Their stages and venues dark, arts groups offer virtual entertainment
Events have been canceled, malls are closed and theaters are dark.
The show must go on, the old saying insists, and so it does. Virtually.
Broadway was an early adapter after New York closed the Great White Way. The BroadwayHD platform is giving you a seven-day free trial to stream hundreds of shows during this COVID-19 crisis.
Big names like Willie
Nelson and Paul Simon teamed Thursday night with other music stars for Til Further Notice, a free five-hour concert livestream that you can still watch online anytime.
Singers and bands, comedians, performing arts centers and tourist attractions are getting creative offering livestream concerts, virtual tours and comedy shows.
John Legend, Cardi B, P!nk, Luke Combs, Luke Bryan, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Keith Urban, Bruce Springsteen, Florida’s Jake Owen and others took to their Instagram accounts and other platforms to livestream for their fans.
More performances are to come, including Garth Brooks who will play a solo acoustic concert on his weekly “Inside Studio G” Facebook Live series at 7 p.m. Monday, March 23. SiriusXM will also broadcast the show on The Garth Channel (Ch. 55).
There’s plenty in your backyard, too. Many of South Florida’s attractions and entertainers are also boosting their online presence.
“As a business you need to keep your name out there and from a mental health standpoint you have to give your customers some semblance of normalcy,” said
John Lindsay, general manager at Round Up Night Club and Restaurant.
Here a look at how to beat the weekend — and beyond — boredom:
PERFORMING ARTS/FILMS
Broward Center for the Performing Arts has put together Spotify playlists featuring music from some of the more than 100 performances that had to be canceled or postponed this month into April at the various venues it manages, including Aventura Center and Slow Burn Theater
Company. This includes “Ragtime” and the Harry Connick concert. Check the playlists out on its
Facebook, Twitter and website pages.
Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, together with presenting sponsor The Children’s Trust, will continue the 10th annual Young Talent Big Dreams local free youth talent contest in MiamiDade by taking the competition online by way of electronic audition submissions. Kids between the ages of 8-17 are invited to showcase their talents and compete for prizes ranging from performing arts scholarships, cash awards, performance opportunities plus tickets to local attractions and theaters via actorsplayhouse.org. Details will be finalized by March 23.
“Some other options that we are looking into right now include: online acting classes for all ages and streaming past performances online,” said spokeswoman Brooke Noble.
A New World Symphony canceled the remaining concerts of its 2019-2020 season so the group will curate a series of online performances and other content on its Facebook page. This also includes the NWS Archive+ series that has recordings from the New World Symphony archive with new commentary and behind-the-scenes insights from recent Kennedy Center Honors recipient and Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas, NWS Fellows, Alumni, guest artists, and visiting faculty.
South Florida Symphony Orchestra is in the process of having its musicians put together videos online and to post past concerts during what was to be the April series.
Coral Gables Art Cinema is saying “Drive
In” to the website to catch three movies a day. “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Steamboat Bill Jr.” and “The Gold Rush” are current offerings. The Cinema is also recommending films to stream or download from digital platforms you probably already use.
“This won’t replicate the wonderful experience of watching a movie on the big screen surrounded by a crowd of movie lovers but we hope these films will provide some solace in these trying times,” the independent theater said on its web
page.
NIGHTLIFE/MUSIC
Alejandro Sanz & Juanes: The Tour Stays Home For All, a free livestream jam, which also included Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Guillermo Vadalá and Julio Reyes Copello is online via Art House Live and YouTube.
A Round Up Night Club and Restaurant: Looking to learn how to line dance? The club usually offers daily lessons, but with the closure they have turned to livestreaming DJ Nacho teaching the latest steps. John Lindsay said the club will also have a DJ broadcasting Friday and Saturday nights to “help people from going stir crazy.” He said it’s also a way to keep the business’ name out there. To watch the broadcast visit www.facebook.com /roundupnightclub.
The Rhythm Foundation broadcast a Facebook
Live stream of the Miami electro duo Afrobeta in a closed set performance from the North Beach Bandshell on Thursday. You can stream the performance, which had been planned as part of the monthly North Beach Social and the city of Miami Beach’s Culture Crawl, on the arts organization’s Facebook page.
Fort Lauderdale singer-musician Beth Cohen, who tours with Barry Gibb and classic rock band Boston, is hosting a Virtual Piano Bar with guest Kat Bowser at 8 p.m.-10 p.m. Saturday via Facebook Live.
Fort Lauderdale musician Christopher Phipps and London Exchange posted an acoustic set for Facebook Live.
MUSEUMS
The [Virtual] Bass Museum is now open to go on exhibition tours online — including Ugo Rondinone’s solo exhibition “good evening beautiful blue,” which was previously on display at The Bass. Art Camp From Home is also up for family projects in lieu of the Spring Art Camps, as well as other educational resources.
Jungle Island introduces new virtual online learning opportunities for kids’ ages 5 to 12 years old starting at 11 a.m. Monday, March 23. Visit the park’s Facebook or Instagram pages each weekday (Monday-Friday), for photos and the lesson of the day.
Zoo Miami has a treat for animal lovers, even though the zoo is closed. Called the Meerkam, a camera is set up to capture the zoo’s meerkats. There are two pups that were born at the beginning of the year.
Pérez Art Museum Miami is offering virtual tours and blogs to keep people connected to the museum during the closure. Offerings can be viewed at www. pamm.org/digital.
Bonnet House Museum & Gardens, celebrating its 100th anniversary in Fort Lauderdale, is presenting a four-part virtual visit to the museum.
CATCH UP ON READING
Check out a book from a Miami-Dade or a Broward County library. Or buy one (or more as we may be stuck inside long enough to read “War and Peace” and “Moby Dick” combined) from Books & Books, an independent literary beacon with locations in South Florida, Key West and Grand Cayman.
The online libraries are available 24/7 through the websites www.mdpls.org in Miami-Dade and broward.org in Broward. You can peruse eBooks, eAudiobooks, magazines, movies and music, plus online learning, training and tutoring.
ENJOY NATURE
Big Cypress National Preserve: Ever wonder what Big Cypress Reserve looks at night? The preserve is located about 45 miles west of Miami. There’s an online gallery of 60 photos available at www.flickr. com/photos/bigcypress nps/albums/ 72157635274296133.
Everglades National Park: If you enjoy nature, the park offers photos and videos from the Anhinga Trail. A webcam is set up to capture the most popular viewing areas. The feed can be seen at video-monitoring.com /everglades/royalpalm.