Broadway stars stream from home in coronavirus pandemic
In this combination photo, Audra McDonald attends the 42nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors at The Kennedy Center in Washington on Dec. 8, 2019, left, and Idina Menzel arrives at the Oscars in Los Angeles on Feb. 9, 2020. Image: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, left, and Greg Allen/Invision/AP
Broadway shows may be shuttered, but that’s not stopping some Broadway voices.
Stage stars like Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, Norbert Leo Butz, Kelli O’Hara, Wayne Brady, Betty Buckley and Laura Benanti will appear singing and performing live from their homes in two daily mini-online charity shows starting Monday night.
The shows are the brainchild of Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, the host and producer of Sirius XM’s “On Broadway”, and will follow the traditional theater times of 2 p.m. Eastern and 8 p.m. Eastern.
The shows will encourage viewers to donate to The Actors Fund’s services for those dealing with the coronavirus outbreak and its financial costs.
“Broadway at Home” will kick off Monday with Kelli O’Hara. The shows can be seen at The Actors Fund YouTube channel, as well as Playbill.com and BroadwayWorld.com.
Some other stars who have signed up include Shoshana Bean, Sierra Boggess, Laura Bell Bundy, Kerry Butler, Carolee Carmello, Gavin Creel, Melissa Errico, Raúl Esparza, Christopher Fitzgerald, Ana Gasteyer, Mandy Gonzalez, Justin Guarini, James Monroe Iglehart, Jeremy Jordan, Marc Kudish, Judy Kuhn, Linda Lavin, Beth Leavel, Telly Leung, Beth Malone, Lindsay Mendez, Kate Shindle, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessie Mueller, Rosie O’Donnell, Alice Ripley, Adam Pascal, Faith Prince, Keala Settle, Marc Shaiman, Jennifer Simard, Elizabeth Stanley, Patrick Wilson and Marissa Jaret Winokur.
Couples who also plan to appear are: Sebastian Arcelus and Stephanie J. Block, Will Chase and Ingrid Michaelson, Jen Cody and Hunter Foster, Jenn Colella and Chilina Kennedy, Colin Donnell and Patti Murrin, Santino and Jessica Fontana, Andy Karl and Orfeh, Liz Larsen and Sal Viviano, Steven Pasquale and Phillipa Soo, plus McDonald and Will Swenson.
Online concerts have taken on a new appeal as the virus keeps people inside. Latin singers Juanes and Alejandro Sanz recently performed on YouTube Live, a pair of Metropolitan Opera stars have belted out tunes on Facebook and Instagram, the Russian-German pianist Igor Levit took to Twitter on Thursday to stream his music and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra live-streamed a Beethoven symphony. NVG
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