By SHARON EBERSON
I was treated to a link last weekend to see Sara Porkalob’s final Pittsburgh Public Theater performance of Dragon Lady live, on a screen, in the comfort of home.
I had seen the one-woman musical play, in person, on opening night at the O’Reilly Theater, so the viewing was to see the result when it was streamed by The League of Live Stream Theater, billed as “the global stage for nonprofit theater.”
via The League of Live Stream Theater.
The Public is a charter member of the streamer, which broadcasts live productions from companies belonging to LORT – League of Resident Theatres – companies.
Dragon Lady was available live during its final weekend in Pittsburgh, when multiple cameras were strategically situated and deployed to allowing for closeups or follow the solo artist as she roamed the O’Reilly’s thrust stage. Seeing Porkalob’s expressive face fill the screen, framed in front of the live band or bounding up and down steps was emotionally satisfying and, I imagine, even more so for anyone seeing the show for the first time.
The ticketed event included a pre-recorded documentary-style interview with Porkalob, shown during intermission, in a welcome segment that I have always enjoyed during National Theater Live! screenings.
I am a big fan of live streaming or recorded screenings that preserve the theater-makers’ original intent, as alternative access to shows that otherwise would be out of reach for much of the country.
“Broadway” to most theater lovers is that faraway mecca that we have long been treated to only glimpses of, when full productions are filmed and broadcast on Public Broadcasting stations.
The example of the UK’s National Theatre Live, the explosion of content-hungry subscriber streaming services, including BroadwayHD, and pandemic reliance on screens in all forms have begun to change the paradigm that “live” is equal to “in person,” and instill the belief that a cinematic-quality recording is the next best thing to being there.
The Brits have been way ahead of us on this, with the example I always use: Kinky Boots was recorded in the West End for consumers of digital content, and not with the Tony- and Grammy-winning Broadway cast, with Billy Porter, Stark Sands and Annaleigh Ashford.
In the cases of musicals such as Hamilton, Come From Away and, more recently, Waitress, all highly successful Broadway and touring musicals, producers teamed with powerhouse streamers Disney+, AppleTV and Prime Video, respectively, to make productions available to their subscribers. Likewise, Spike Lee directed a filmed version of David Byrne‘s American Utopia for HBO.
For those willing to rent or buy a show, you often can find a gem here or there that’s not widely marketed in the USA. As multiple live and movie-going audiences rediscover Uncle Vanya his year – with Steve Carell, Alfred Molina and Anika Noni Rose at Lincoln Center Theater, or Andrew Scott in Simon Stephens’ Vanya, available through NTLive March 17 at Pittsburgh Playhouse – I rented the sparkling 2020 London production, with Toby Jones and Richard Armitage, on YouTube for $2.99.
And for those who still rely on network TV, it has recently been announced that the splendid revival of the groundbreaking play Purlie Victorious, starring Hamilton Tony-winner Leslie Odom Jr., was recorded for Great Performances on PBS.
I prefer my theater live, always, but when I can’t make it to a show, it’s comforting to know that the next best thing may be a click or two away.
Where’s the ‘Mormon’ Song List?
The Book of Mormon now at the Benedum Center through Sunday has some changes that are intended to give the Black cast members more agency. In an intentionally offensive show – the better to bear witness to glaring ironies, such as white missionaries declaring, “I Am Africa” – there was a rebellion amidst the megahit.
Creators Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez were facing rebellions even amid their cast. The most noticeable of the changes involves a prop, used by the character Nabulungi, whose naivete was such that she previously “texted” using an old typewriter. Now, she’s got an iPad, making more sense and not in any way diminishing her innocence.
If you are going to Mormon for the first time, or, like some of us, many more, it is worth noting that the lack of a song list in the Playbill stretches back to its Broadway roots.
There is much conjecture about this omission in online forums. The song titles do not give a whole lot away – the most blasphemous song has a title in a language that is supposed to be Ugandan, but it is nonsense, a parody of The Lion King’s “Hakuna Matata.”
If you are into such things, it’s a fun trip down the Reddit and other online rabbit holes as to why musicals including Next to Normal have chosen to leave out the song list.
One of my favorite exchanges appeared on a BroadwayWorld forum titled No Musical Numbers in Some Playbills, posted in 2009:
Answer No. 1: So people aren’t constantly looking in the Playbill for the name of the next song and can follow the story.
Answer to Answer: No.1: Except now they’re just flipping through every page of the playbill multiple times trying to find a song list.
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