The world of theatre is still mostly shuttered, but there’s hope for your favorite theatres and productions in the virtual world as they continue to look for ways to bring live theatre back. This summer, BY Experience is bringing virtual event cinema to your living room via venues across the United States.
There are currently six documentary, musical, and live theatre experiences set available to view over the next view months including Kinky Boots, War Horse, and 42nd Street. Instead of video on demand, each production is scheduled like a live film or theatre experience, so you can experience it as close to live as possible!
Where do you watch? Don’t worry. We won’t make you do any digging! We tracked down the schedules and tickets for you.
What to Watch
Frida: Viva La Vida
When: March 17-23, 2021
Tickets: $10
Frida: Viva La Vida is a cinematic documentary event film that highlights the two sides of Frida Kahlo’s spirit: on the one side, a revolutionary pioneering artist of contemporary feminism and on the other, a human being tormented by agony and love.
The duality of the artist will be revealed through an expose of Frida Kahlo’s own words, her letters, diaries, and private confessions.
Featuring interviews with Hilda Trujillo Soto, the director of the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City and Cristina Kahlo, Frida Kahlo’s grandniece, historical documents, photographs, clothes and other personal items belonging to Frida, kept in the archives of the Frida Kahlo Museum and normally not accessible to the public, as well as captivating reconstructions, and Kahlo’s own paintings, on display in some of the most amazing museums in Mexico, this art documentary film retraces the life of Frida Kahlo between the suffering marking the events in her life and her unconditional love for her craft.
War Horse
When: March 31 – April 6, 2021
Tickets: $15
War Horse is based on the beloved novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted for the stage by Nick Stafford in association with the award-winning Handspring Puppet Company. At the outbreak of World War One, Albert’s beloved horse, Joey, is sold to the Cavalry and shipped to France. Though still not old enough to enlist, Albert embarks on a treacherous mission to find Joey and bring him home.
Kinky Boots
When: April 14-20, 2021
Tickets: $15
Captured live from the London stage, the ‘freshest, most fabulous, feel-good musical of the decade’ (The Hollywood News) KINKY BOOTS dazzles!
With songs by Grammy® and Tony® winning pop icon Cyndi Lauper, direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell (Legally Blonde, Hairspray), and book by Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein (La Cage Aux Folles), this ‘dazzling, fabulously sassy and uplifting’ (Time Out) award-winning musical celebrates a joyous story of Brit grit to high-heeled hit as it takes you from the factory floor of Northampton to the glamorous catwalks of Milan!
Secret Impressionist: Great Art on Screen
When: April 28 – May 4, 2021
Tickets: $10
Secret Impressionists reveals the story of the art revolution sparked by the Impressionist movement of the late 1800s. The art-documentary unveils 50 previously unseen works by Impressionist masters Manet, Caillebotte, Renoir, Monet, Cézanne, Signac, Sisley, and Morisot.
Audiences will be taken on a fascinating journey through the most captivating and intriguing artistic movement. The Impressionist movement produced some of the most beloved works of art in the world, depicting the late nineteenth-century film stills of Paris, alluring portraits of women, and splendidly vibrant light-infused masterpiece works.
42nd Street
When: May 12-18, 2021
Tickets: $15
Captured live from the London stage and directed by the original author of the show, Mark Bramble, 42nd Street is one of Broadway’s most classic and beloved tales. This eye-watering extravaganza is full of crowd-pleasing tap dances, popular musical theatre standards including “Lullaby of Broadway”, “We’re in the Money”, “42nd Street” and more, plus show-stopping ensemble production numbers.
The beloved musical, set in 1933, tells the story of Peggy Sawyer, a talented young performer with stars in her eyes who gets her big break on Broadway. Peggy arrives to New York City from her hometown of Allentown, Pennsylvania and her talent catches the eye of legendary Broadway director Julian Marsh. She gets a spot in the chorus of the musical-within-the-musical, Pretty Lady.
Dorothy Brock, the classic Broadway diva and star of the show, takes a dislike to the new girl. When Dorothy is injured, Pretty Lady looks like it will have to close, unless a new girl talented enough to lead the show can be found — someone like Peggy Sawyer!
Hermitage: The Power of Art
When: May 26 – June 1, 2021
Tickets: $10
A spectacular documentary event tours through St. Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum, a wonderful complex of buildings with the largest collection of paintings in the world, to retrace two and a half centuries. Audiences pass through the magnificent interiors that provided a meeting point for foreign artists, architects and intellectuals creating connections through art and culture.
The history of the museum is marked by the acquisitions of the enlightened Empress Catherine II, whose personality has continued to fascinate art historians and critics over the centuries. Toni Servillo leads us on this journey through the Hermitage and the magnificent city of St. Petersburg with its waterfront, statues, canals, and bridges that form a symbolic cultural and visual element between places and distant civilizations.
Where to Watch
Dozens of theatres and arts programs across the United States are participating in these virtual events. That means that you can enjoy these musicals and documentaries and celebrate and support theatres across the country. Check out the list below to find a theatre (or several!) that you love and purchase tickets to these programs through their websites.
Theatre
MCC Theatre Venue The Loft Cinema Rialto Cinemas Elmwood Rialto Cinemas Cerrito Irvine Barclay Theatre Lark Theater James Bridges Theater (UCLA) Arena Theatre Point Vogue Theatre Rialto Cinemas Sebastopol Cameo Cinema Cinestudio Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center The Ridgefield Playhouse Burns Court Cinema Movies of Delray Movies of Lake Worth Stephen Sondheim Ctr for Performing Arts The Flicks Kenworthy Theatre Gene Siskel Film Center McAninch Arts Center Glenwood Arts Cape Cinema Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center Shalin Liu Performance Center Images Cinema The Grand Auditorium The Strand Beaufort Picture Show The Carolina Theatre Martin Lipscomb Performing Arts Center Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center Capitol Center for the Arts Red River Theatres The Colonial Princeton Garden Theatre Pollak Theatre at Monmouth University The Lensic Taos Community Auditorium Bedford Playhouse Cobble Hill Cinemas Williamsburg Cinemas John Drew Theater Time & Space Limited Cinema Arts Centre Cinemapolis The Kew Gardens Cinemas Lake Placid Center for the Arts Manlius Art Cinema IFC Center Skirball Center for the Perf Arts Symphony Space View Center for Arts and Culture Plaza Cinema & Media Arts Center Bardavon 1869 Opera House City Lights Cinemas Civic Theatre of Allentown – 19th Street Ambler Theater County Theater Hiway Theater The Campus Theatre Pittsburgh Playhouse The Jane Pickens Theater & Event Center Park City Film Series/Jim Santy Auditorium Riley Center for the Arts Paramount Theater Catamount Film & Arts Pickford Film Center Lincoln Theatre The Lincoln Theater
City
Mesa, AZTucson, AZBerkeley, CAEl Cerrito, CAIrvine, CALarkspur, CALos Angeles, CAPoint Area, CASan Francisco, CASebastopol, CASt. Helena, CAHartford, CTOld Saybrook, CTRidgefield, CTBradenton, FLDelray Beach, FLLake Worth, FLFairfield, IABoise, IDMoscow, IDChicago, ILGlen Ellyn, ILOverland Park, KSDennis, MAGreat Barrington, MARockport, MAWilliamstown, MAEllsworth, MERockland, MEBeaufort, NCDurham, NCHighlands, NCWinston-Salem, NCLincoln, NEConcord, NHConcord, NHKeene, HNPrinceton, NJWest Long Branch, NJSanta Fe, NMTaos, NMBedford, NYBrooklyn, NYBrooklyn, NYEast Hampton, NYHudson, NYHuntington, NYIthaca, NYKew Gardens, NYLake Placid, NYManilus, NYNew York, NYNew York, NYNew York, NYOld Forge, NYPatchogue, NYPoughkeepsie, NYFlorence, ORAllentown, PAAmbler, PADoylestown, PAJenkintown, PALewisburg, PAPittsburgh, PANewport, RIPark City, UTManchester, VTRutland, VTSt. Johnsbury, VTBellingham, WAMount Vernon, WAPort Angeles, WA