Music and art heal and laughter is the best medicine. With all the many closures we’re enduring now in respect to the COVID-19 pandemic, creatives are finding ways to carry on—by using the internet and social media. There are several ways in which cabaret performers, musicians, theater professionals and actors are finding ways to keep themselves productive and delivering performances to fans, and each other.
Telly Leung and Alice Ripley, for instance, performed a live-streamed set today, Monday, March 16 via Stageit, a website for virtual concerts. This platform will no doubt play a major role in virtual activities in the weeks ahead. Viewers were charged $5, with part of the proceeds benefiting the Actors Fund.
A live-streamed series is being organized by producer Jeremy Wein and actor Mirirai Sithole to keep performers working and to continue the art form. The weeklong series of readings feature bold-name actors and playwrights. The channel will be launched on Stageit, Twitch or another streaming platform. The channel will also be soliciting donations for the Actors’ Fund and other organizations.
BroadwayHD is looking into live-streaming shows with regional as well as Broadway productions. Broadway Licensing has secured approvals for live streaming over 400 plays from their Playscripts catalog.
Tony-winner Laura Benanti asked (via Instagram) high schoolers who were part of canceled shows to submit videos of themselves singing. BroadwayWorld is featuring daily videos of Broadway actors performing from home.
A quick perusal of social media will also turn up many examples of how art and music is finding its way to a world isolated behind closed doors.
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