Weekly News 6/9/2022

What's Streaming This Weekend
Want to know what's streaming this weekend? Sign up for the Filmed Live Musicals newsletter! The free version contains shows streaming at specific times, while the full version, available to patrons also includes new musicals streaming on demand and bonus content! The newsletter is sent out every Thursday. Sign up today! 

Tony, Tony, Tony!
The 75th Annual Tony Awards are happening on Sunday, June 12! Broadcast live from Radio City Hall in NYC, the awards celebrate excellence from the 2021/22 Broadway season and will feature performances from this year's Tony nominated musicals including A Strange Loop, Company, Girl from North Country, MJ, Mr. Saturday Night, Music Man, Paradise Square and SIX. Check out this previous blog post for a list of over 30 filmed live musicals that were nominated for, or won, a Tony Award! 

Don’t Lose Your Head: Six Taping
I’ve been waiting for this news for a loooong time. Six, the smash-hit musical with a rocking score about the six wives of Henry VIII, is going to be filmed live in the West End with the original cast! If you’re going to be in London, you can enter the lottery to attend the live taping on July 1 at the Vaudeville Theatre. The ballot goes live at 10am GMT (5am ET) on Friday, June 10. Follow Six on Twitter, for more info and links to the ballot!

Celebrate Black Excellence: Live Taping
Inspired by the cultural phenomenon Verzuz, BROADWAY VS is a celebration of the vital impact of Black culture on Broadway. Hosted by Amber Iman, the Broadway Advocacy Coalition will honor the careers of two Broadway legends - Joshua Henry and Norm Lewis - while raising funds to support Broadway Advocacy Coalition’s work empowering artist activists on Broadway and beyond. You can also register to watch the livestream. More info and registration at Broadway Advocacy Coalition.

Digital Access to Arts and Culture
A new report, Digital Access to Arts and Culture was released this week that details the findings of an 18-month British research project into the role of digital arts and culture in the UK during the pandemic, focusing on its accessibility implications. The report found that:

• streaming made arts and culture more available, especially to disabled and geographically remote audiences,
• audiences now see streamed/online arts & culture “as an essential accessibility feature.”
• despite this, due to cost, low revenue, and lack of infrastructure and funding, arts organizations are pulling away from digital content.
• audiences with accessibility needs are again being excluded
• hybrid programming must be a part of accessibility planning for arts organizations

Read the full report via Digital Access Arts.

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
A medley of musicals was performed as part of the The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on June 4. The performance included songs from Hamilton, The Lion King, Six, Phantom of the Opera and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The medley was introduced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Andrew Lloyd Webber singing together at a baby grand piano. Watch the performance on YouTube.
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A big congratulations to Chickenshed, one of my favorite theatre organizations, who were invited to perform in The National Lottery's Big Jubilee Street Party. The event aired on ITV in the UK on June 4, and is now available on demand via ITV (UK viewers only). Take a listen to episode 22 of the Filmed Live Musicals podcast to hear more about Chickenshed’s extraordinary work!

Our Boy by John Kander
Writer Samaan Ashrawi shared a beautiful story on Twitter about his grandfather’s college love John Kander. During the pandemic, Ashrawi discovered a 7” vinyl in the family bookshelf labelled “Our Boy - John Kander - Summer 1951”. The song was actually part of a one act musical composed by a twenty-two year old Kander (who would later go on to write Flora the Red Menace, Cabaret, Chicago, and more), who had wanted Ashwari’s grandfather to be the lead. You can listen to the whole sweet story via Elis.