Filming live stage performances for broadcast—both taped and live—isn’t new. In fact, Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella was written first to be a live televised broadcast in 1957, before making its way to Broadway, and many of the most popular musicals of the 1950s were broadcast. Today, theatrical releases of live Broadway musicals and plays, as well as Metropolitan Opera performances, are a popular route to seeing shows you can’t get to Manhattan for, and more and more of these live productions are becoming available to stream.
Best Stage Shows to Watch at Home
Here are a dozen of the most popular shows that are now available to watch at home, and what are the best streaming services on which to watch them. Any shows available through Broadway HD are also an available channel upgrade on Amazon Prime.
John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons
Leguizamo’s solo Broadway show earned the writer/actor/comedian a 2018 Best Play Tony Award nomination, and has been a hot item for Netflix since they added the taped show to their lineup November 5.
Availability: Netflix
With a behind-the-scenes special available on PBS
Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn
There is something about a stage show at the holidays, and if you’re tired of White Christmas, than revisiting the 2016 Broadway show, based on the classic 1942 film, is a great way to refresh the tradition.
Availability: PBS, Broadway HD
Newsies
The hit 2012 song-and-dance show, developed off of a less-successful—but very much beloved by fans—1992 Disney movie about turn of the (last) century newsboys going on strike, is one of the most popular streaming musicals.
Availability: Netflix, Amazon (for purchase)
Indecent
Indecent (2017) marked the first play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel to make it to Broadway. Telling the heart-wrenching story behind Sholem Asch’s 1928 controversial play God of Vengeance, Indecent is a play about love, struggle, and the transformative power of art.
Availability: PBS, Broadway HD
She Loves Me
The 2017 revival of the classic musical She Loves Me tells the story of two secret pen pals who are in love on paper but unknowingly clash in real life. Sound familiar? It comes from the same source material as You’ve Got Mail—but is a much more satisfying version. This delightful new production features Zachary Levi, Laura Benanti, and Jane Krakowski.
Availability: PBS, Broadway HD
An American in Paris
Unfortunately it expires on November 30 from free streaming on PBS, but this beautiful and beloved adaption of the 1951 Gene Kelly movie (based itself on George Gershwin’s 1928 orchestra score of the same name) has been a hit both in New York and on tour, and is worth checking out.
Availability: PBS, Broadway HD
Falsettos
This Tony-nominated 2017 revival has an all-star cast including Christian Borle, Tracie Thoms, and Andrew Rannells, and tells the poignant and hilarious story of “the life of a gay man Marvin, his wife, his lover, his soon-to-be barmitzvahed son, their psychiatrist, and the lesbians next door.”
Availability: Broadway HD
Pipeline
Playwright Dominique Morisseau’s (Skeleton Crew, tvs Shameless) 2017 Off-Broadway play is a deeply moving look at the education system in America’s inner city public schools, through the eyes of teacher and mother Nya.
Availability: Broadway HD
The Woodsman
A quirky and entrancing Off-Broadway production, The Woodsman is an almost dialogue-less play from Strangemen & Co, in which performers use sound, music, and puppetry to tell the untold origin story of L. Frank Baum’s Tin Woodsman.
Availability: Broadway HD
How to watch theatrical shows streaming without cable
Broadway HD*
Obviously, if you want as many options as possible, Broadway HD is an absolute win for choice. After a 7-day free trial, for a monthly rate of $8.99, or $99.99 annually, you get access to over 200 productions. And it’s not just theatre. In addition to Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals and plays, as well as international Shakespeare performances and archival productions.
*Broadway HD is also an available channel upgrade on Amazon Prime.
PBS
PBS offers the general public regular access to new shows and operas through its televised Great Performances program. If you don’t have aerial television to get your local Public Broadcasting network, they still offer several online options to stream shows. Recent Great Performances are available for free online at PBS.org for two to three weeks after initial airing (you have to confirm your local PBS affiliate, but no login is required).
After streaming episodes expire, many are available through the PBS Passport, which is a one-time donation of $60 or more, or a recurring $5 monthly donation. In addition to musicals and plays, Great Performances has broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera, biographies, documentaries, and behind the scenes specials.
Netflix
There are only a couple options from time to time, but the offereings change, and Netflix is the primary place to see John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons
Netflix offers new subscribers a free month trial, and then choice of three plans:
- $7.99 – which allows streaming on 1 screen at a time, and no HD
- $10.99 – with up to 2 screens streaming, and basic HD.
- $13.99 – includes up to 4 screens streaming at the same time, as well as both basic and Ultra HD.
