Here are a few of the best events happening Thursday and how to tune in (all times are Eastern Standard). Updated daily.
LOL With Second City
9 p.m. on Facebook
The enduring improv troupe Second City is joining forces with Topic, First Look Media’s streaming service, for a limited series that promises a mash-up of original sketches, musical performances, animation and rare footage from the sketch-comedy group’s vaults. The show — called “The Second City Presents: The Last Show Left on Earth” — premieres Thursday night, and the first episode will be hosted by Jack McBrayer (“30 Rock”), with musical guest Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and special guest Kelci Saffery from Netflix’s “Tiger King.” The instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Andrew Bird will compose and perform an original theme song. More half-hour episodes, starring Second City alumni and famous friends, will roll out weekly over the next three weeks.
When: 9 p.m. on Second City’s and Topic’s social channels, where it will be available worldwide for 24 hours. After that, the episode will stream exclusively on Topic in North America for one week.
Where: Second City’s Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter; and Topic’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Theater for Your Ears
9:30 a.m. on Spotify
World premieres from world-class playwrights — including Robert O’Hara, Heather Christian, Lucas Hnath and Jeremy O. Harris — without having to leave your home. Oh, and they’re free. That’s what you’ll get with Soundstage, a new podcast series from Playwrights Horizons, that has been in the works for about two years. Originally planned for this summer, the anthology’s release date was moved up to this month after social-isolation measures started. The plays were written to be heard and were recorded specifically for the format. Robert O’Hara’s “Gather,” about a series of mysterious disappearances, will drop Thursday.
When: 9:30 a.m.
Where: The Soundstage feed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and other platforms.
Digital Debut of ‘Lazarus’
7 p.m. on YouTube
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will stream “Lazarus,” from the hip-hop choreographer Rennie Harris, for the first time Thursday night. “Lazarus,” the company’s first two-act ballet, is inspired by the life and times of Ailey. The show was a New York Times Critic’s Pick in 2018, and the performance that will be broadcast is from the first time “Lazarus” was danced. Want more? Tune in at 10 a.m. for an interview with Harris moderated by the longtime Ailey dancer Hope Boykin.
When: 7 p.m., and it will remain available to stream for at least 72 hours.
Where: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
Q. & A. With Clément Cogitore
5 p.m. on Zoom
The French Institute Alliance Française and Le Cinéma Club will host a question-and-answer session with the French artist and director Clément Cogitore, who will discuss his 2017 documentary “Braguino,” a tale of family rivalry and failed utopia in the Siberian taiga (a sprawling region of subarctic forest). You can also stream the movie for free on Le Cinéma Club through Thursday. Last year, Cogitore’s French Baroque opera “Les Indes Galantes” was selected by The New York Times as one of the best opera productions of 2019.
When: 5 p.m.
Where: Live on Zoom (R.S.V.P. here) and streamed to FIAF’s Facebook.
Peter Libbey contributed reporting.
Source: Music - nytimes.com
