I remember the first Broadway show that I ever went to.

I was just a kid. I went with my grandma and my Mom to see "Cats" for my birthday. I got to sit front row and before the production even started, the cats came over and started purring for some of my candy.

I will never forget that memory and now I want to give you and your family the same opportunity.

Broadway has released a list of 15 Broadway shows that you can watch from home.

Now, of course your experience can't be quite as interactive as my first time but things like live musical performances, Broadway shows and plays are a great way to get yourself out of this coronavirus bubble we find ourselves in right now.

And honestly (I'm a bit of a theater nerd) you may find watching these rather therapeutic.

Rent

Synopsis: In this musical, set at the dawn of the 1990s, a group of New Yorkers struggle with their careers, love lives and the effects of the AIDS epidemic on their community. Mark (Anthony Rapp), an aspiring filmmaker, and Roger (Adam Pascal), an HIV-positive musician, scramble for money to pay rent to their landlord and former roommate, Benny (Taye Diggs). Meanwhile, their friend Tom (Jesse L. Martin), a professor, has fallen for Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), who is slowly dying of AIDS.

Available on Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, and Youtube. You can also purchase on DVD/Blu-Ray on Amazon.

Cats

Synopsis: A tribe of cats must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.

Available to stream on BroadwayHD, Amazon Prime (2019), Amazon Prime and on DVD from Amazon.

Company

Synopsis: Originally titled Threes, its plot revolves around Robert (a single man unable to commit fully to a steady relationship, let alone marriage), the five married couples who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends. Unlike most book musicals, which follow a clearly delineated plot, Company is a concept musical composed of short vignettes, presented in no particular chronological order, linked by a celebration for Robert's 35th birthday.

Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, on DVD, on Netflix and IFC.com.

Falsettos

Synopsis: William Finn and James Lapine’s 1992 musical Falsettos is actually a combination of two earlier one-act musicals, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland. Together, they tell the story of Marvin, a gay man trying to navigate his relationships with his former-wife, their child, and his boyfriend, all against the backdrop of 1980s New York when all of this was completely uncharted territory.

Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and BroadwayHD.

Sunday in the Park with George

Synopsis: The plot revolves around George, a fictionalized version of Seurat, who immerses himself deeply in painting his masterpiece, and his great-grandson (also named George), a conflicted and cynical contemporary artist. The Broadway production opened in 1984.

Available to stream on Hoopla, iTunes and on DVD from Amazon.

Nicholas Nickleby

Synopsis:The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby brought Charles Dickens’ novel—about a young man who has to support his mother and sister following the death of his father—to the stage, and it wasn’t an experience for the faint of heart; the complete play consisted of separate full-length parts that together made over eight hours of theatre.

Available for streaming on BroadwayHD.

Billy Elliot The Musical

Synopsis: Elton John and Lee Hall’s Billy Elliot The Musical tells the story of a little boy in a small British town who prefers ballet to boxing, much to the dismay of his conservative working-class community.

Available on YouTube, Amazon Prime, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu and on Blu-ray from Amazon.

Elaine Stritch At Liberty

Synopsis In Elaine Stritch At Liberty, her 2002 solo show that played Off-Broadway at the Public Theater before moving to Broadway, Stritch takes you through her entire life, from childhood to Sail Away to Company, and beyond. And she does it wearing nothing but a white blouse and black semi-sheer pantyhose.

Available to stream on BroadwayHD and on Amazon Prime.

Into The Woods

Synopsis: As the result of the curse of a once-beautiful witch, a baker and his wife are childless. Three days before the rise of a blue moon, they venture into the forest to find the ingredients that will reverse the spell and restore the witch's beauty: a milk-white cow, hair as yellow as corn, a blood-red cape, and a slipper of gold. During their journey, they meet Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack, each one on a quest to fulfill a wish.

Available to stream on Youtube, Google Play, Vudu, Amazon Prime and DVD on Amazon.

Kiss Me, Kate

Synopsis: Divorced Broadway stars Fred Graham  and Lilli Vanessiagree to star in a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" alongside rising young actors Lois Lane (Ann Miller) and Bill Calhoun. Backstage complications pile up due to a romantic misunderstanding between Fred and the soon-to-be-remarried Lilli, while Bill's gambling debts cause a pair of lunkheaded mobsters to become part of the show.

Available to stream on BroadwayHD, Amazon Prime and on Blu-ray from Amazon.

Peter Pan

Synopsis: Wendy and her two brothers are amazed when a magical boy named Peter Pan flies into their bedroom, supposedly in pursuit of his rebellious shadow. He and his fairy friend, Tinkerbell, come from a far-off place called Neverland, where children stay perpetually young. Enchanted, the kids follow him back. But when Pan's nemesis, the pirate Captain Hook, causes trouble, the kids begin to miss their old life.

Available to stream on Amazon Prime (2000 revival), on Blu-ray from Amazon or on Amazon Prime (1955 black and white broadcast) and DVD from Amazon(1960 color broadcast).

Present Laughter

Synopsis: The plot depicts a few days in the life of the successful and self-obsessed light comedy actor Garry Essendine as he prepares to travel for a touring commitment in Africa. Amid a series of events bordering on farce, Garry has to deal with women who want to seduce him, placate both his long-suffering secretary and his wife, cope with a crazed young playwright, and overcome his impending mid-life crisis (since he has recently turned forty). The character is a caricature of the author's real-life persona, as Coward acknowledged.

Available for stream on BroadwayHD.

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Synopsis: The story is a grisly tale of revenge and murder, with a famous plot twist that has the denizens of London gobbling up human flesh in the form of meat pies. Don’t let that deter you, though; Sweeney Todd is more a Victorian melodrama than a gore-filled horrorfest.

Available to stream on Amazon Prime and on DVD from Amazon.

She Loves Me

SynopsisYou’d be hard pressed to find a theatre aficionado who isn’t fond of She Loves Me, Jerry BockSheldon Harnick, and Joe Masteroff’s 1963 musical about two co-workers who hate each other while unknowingly being romantic pen pal partners.

Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and BroadwayHD.

Newsies

SynopsisIn this musical, homeless New York City newsboy Jack "Cowboy" Kelly (Christian Bale) befriends two newcomers to his trade, brothers David (David Moscow) and Les Jacobs (Luke Edwards). When publisher Joseph Pulitzer (Robert Duvall) sets new rules that make it harder for the young newspaper salesmen to make a buck, the boys go on strike. Bryan Denton (Bill Pullman), a journalist who's sympathetic to their plight, gives them some tips in public relations, as the newsboys' battle grips the city.

Available to stream on YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play and Vudu.

Take a look at the original Broadway guide HERE.

Don't forget the popcorn...and the candy....and the wine....and enjoy!

 

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