statement. “We recognize that we can’t build and sustain strong movements for the long haul with broken people who bear the brunt of crises and violence. We need moments of shared joy and connections as much as information and strategy. Some of the most amazing music ever created has been birthed from struggle.” Hendryx will be joined by Monique Wilson, Hope Masike, Sara Curruchich English, Lebo Mashile, iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ, Rosa Chávez, Liza Jessie Peterson, Be Steadwell, Angela Davis, Divinity Roxx, Sophia Ramos, Nubian Q.U.E.E.N.X., Cyndi Lauper, Phylicia Rashad, Billie Jean King, Joy Harjo, and others, participating from five continents. General tickets are $25 ($8 for students) and $250 to gain access to a Zoom Q&A with the artists.

JON LANGFORD AND SALLY TIMMS

Mekons members Jon Langford and Sally Timms will play livestreamed gig from Chicago club on August 14

Who: Jon Langford, Sally Timms
What: Livestream concert
Where: Hideout online
When: Friday, August 14, suggested tip $15, 8:00
Why: The Mekons are one of the greatest bands of the last fifty years. Formed in 1976, the British punks have continued to make fab records and tour relentlessly, but they’ve been sidelined because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, that doesn’t mean they’ve gone silent. On April 6, founding frontman Jon Langford, who’s been very busy during the Covid-19 crisis, performed a livestreamed concert on the back of a pickup truck for Chicago club FitzGerald’s, driven through the streets of Berwyn, Illinois, playing to people on sidewalks and porches. And on June 19, the group released its latest album, Exquisite, based on the concept of the exquisite corpse; the liner notes explain it “was recorded in lockdown on mobile phones, broken cassette recorders, clay tablets & other ancient technologies in Aptos, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York & Devon,” featuring the nom de plumes Baron Von Munchio, Comteboy de Langreamont, Honeyman Ray, Luanora Carrington (ex-Lubu Roi), the Marquis Tomato de Ironingboard, Ricmedios Bellvaro, Sallyvador Dolly, and St. Yves Pantalon-Mécanique adding music and lyrics one at a time. (Did I mention they have a wicked sense of humor?)

On August 6, Langford and vocalist Sally Timms, who teamed up for a show at the Hideout Inn in Chicago on January 19, played outdoors at the Virtue Cider Taproom in Fenville, Michigan; on August 14, the duo will return to the Hideout, but this time they will perform without an audience, as the concert will be livestreamed from an empty club; admission is free, but a $15 tip-jar donation is suggested. (Langford will be back at the Virtue lawn on August 20 with John Szymanski and play solo on the patio of FitzGerald’s on August 26.) Describing the show, the Hideout points out, “Jon Langford and Sally Timms are punk rock refugees from across the pond. Mostly they play music with fundamentalist Punk Rock icons the Mekons but have other hobbies which usually involve cross-dressing, pirate songs, and sitting round at the Hideout Tavern in Chicago defying the forces of time, entropy, and Corporate Capitalism.” Don’t miss it.