‘Broadway’s Best’
Watch on PBS, online or on the PBS app.
At this year’s Tony Awards ceremony, on June 8, the PBS series “Great Performances” will be honored for excellence in theater. Its spring slate alone should remind everybody why “Great Performances” has been a theater gateway for so many people. Already available is a 2024 recording of the London premiere of the Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt musical “Next to Normal,” starring Caissie Levy as a woman whose bipolar disorder has a ripple effect on her family. The New York Times’ review praised Michael Longhurst’s production for giving the show “a renewed sting.”
Next, you can catch the Roundabout Theater Company’s recent revival of the acidic David Henry Hwang comedy “Yellow Face,” starring Daniel Dae Kim and Francis Jue — both nominated for Tonys this year. The glorious Bob Dylan jukebox musical “Girl From the North Country,” set in 1934 Duluth, Minn., arrives May 23. A week later, American audiences can discover last year’s London production of Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me, Kate” — a very funny twist on “The Taming of the Shrew” — with Stephanie J. Block as the fiery diva Lilli Vanessi and Adrian Dunbar (yes, Superintendent Hastings from the procedural “Line of Duty”) as her egotistical ex-husband, Fred Graham.
‘The Other Place’ and ‘Vanya’
Rent them on National Theater at Home.
The National Theater at Home’s catalog is a veritable treasure trove, and a recent addition well worth checking out is “The Other Place” from the writer-director Alexander Zeldin (“Love”). Loosely based on the Greek tragedy “Antigone,” it is not driven by a high-concept staging like Simon Stone’s “Yerma” or Robert Icke’s “Enemy of the People,” which are also drastic reworkings of classics. Rather, Zeldin slowly builds a stifling sense of impending doom until an ending that hits as hard as it is quiet. Emma D’Arcy (“House of the Dragon”) appears haunted by bottled-up pain as the disrupter at a family reunion, while Tobias Menzies portrays a seemingly even-tempered uncle.
Compared with that tragedy, Andrew Scott’s solo interpretation of “Uncle Vanya” feels almost cheery. If you missed the critically acclaimed, very sold-out recent run of “Vanya” in New York, you can watch an excellent capture of the original London version here. Sam Yates’s production offers not just a modernized take on the Chekhov classic but, as Jesse Green wrote in The New York Times, “a new way of seeing into the heart of its beauty.”
‘Friends and Romans’
Reality and fiction clash in Christopher Kublan’s film, from 2014, that revolves around an amateur production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” Nick (Michael Rispoli) works delivering produce by truck, but what he really wants is to be an actor. A genial Italian American from Staten Island, he is stuck portraying wiseguys in mob movies and car commercials — then again, his go-to audition scene is from “The Godfather.”
Lend him your ears on this: To show off his acting chops, Nick decides to stage “Julius Caesar” with the help of his friend Dennis (Paul Ben-Victor). For Brutus, they unwittingly cast an actual mobster (Anthony DeSando) with a passion for theater, while their Cassius is an undercover federal agent (Charlie Semine), who outs himself as a non-Italian when he mispronounces soppressata in his takeout order.
“Friends and Romans” both revels in and sends up the complicated relationship between identity traits and stereotypes. It’s not entirely clear where the movie stands on those issues, but a warm affection for the characters — and for theater — does shine through.
Joaquina Kalukango and Tracie Thoms
Good news for cabaret fans around the world: 54 Below, the cozy Manhattan boîte located underneath Studio 54, streams some of its shows — but only live and without on-demand availability afterward, so the concerts are by appointment only.
This month’s slate includes some promising outings. On May 19, you can check out a show featuring 10 performers who are making their Broadway debut this season, including Tatianna Córdoba (who plays the young lead, Ana, in the musical “Real Women Have Curves”) and Angelica Hale (a runner-up on “America’s Got Talent” now appearing in “Boop! The Musical”).
Joaquina Kalukango was long known by New Yorkers as an excellent, versatile actress, both in musicals (“The Color Purple”) and plays (“Slave Play”), but her performance of “Let It Burn” from “Paradise Square” at the 2022 Tony Awards ceremony introduced her to throngs of new fans. On May 24, they can watch Kalukango’s cabaret act live, no matter where they are.
Then come back on June 7, which is when Tracie Thoms — who played Joanne in the movie adaptation of “Rent” — steps up for a concert intermingling pop, R&B, a sprinkling of musical-theater songs and a dash of banter.
The post Theater to Stream: ‘Yellow Face,’ Joaquina Kalukango and More appeared first on New York Times.
