you don't need broadwayHD to watch theatre online

Between BroadwayHD, and the UK’s National Theatre premiering a dedicated streaming platform for their professionally shot productions earlier this week, you may think you need to add yet another streaming service to your rotation to see pro-shot theatre. Well, I’m delighted to inform you that this is not the case. I’ve done some digging and have come up with this list, by streaming service, where you can watch a play or musical from the comfort of your couch.

First up, by far the platform with the most options, is Netflix. One gem is 2017’s Oh, Hello! On Broadway, a comedy which has John Mulaney and Nick Kroll starring as their personas George St. Geegland and Gil Faizon, two old geezers from the Upper West Side. Next up is Shrek the Musical, which has a really fun score and is a pretty faithful adaptation of the classic Dreamworks film. Other selections include John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons, a one man show where Leguizamo explores Latin history through his own personal experience. These next two I’ll call honorable mentions, because they were produced on Broadway and then adapted to film. First is The Boys in the Band, starring Zach Quinto and Jim Parsons reprising their roles from the 2018 revival of the play by Mart Crowley. There’s also American Son, which I would argue is necessary viewing; the play stars Kerry Washington as a mother who has to deal with racism and police brutality when her son goes missing.

            And then there’s Disney+. While they’re of course the only place most people will get to watch Hamilton, there are some other productions on the platform that are worth mentioning. Firstly is Newsies, starring Broadway icon Jeremy Jordan as Jack Kelly, the role first played by a young Christian Bale in the original Disney movie about newsboys who go on strike in the early 1900s. Then there’s The Little Mermaid Live, an entry from ABC to join the ranks of networks like NBC and Fox and their slate of “live” taped musical specials. Strangely, in my searching, Little Mermaid was one of the very few of these types of specials I could find available to stream. Disney+ also has some classic movie musicals such as The Sound of Music and Hello, Dolly!, two evergreens from the Golden Age of Broadway.

Next, I’ll highlight Amazon Prime Video, which doesn’t have much, but they do at least have a “musicals” section on their platform. The big one I’ll highlight is Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me, a one-woman show about her past as a competitive speaker and how it shaped her understanding of our government. Next, I’ll mention that they also have Fox’s Rent: Live special, a televised adaptation of the revolutionary rock musical loosely based on Puccini’s La Bohème.

Finally, Hulu has shockingly little to offer in the way of filmed theatre. At one point they did have at least most of NBC and Fox’s televised specials, but when I looked for them to write this they were nowhere to be found: except for one. They do have Fox’s Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, a pre-taped pseudo tribute performance of the Tim Curry-led cult classic from the 1970’s. The special stars Laverne Cox as the iconic Dr. Frank-N-Furter, and also features Broadway darlings like Reeve Carney and Annaleigh Ashford as Riff Raff and Columbia, respectively.

For what it’s worth, this is by no means an exhaustive list; and there is much more available to stream in the way of film adaptations of theatre rather than a professionally shot version of the show on stage. Either way, I encourage you to browse whichever platforms you subscribe to and see the full range of what they offer in the way of filmed theatre. I hope that this breakdown will serve as a solid jumping off point to experience the joy of theatre, no matter where you are. Besides, it also helps to know that you’re supporting the arts when you watch these films, at least to some degree.