'Clyde's' to livestream select Broadway performances
Lynn Nottage's play will become the third Broadway show ever to be livestreamed.
Clyde's, the new Broadway play by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, will livestream the last two weeks of its run from January 4-16. The livestreams are intended for audiences who are unable to attend a New York show in person and will take place during performances of the show at the Hayes Theater, where an in-person audience will also be in attendance.
The play, produced by Second Stage Theater, will be the second show in the company's season to have a digital viewing option. Second Stage's Off-Broadway season opener, Letters of Suresh, also livestreamed some performances for virtual audiences. Furthermore, Clyde's will become only the third Broadway show to be livestreamed, and the first to do so for multiple performances; Roundabout Theatre Company livestreamed one performance each of the musicals She Loves Me and Holiday Inn in June 2016 and January 2017, respectively. Both those shows were available on demand afterward, however, while each performance of Clyde's will only be available to watch live by purchasing a virtual ticket.
The performances will be taped on five to seven cameras in the theatre and edited in real time, and Assemble Stream will host the livestreams.
"The events of the last 18 months have shown us that there is an appetite for theater in all of its forms," said Second Stage executive director Khady Kamara and Assemble Stream's Katie McKenna in a joint statement. "Nothing will ever replace the experience of attending a Broadway show but these simulcasts hope to capture the one-of-a-kind thrill of a live Broadway performance for audience members who are unable to attend the play in person."
Clyde's stars Uzo Aduba as the titular owner of a truck stop sandwich shop staffed by formerly incarcerated workers. She's the only person who will hire them, and she won't let them forget it. The staff, however, dream of building better lives beyond the shop, and in the meantime, they band together by working on developing the perfect sandwich. The play began performances October 3 at the Hayes Theater and opens on November 23.
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