Great Theater, Dance and Classical Music to Tune Into While Stuck at Home

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/arts/theater-dance-classical-art-stay-home-virus.html

Version 5 of 25.

Updated on March 27

If you’re stuck at home and hankering for the fine arts, there’s plenty online. Since the coronavirus pandemic began temporarily shutting down performing arts venues and museums around the world, cultural organizations have been finding ways to share their work digitally. Performances are being live-streamed, archival material is being resurfaced and social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube and Facebook are serving as makeshift stages, concert halls and gallery spaces.

Here’s a list of some of what’s streaming and otherwise available on the internet. The offerings are increasing by the day, so be sure to check in with your favorite arts institutions to see what they’re providing as things develop. And check back here for updates.

En Garde Arts is offering a video of its production of “Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes)” through its website.

Online access to a multicamera recording of Central Square Theater’s production of “Pipeline” by Dominique Morisseau is available on its website.

St. Louis Actors’ Studio is sharing Neil LaBute’s “Ten X Ten Series” of original monologues on its Twitter page.

The Red Bull Theater company will livestream a reading of John Ford’s Jacobean drama “’Tis Pity She’s a Whore” on its website and social media pages on March 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Barry Edelstein, the artistic director of the Old Globe theater in San Diego, will lead a free introduction to Shakespeare’s sonnets on March 31 at 6:30 p.m. on the theater’s Facebook page.

Highlights from City Center’s past musical theater productions are available on its social media channels.

Feinstein’s/54 Below is sharing shows from its archives as one-time-only events on YouTube.

Geffen Playhouse is posting original content to its website and social media pages weekly. Three Geffen productions, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” “Thom Pain (based on nothing)” and “The Lion,” are also included in the BroadwayHD library.

Jordan Grubb has enlisted some fellow musical theater actors to create a lip sync video of “One Day More” from the show “Les Misérables.”

National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene has a streaming series of performances, workshops and other events on its website and social media pages.

The Tank is producing weekly video discussions with artists and creators.

The Hampstead Theater production of “I and You” starring Maisie Williams is available on Instagram at @hampstead_theatre and @lalatellsastory until March 29.

Recordings of shows, original short films, documentary footage, and video work are available at the Third Angel theater company’s website.

A streaming video of the Alliance Theater production of “Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience,” a family musical, is available through April 12.

Patrick Stewart has posted videos of himself reading sonnets by Shakespeare on his Twitter feed.

“The Rosie O’Donnell Show” returned for one night in support of the Actors Fund. The broadcast is on Broadway.com and on YouTube.

The Sirius XM host Seth Rudetsky and his husband, James Wesley, are producing a daily online show called “Stars in the House,” with actors performing from home, to raise money for the Actors Fund.

Tickets to watch a video of Ren Dara Santiago’s “The Siblings Play” at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater are available.

American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco is offering the opportunity for ticket holders to watch Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s “Gloria” and Lydia R. Diamond’s “Toni Stone” from home on BroadwayHD.

Irish Repertory Theater is releasing videos of its actors performing songs, poems and monologues on its social media channels.

Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater is offering a free live-streamed and archival performances on its YouTube channel.

The 24 Hour Plays, a group that brings actors, writers, directors and composers together to produce new work in a single day, released “Viral Monologues” videos.

HERE Arts Center is hosting weekly watch parties of full-length past productions, as well as collaborative live-streamed creative activities led by HERE artists and staff members.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater organization will introduce an online streaming series of performances, classes and short films on March 30.

The Royal Danish Ballet is streaming a performance of August Bournonville’s “Napoli” from the 2013-2014 season.

Dance Church Go, an online version of the choreographer Kate Wallich’s communal movement class, is live streaming regularly.

Ballet Hispánico has created an Instagram video series featuring its dancers, teachers and administrators.

Members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s “I Been ’Buked,” a section of “Revelations,” is now on Instagram.

New York Live Arts has posted three full-length performances from its back catalog online.

The Paris Opera Ballet will broadcast “Swan Lake” and its “Tribute to Jerome Robbins.”

All Arts, from WNET, offers dance videos on its site.

Boston Ballet has posted a collection of clips from postponed productions on YouTube.

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Samantha van Wissen shared instructional videos to guide dancers at home through the choreographer’s seminal piece “Rosas danst Rosas.”

The Metropolitan Opera features “Nightly Met Opera Streams,” which are free encore Live in HD presentations.

Berliner Philharmoniker is offering free access to all concerts and films in its “Digital Concert Hall.”

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is regularly releasing online playlists of concerts and events from its archive.

Many audio recordings of concerts by the New York Philharmonic are available on the Philharmonic’s website, including a recent performance of Brahms’s “A German Requiem” conducted by Jaap van Zweden.

On Site Opera, a company that performs in site-specific settings, is hosting live-streamed “watch parties” of past productions through mid-April.

The 92nd Street Y’s streaming archives have recordings of classical concerts, and their March live streams include performances from the likes of the pianists Conrad Tao and Jonathan Biss.

Updated June 12, 2020

So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

Taking one’s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “normal” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’t have a thermometer (they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications.

The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested.

The Caramoor Center for Music and Arts has made a November performance by the Thalea String Quartet available on its YouTube page. Live-streamed performances from Conrad Tao, Vijay Iyer and others are planned for April.

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony’s “Keeping Score” project is streaming on the Symphony’s YouTube channel. Episodes are being released in weekly batches and make a good alternative for those who planned on attending Thomas’s final Carnegie Hall performances as the Symphony’s music director this month, before they were canceled.

Watch members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra play Beethoven virtually.

Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad organization is offering a virtual concert series. Up now: short performances from Ma, Mazz Swift and Sandeep Das.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is posting audio from its archives daily.

Lincoln Center has started “Lincoln Center at Home,” an online portal with concert recordings and family programming.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is offering a virtual 360-degree tour of its spiraling rotunda. Visitors can also access more than 200 art books from the archive and watch video profiles of artists.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has online audio guides for thousands of artworks and for select exhibitions, as well as hundreds of videos of exhibition previews, performances and artist talks.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has several offerings, including free coloring pages of famous Van Gogh pieces for children, an app that offers a closer look at some of his paintings and a virtual tour.

The Whitney Museum of American Art’s online collection has more than 25,000 artworks from the past century. You can also explore one of its current exhibitions, “Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945,” through images of its galleries, an audio guide and related videos.

Pace Gallery is expanding its online viewing room tool to the public and will host digital exhibitions, including a group exhibition on ceramics, a collection of pieces inspired by nature and scenes of domesticity by the artist Saul Steinberg.

The Morgan Library & Museum offers online exhibitions including a show featuring drawings by the French architect Jean-Jacques Lequeu. There is also a conversation with Fran Lebowitz from the video archive and a digital manuscript catalog of paintings and drawings by Jean de Jullienne.

The National Gallery of Art has a variety of content to choose from: Scroll through highlights from the permanent collection, watch lectures or download the NGAkids Art Zone app for interactive activities for your little ones.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has plenty on its site: Viewers can watch documentaries and short films, listen to exhibition soundtracks and live performances, dive into free online courses and lectures or browse artwork from the permanent collection.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art is inviting would-be visitors to find their inner artists by downloading an image and creating their own work. Art buffs can also practice sketching with a collection of 3-D models or listen to its podcast series.

For its inaugural online exhibition, the Hauser & Wirth gallery is presenting drawings by the artist Louise Bourgeois.

The Getty Galleries are offering online tours and other types of digital access to exhibitions including “Michelangelo: Mind of the Master” and “Assyria: Palace Art of Ancient Iraq.”

On Thursday, the Jewish Museum will present a conversation with the comedian and author Josh Gondelman, the author Rebecca Dinerstein Knight and Stephanie Butnick, the deputy editor of Tablet Magazine, about what it means to be human today. It will be livestreamed on Zoom at 7 p.m.

The Corning Museum of Glass is offering virtual tours through Google Arts & Culture, and its YouTube channel features glassmaking content.

The Menil Collection in Houston has an online collection and is offering videos of its public programs on YouTube, featuring conversations and lectures with artists like Sam Gilliam and Richard Serra.

In addition to its online viewing room, the David Zwirner Gallery is planning to release new weekly episodes of its podcast “Dialogues,” as well as offer free access to excerpts from David Zwirner Books publications.

Starting Thursday, the Fort Gansevoort Gallery is hosting a series of weekly online exhibitions. The first, “A Cloud in a Box,” is organized by the writer and educator Terry R. Myers.

Compiled by Peter Libbey, Sara Aridi, Gabe Cohn and Lauren Messman.