17 picks for weekend culture: How to see #Ham4Change, Renée Fleming, Broadway Bares
What to watch this weekend? The calendar of culture for your consideration includes a reunion of some original “Hamilton” cast members raising money for groups fighting systemic racism, a live virtual recital featuring Renée Fleming, a virtual version of the Vail Dance Festival, a star-studded celebration of playwright Tennessee Williams and the annual Broadway Bares burlesque show.
As the surge in coronavirus cases makes staying at home look a lot more attractive, we’ll keep offering lists of streaming concerts, online theater, virtual art exhibitions and more. Here’s our latest rundown, all times Pacific.
For the record:
1:46 p.m. July 30, 2020An earlier version of this post misstated the location of the Group Rep. It is in North Hollywood, not Burbank.
#Ham4Change
Original “Hamilton” cast members including Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson and Jonathan Groff are joined by special guests such as Brian d’Arcy James and Andrew Rannells for the first in a series of three livestream fundraisers. 10 a.m. Saturday. $10.75 and up. events.loopedlive.com
“Renée Fleming Live in Concert”
The star soprano sings pieces by Puccini, Handel and others in a live recital from Washington, D.C., as part of the “Met Stars Live in Concert” series. 10 a.m. Saturday; available on demand through Aug. 12. $20. metopera.org
Thomas Kail’s film of ‘Hamilton’ is a solid, stirring visual record of the original Broadway production starring Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Vail Dance Festival: Digital Edition
Highlights from festivals past include performances by New York City Ballet’s Tiler Peck, American Ballet Theatre’s Herman Cornejo, jookin specialist Charles “Lil Buck” Riley and tap star Michelle Dorrance. Choreographers including Alexei Ratmansky and George Balanchine. Starts 5 p.m. Friday; ends Aug. 7. Free. vaildance.org
“Broadway Bares: Zoom in”
Male and female burlesque performers strut their scantily clad stuff in a virtual version of this annual benefit presented by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Free. playbill.com, broadwaycares.org
“Beethoven’s Fifth”
Pacific Symphony launches its new “Summer Replay” series of four online concerts with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 filmed at Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in 2017. Also included: a new preshow interview with music director Carl St. Clair. 7 p.m. Thursday; on demand through Sept. 12. Free. pacificsymphony.org
“The Kindness of Strangers”
Tony winners Betty Buckley and Michael Cerveris join John Goodman, Kathleen Turner and others for a star-studded tribute to “A Streetcar Named Desire” playwright Tennessee Williams in this virtual event presented by the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival. 5 p.m. Friday; available on demand for two weeks. Free. tennesseewilliams.net
“The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party”
The Royal Ballet of London puts a hip-hop spin on this tale from Lewis Carroll’s classic fantasy novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” 11 a.m. Friday. Free. youtube.com
“West Adams”
Skylight Theatre streams an archival recording of its 2020 staging of Penelope Lowder’s darkly comic exploration of race, class and gentrification in one L.A. neighborhood. The piece is followed by a Q&A with the creative team. An L.A. Times Critics’ Choice. 3 p.m. Thursday. Free. Reservations at skylighttheatre.org
The Crossing
The Grammy-winning vocal ensemble is joined by Montana-based choir Roots in the Sky to perform the world premiere of composer David Lang’s “in nature.” 5 p.m. Saturday. $7. wmpac.live
“The Secret Love Life of Ophelia”
Oscar winner Helen Mirren joins a cast of up-and-coming actors for an online production of Steven Berkoff’s epistolary reworking of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” presented by London’s Greenwich Theatre. 11:30 a.m. Friday. Free. youtube.com
“Hallways: Stories From Juvie”
The Group Rep in North Hollywood offers this new multimedia work directed by Heidi Mendez Harrison and based on her collection of true-life stories of young people incarcerated at a juvenile detention center in Utah. Available anytime. Free. youtube.com
“Mike Lang: This Moment in Time, Part 2”
The jazz pianist performs with bassist Michael Valerio, drummer Jim Keltner and vocalist-percussionist Deborah Pearl in the second half of this 2019 concert presented by Piano Spheres. Free. pianospheres.org
Two longtime music series, Piano Spheres and Monday Evening Concerts, expand into summer with jazz pianist Mike Lang and a packed show at Hauser & Wirth.
“Measure for Measure”
Hollywood-based Shakespeare on the Deck streams a live, socially distanced performance of an abridged take on the Bard’s dark fable about sexual and societal mores in Vienna. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday. $15. shakesonthedeck.com
Digital Dance DTLA
The virtual version of the Music Center’s popular outdoor summer series continues with an evening of cumbia dance and lessons led by 3rd Street Dance’s Leslie Ferreira. 7 to 8 p.m. Friday. Free. musiccenter.org
Summer Playwrights Festival
This annual showcase presented by the Road Theatre in North Hollywood goes virtual with readings of new works by Sharr White, Steve Yockey and others. 6 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2 and 6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; ends Aug. 19. Free. roadtheatre.org
“Carl Cheng: Tar Pool Lab”
The local artist discusses his creation of a kinetic sculpture inspired by the LACMA-adjacent La Brea Tar Pits in this short documentary. Available anytime. Free. lacma.org
“What’s Going On? A Virtual Play Festival”
L.A.-based Company of Angels presents two evenings of short plays inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic and the struggle for social justice and racial equality. 8 p.m. Saturday, next Saturday. Free. companyofangels.org, facebook.com/companyofangels, youtube.com
Our recurring coronavirus-era recommendations are indexed in the same place arts event listings (sigh) used to post.
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