74 newyork| march30–april12, 2020
Gi ve YourRegardsto BroadwaySixteenshowswereaboutto openwhenev erythingshut.Youcan’t gotothetheater.Here’swhatto streaminstead.BY MADISONMALONEKIRCHER,FRANK RICH,andHELENSHAWCOMPANY
Instead
of This...
Watch
This...Youcan’t seeLondon’sgender-switchedrevivalofCompany,whichwassupposedtoopen
onBroadwayonStephenSondheim’s90thbirthday.Andyoucan’t seeSamMendes’sstaging
ofTheLehmanTrilogy.ButyoucanwatchMendes’sowninnovativeLondonrevivalof
Company,recordedinitsentiretyat theDonmarWarehousein1996,onYouTube.
Likemost LondonproductionsofAmericanmusicals(includingthenewCompany),
it isn’talwayspersuasivelyAmerican,butit’s themost compellingcompleteversiononvideo.To seefragments
ofthedefinitiveproduction—HalPrince’s 1970 Broadway original—consultD. A. Pennebaker’sclassic
documentaryCompany:OriginalCast Album,alsoonYouTube.SIX
DIANA
AMERICAN
BUFFALO
BEETLEJUICE
GIRLFROM
THENORTH
COUNTRY
JAGGED
LITTLEPILL
YoucouldlistentothestudiocastalbumavailableonSpotify, butwhy dothat whenyoucould
starintheshowyourself? Searchforthe“Sing-a-LongEdition” andwarmupyourvoice.Afterthat,
streamWolfHallonPBSor, forsillysmut,TheTudorsonNetflix.Revisitthebizarreviralvideofootagefroma community-theaterproductionofa differentmusical
aboutthelatePrincessofWales.It runsjust overtwochaoticminutesonTwitterandendswiththe
dramaticsoundofa carcrashasthestagecutstoblack.WatchDustinHoffmaninAmericanBuffalo,the 1996 moviebasedonthe
DavidMametplay, onHulu.Fora more literal,lessshouty approach,theSmithsonian
Channelis airingTheLastBuffalo,a documentary aboutthefighttosave
thegreat Americanbison,onApril5.PresleyRyan,theensemblememberturnedleadoftheshow,
is aTikTokcelebrityinherownright.Sinceyoucan’t seeherplay LydiaDeetz,consider
watchinghershort, sillyvideoswhilequarantininginstead.Orthere’salways
the 1988 film,VOD-ableeverywhere.MartinScorsese’sRollingThunderRevueonNetflixoffersa documentaryview ofBobDylan’s 1975
tour.Watchingit willlikelybemuchlesspainfulthansittingthroughtheConorMcPhersonmusical
entirelytoolooselybasedonDylan’stunes.LaurenPattensinging“YouOughtaKnow”is theabsolutepinnacleofthis
AlanisMorissettejukeboxmusical:Pattenburnsthroughit ina way that breaks
yourheartandnearlybreakstheshow. So why notlistentoher(a)singingthat onthealbum
and(b)talkingaboutwhatAlanismeanstoher?Thengo streamReality Bites(VODit,
orwatchit forfreeif youhaveHulu).Bingo, whammo—that’s your’90s.