this week in theater

THE MISANTHROPE (Live Performance and Q&A)

Who: Molière in the Park theater company
What: Livestreamed performance and Q&A
Where: FIAF Facebook and Molière in the Park YouTube
When: Saturday, May 2, free with RSVP, 7:00 (show will be available for viewing through May 6)
Why: Molière in the Park was scheduled to present two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Wilbur’s English-language translation of Molière’s The Misanthrope in Prospect Park May 13-23, but the coronavirus shut it down. Instead, FIAF is bringing the world premiere of this contemporary take on Molière’s seventeenth-century comedy of manners to social media, streaming live on Facebook and YouTube on May 2 at 7:00. (A recording of the show will remain available on YouTube through May 6.) Heidi Armbruster, Kaliswa Brewster, Chris Henry Coffey, Naomi Lorrain, Jared McNeill, Jennifer Mudge, Postell Pringle, and Tamara Sevunts will be performing such roles as Alceste, Célimène, Philinte, Acaste, Oronte, Arsinoé, Éliante, Clitandre, Basque, and Du Bois from their homes in New York City, Milwaukee, and Perugia. Company founder Lucie Tiberghien will direct the production, which features guest appearances by Samira Wiley and Stew. Admission to the ninety-minute show, which will be followed by a Q&A, is free, but advance RSVP is required.

#Playfrom6FeetAway

6 feet away

Who: Trip Cullman, Diep Tran, Jeremy Tiang, Catherine Coray, more
What: PlayClub live discussion
Where: Zoom meeting (link sent to participants)
When: Thursdays at 5:00, free but RSVP required (space is very limited)
Why: During the coronavirus crisis and shutdown, Obie-winning, New York City-based Play Company, aka PlayCo, has started #Playfrom6FeetAway, a super-cool initiative in which a limited number of participants read a play in advance, then have a live online discussion hosted by a special guest. It might not be a replacement for the experience of live theater, but it is a great way to keep creators and play lovers connected. The series kicked off on April 23 with Nina Raine’s Consent, hosted by director Trip Cullman. On April 30, journalist Diep Tran will lead an examination of Young Jean Lee’s We’re Gonna Die, a play that I’ve seen twice, most recently in a rousing production at Second Stage. The program continues May 7 with Wei Yu-Chia’s A Fable for Now, hosted by the play’s translator, Jeremy Tiang, and May 14 with Sylvia Khoury’s Selling Kabul (the New York premiere was scheduled to begin previews March 27 at Playwrights Horizons), moderated by NYU Arts professor Catherine Coray of the Lark Play Development Center US/Middle East Playwright Exchange. The Zoom rooms are limited to a mere ten people, so keep watching PlayCo for further announcements and to snatch a coveted spot.

MCC VIRTUAL TV: BENEFIT PLAY READING OF ALAN BOWNE’S BEIRUT STARRING MARISA TOMEI AND OSCAR ISAAC

beirut benefit

Who: Marisa Tomei, Oscar Isaac, Patrick Breen
What: Livestreamed benefit play reading for MCC Theater
Where: MCC Theater YouTube
When: Tuesday, April 28, $25, 7:30; rebroadcast January 28, $5-$100, 7:30 (available through January 31)
Why: [ed. note: The below originally ran on April 26; MCC is now bringing the reading back for an encore presentation] Theaters in lockdown are coming up with unique ways to engage their audience and raise much-needed funds. MCC Theater, which opened its sparkling new Hell’s Kitchen space last year, has just announced the online initiative MCC Virtual Events, which will feature a weekly play-reading series and other online gatherings as part of its Be Our Light campaign. The program’s centerpiece takes place on April 28 at 7:30, an MCC Virtual TV benefit reading of Alan Bowne’s 1987 Beirut, about a woman quarantined on the Lower East Side with an STD in a dystopian future. The original production kicked off MCC’s one-act play festival; it will be performed live online by Marisa Tomei and Oscar Isaac, with a cameo by Patrick Breen. “A few weeks ago, as our shared experience of the new ‘normal’ sunk in, isolated from loved ones, I couldn’t stop thinking about Alan Bowne’s moving and prescient play,” Tomei said in a statement. “Creating the role of Blue in 1987 for MCC’s one-act festival was an experience that I’ve long treasured at a time that felt like MCC and I were both ‘being born.’ There are obvious parallels between the ‘plague’ in the play and the situation we are experiencing now.” In a later Facebook post, Tomei added, “A response to the AIDS crisis, poetically and hilariously written by the late Alan Bowne . . . it’s the second play I ever appeared in on the New York stage. It’s raunchy and my parents fled the theater when they came to see it lol. . . . Maybe this piece of writing helps us process some feelings.” The early-bird $5 and $15 tickets are sold out, but you can still catch the show for $25. On May 13, MCC Virtual Events will launch Live Labs: One Acts, weekly readings on Wednesdays at 5:00 that will feature works by such playwrights as Robert Askins, Aziza Barnes, Peter Hedges, C. A. Johnson, Matthew Lopez, and Talene Monahon. MCC will also host the free panel discussion “Creative in Quarantine — Finding Inspiration in Isolation” on April 30 at 11:00 and a Let’s Engage open-mic night on May 7 at 8:00.

TAKE ME TO THE WORLD: A SONDHEIM 90th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

A parade of Broadway stars will celebrate Stephen Sondheim’s ninetieth birthday Sunday night on YouTube

Who: Meryl Streep, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Mandy Patinkin, Christine Baranski, Donna Murphy, Kristin Chenoweth, Sutton Foster, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O’Hara, Aaron Tveit, Maria Friedman, Iain Armitage, Katrina Lenk, Michael Cerveris, Brandon Uranowitz, Stephen Schwartz, Elizabeth Stanley, Chip Zien, Alexander Gemignani, Melissa Errico, Ann Harada, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh Thom Sesma, Annaleigh Ashford, Laura Benanti, Beanie Feldstein, Josh Groban, Jake Gyllenhaal, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Kuhn, Linda Lavin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Platt, Randy Rainbow, Lea Salonga, Victor Garber, Joanna Gleason, Nathan Lane, Steven Spielberg, Raúl Esparza
What: Live online celebration of Stephen Sondheim’s ninetieth birthday
Where: Broadway.com YouTube channel
When: Sunday, April 26, free, 8:00
Why: Stephen Joshua Sondheim was born in New York City on March 22, 1930. Over his long career, the Oscar, Tony, and Grammy winner has written the music and lyrics for such shows as West Side Story, Gypsy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and many others. A much-lauded revival of Company was set to hit Broadway on March 22, joining a revival of West Side Story, but both shows were closed down when Broadway went dark March 12 because of the coronavirus. But an all-star lineup will be paying tribute to Sondheim from their homes with “Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration,” a gala event being held on April 26 at 8:00. Sponsored by Broadway.com, the party will be streamed live on YouTube for free, but watchers are encouraged to donate to ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty), an NYC Service organization that seeks to “unite New Yorkers in service to advance lifelong civic engagement for a more equitable and inclusive city.” Above is the remarkable guest list of performers and well-wishers; the evening will be hosted by Tony winner Raúl Esparza, a veteran of Sunday in the Park with George and Company. Sondheim might be ninety, but we got used to seeing him all the time at the theater, as an audience member. Sunday night he’ll take center stage, where he belongs.

YOM HA-SHOAH: THE SOAP MYTH PLAY AND LIVE WEBINAR

Tovah Feldshuh and Ed Asner will talk about anti-Semitism and the Holocaust as part of Yom HaShoah commemoration

Who: Ed Asner, Tovah Feldshuh, Jeff Cohen, Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson, Arnold Mittelman, Michael Berenbaum, Ira Forman, Richard Salomon
What: Panel discussion about The Soap Myth in honor of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day)
Where: Temple Emanuel Streicker Center website
When: Monday, April 20, free with advance registration, 6:30
Why: In commemoration of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center, the National Jewish Theater Foundation, and the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center have teamed up to present a live online panel discussion exploring anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and the historical record as brought up in Jeff Cohen’s poignant play The Soap Myth, which looks at the claim that the Nazis made soap from the bodies of dead Jews. I saw a full staging of the work in 2012, calling it “an emotionally moving production [that] offers an intriguing look into the speculative nature of history and one man’s furious dedication to setting the record straight.” Ed Asner and Tovah Feldshuh have been touring with the play for several years, performing staged readings directed by Pamela Berlin, one of which was taped for PBS, where it can be seen for free as part of WNET’s All Arts.

You’ll want to watch it before tuning in to the live event on April 20 at 6:30, when Asner, Feldshuh, and Cohen will be joined by Holocaust scholar Dr. Michael Berenbaum, former special envoy for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism Ira N. Forman, and moderator Rick Salomon of the Illinois Holocaust Museum. The program will be introduced by Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson of Temple Emanu-El and Arnold Mittelman of the National Jewish Theater, who directed the production I saw. Advance registration is required here.

JOHN FORD’S ‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE

tis pity

Who: Red Bull Theater company
What: Unrehearsed reading of John Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore
Where: Red Bull Theater website
When: Monday, April 20, donation suggested, 7:30
Why: In the spring of 2015, the New York-based Red Bull Theater company staged a revival of John Ford’s rarely performed 1630s classic, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, at the Duke on 42nd Street. In my review, I called the production of the Jacobean drama “glorious,” “a bold, brash, violent, and very funny riff on Romeo and Juliet,” raving about the acting, Jesse Berger’s direction, Sara Jean Tosetti’s costumes, and David M. Barber’s set. (You can read my review here.) On April 20 at 7:30, Red Bull will be presenting an unrehearsed reading of the play with the full, original cast, but this time they will be performing in their own clothing from wherever they’re sheltering in place, with Amelia Pedlow as Annabella, Matthew Amendt as Giovanni, Kelley Curran as Hippolita, Christopher Innvar as Friar Bonaventura, Franchelle Stewart Dorn as Putana, Clifton Duncan as Lord Soranzo, Tramell Tillmann as Grimaldi, Rocco Sisto as the Cardinal, Derek Smith as Vasques, Philip Goodwin as Florio, Ryan Garbayo as Bergetto, Everett Quinton as Donado, Auden Thornton as Philotis, and Marc Vietor as Richardetto. It’s free to watch, but if you’d like to donate to the company, you can do so here.

REMARKABULL PODVERSATIONS: “QUEEN MAB” WITH MICHAEL URIE

Who: Michael Urie, Nathan Winkelstein
What: Live discussion of “Queen Mab” speech from Romeo & Juliet
Where: Red Bull Theater’s website, Vimeo, Facebook (and Zoom for up to fifty participants; requires advance registration here)
When: Monday, April 13, free, 7:30
Why: Red Bull Theater’s RemarkaBULL Podversations streaming series kicks off April 13 at 7:30 with actor Michael Urie discussing Mercutio’s “Queen Mab” speech from William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet with host Nathan Winkelstein, the company’s associate producer. Red Bull specializes in Jacobean and Shakespearean works; Urie (Ugly Betty, Buyer & Cellar) starred in the troupe’s 2017 adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 satire, The Government Inspector. The monologue, delivered in Act 1, Scene 4, begins: “O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you. / She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes / In shape no bigger than an agate-stone / On the fore-finger of an alderman, / Drawn with a team of little atomies / Athwart men’s noses as they lie asleep.” Urie portrayed Mercutio in Folger Theatre’s 2005 production of the play, directed by PJ Paparelli. If you want to participate in the live chat, you need to register in advance for the Zoom feed here.