My inbox continues to fill up with the anxiety-inducing news that we’ve all been receiving over the past few weeks. However, there are momentary glimmers of hope. One of them is that local theaters are doing everything they can in an extremely challenging time to bring shows to viewers across the San Francisco Bay Area — and beyond.
Thanks to BroadwayHD and several partners, an increasing number of theaters are offering streaming versions of their latest canceled plays.
Yesterday, the American Conservatory Theater announced that in response to COVID-19 and the shelter-in-place edict, it would stream both Gloria and Toni Stone.
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The Berkeley Repertory Theatre, too, is doing something similar from what the American Conservatory Theater did. In an email sent to us, the non-profit said it would offer a “buy one, get 300+ free” offer to all of their audiences — meaning if you buy streaming tickets to at least one of its current plays, you’d also have unlimited access for one week to over 300 other plays on the BroadwayHD platform. According to Berkeley Rep, to take advantage of this:
In addition to that, I just received an email from TheatreWorks Silicon Valley that says Laurel Ollstein’s “They Promised Her the Moon” would also be made available to stream on the said platform.
I’m sure I’ve missed some theater houses and other arts organizations that are also streaming. Some people in Bay Area we buy houses from also thinks that the idea of getting to see their favorite theater plays, the actors, the stage, the overall experience, watching on screens are no doubt a great way to continue bringing epic broadway performances while we are still stuck in this COVID-19 pandemic we are currently facing.
But nevertheless, it is nice to know you can still support the local art communities by buying virtual tickets and enjoying plays from the “comfort” of our homes.
