2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Theater to Stream in August: ‘Hamilton' and a Comedy About Immigration
'Hamilton'
Stream it on Disney+.
'A toast to the groom, to the bride,' … and to the fans! Lin-Manuel Miranda's beloved musical about one of America's unsung heroes, Alexander Hamilton, just celebrated its 10th birthday and continues to find new political and cultural relevance. The Broadway hit that coupled hip-hop music with the founding fathers — an unlikely paring that forever changed ticket prices and spurred an era of race-conscious casting — went on to win 11 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for drama after its debut in 2015.
Luckily for 'Hamilton' fans, the show was filmed at the Richard Rodgers Theater in Manhattan the following year, meaning you can take in the musical with most of its original Broadway cast. The live-capture version, recorded with nine cameras and more than 100 microphones, has been available on Disney+ since its release during the pandemic. But come next month, fans will also be able to watch it on the big screen; the filmed production hits movie theaters nationwide on Sept. 5.
'Alterations'
Stream it on National Theater.
Michael Abbensetts, a Guyana-born British playwright, died in 2016, but thanks to a revival by Britain's Royal National Theater this past spring, his 1978 play has received a new life. Set in an alterations shop crammed with suits and clothing racks, this comedic drama follows a tailor as he navigates two types of race: the sprint to finish sewing a large order overnight for a demanding client, and discrimination in a culture hostile toward immigrants. Both pressures amount to a portrait of Black entrepreneurship in 1970s London.
Scenes are punctuated with bursts of Reggae, and a spiritual yearning — to return to Guyana, to join Britain's middle class — is threaded throughout. The revived production, directed by Lynette Linton and starring Arinzé Kene, was filmed earlier this year, cementing Abbensetts's work in the theater's Black Plays Archive.
'Chicago'
Stream the film on Amazon Prime, Paramount+ and Apple TV.
This summer marked the 50th anniversary of two musical theater juggernauts: 'Chicago' and 'A Chorus Line.' In 1975, Bob Fosse's depiction of 'merry murderesses' seeking justice (and fame) for killing their lovers was upstaged by Michael Bennett's portrait of artists trying to make it big, but a 1996 revival of 'Chicago' reversed its critical fortune. Winning six Tony Awards, it went on to become the longest-running American musical in Broadway history.
The 2002 movie adaptation was equally triumphant. Rob Marshall's sleek film debut, starring Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones as dueling 'scintillating sinners,' grossed $300 million worldwide and took home six Academy Awards, including best picture. It turns out 1920s vaudeville has timeless appeal — when paired with murder. The story 'seeks to literalize the showbizification of American justice by performing it as a series of variety acts,' the theater critic Jesse Green wrote, adding, 'because we still live in that world — celebrity remaining the best get-out-of-jail-free card — it seems inevitable that the show has proved eternal.'
'A Chorus Line'
Stream the film on Tubi.
'It starts on a bare stage and it pretty much stays there,' the critic Clive Barnes wrote in his 1975 review. Bennett's stark portrayal of Broadway hopefuls lining up for roles of a new show instantly became a darling of musical theater when it opened. Barnes called it 'one of the greatest musicals ever to hit Broadway, and quite possibly the simplest and the most imaginative.'
Where 'Chicago' sneers, 'A Chorus Line' veers earnest. That sincerity — watching dancers desperately learn a routine does something to the hearts of artists and critics alike — earned the show nine Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. What could be more vulnerable than an open-call audition? Watching those dancers flail. Richard Attenborough's 1985 film adaptation is no Oscar winner, but it's a facsimile of that 'singular sensation,' which has comforted aspiring stars for decades.
'Mamma Mia!'
Stream the film on Netflix.
Here it goes again. 'Mamma Mia!' is back on Broadway after a decade away. The Abba musical was a hit onstage in London and New York, and then again on film (in large thanks to a giddy, wriggling Meryl Streep in its starring role). Now it's at the Winter Garden Theater in Manhattan, the show's home for most of its previous run.
For a refresher on the story, which could also be titled 'Are You My Daddy?,' look no further than the frothy film version. A wedding on a fictional Greek island serves as the perfect scheme for 20-year-old Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) to discover which of her mother's former suitors is her father. As the film critic A.O. Scott put it: 'It's Greece! It's bellybuttons! It's Meryl Streep! It's Abba!' It's also Colin Firth, Christine Baranski and a dance number involving a towel turned diaper. It's a good time for some good old escapism.
