It’s been a couple of weeks since all the theatres went dark, and by now artists and producers have adjusted to the new normal of streaming live content – often as a fundraiser to offset all the lost income they’ve suffered.
Here, appropriately enough on World Theatre Day, are some highlights:
• Playwrights Guild of Canada will be wrapping up their seven-hour Play Reading Relay at 6 pm Friday (March 27), in which dozens of playwrights (Diane Flacks, Anna Chatterton, Marcus Youssef, Michael Ross Albert, Laura Anne Harris and more) read 10-minute excerpts from their work on Zoom.
• Elvira Kurt, one of the best comics on the continent, is performing a live stand-up set called Laugh Together While Apart: Elvira Kurt Socially Isolated & Live tonight (Friday, March 27), at 7 pm, as a fundraiser for My Friend’s House, a safe haven for abused women and their children.
• Toronto Musical Concerts, headed by Christopher Wilson and Ryan Kelly, continues its daily Big Girl & Friends live stream of interviews and performances by the country’s musical theatre talent (guests so far have included Gabi Epstein, Thom Allison and Charlotte Moore). It’s all to support the Actors’ Fund of Canada. Monday to Saturday, 7 pm.
• Comedy Bar is streaming a different live show every night at 9 pm ET on twitch.tv. According to general manager Jen Fitzgerald, the content is pretty much the same as would normally be found on their stages otherwise. This weekend’s shows include: Nour Hadidi & Friends (Friday, March 27) Weird Al Karaoke (Saturday, March 28) and Crimson Wave (Sunday, March 29). Viewers are encouraged to donate through the channel or to the separate acts.
• Buddies in Bad Times is introducing the fabulously titled Queer, Far, Wherever You Are, a curated digital performance series on their Instagram account, live at 5 pm every day from today (March 27) through April 8. Artists include Teiya Kasahara, Dainty Smith, Gay Jesus, Stephen Jackman-Torkoff, Ali Eisner, DJ Sofia Fly, Sage Lovell, Catherine Hernandez and Yolanda Bonnell.
For more events, message me on Twitter or email me at glenns at nowtoronto dot com.
