After two weeks of solidarity, fighting off the quarantine blues may be starting to get to you or someone you know. Fear not, because the New York Art Scene and many of your favorite bands understand.
Due to mass amounts of people inside and therefore on the internet, artists, musicians and actors are all doing their part to entertain during this crisis. Thanks to phones, laptops and tablets, at any given point, you are not too far from a Rembrandt painting or Carnegie Hall.
Many famous music halls may have closed for the season, but they are live streaming performances online for free. The Metropolitan Opera (the MET) is streaming recordings of past performances on its website for free starting at 7:30 pm and ending at 6:30 pm the next day. Favorites like the 2010 production of Bizet’s Carmen and a whole week of Wagner’s Operas have been shown already. You can find the full schedule and productions at metopera.org.
Already tired of Netflix and Amazon Prime? One possible avenue is straight from New York. Broadway has created a new streaming service, BroadwayHD, to counteract its closure. Three hundred streamable performances are available for a free week with a subscription fee of $8.99, similar to Disney+.
For the readers out there, the New York Public Library and many others across the country will let you sign up for a library card online to access free audio and ebooks. To check possible ebooks at your local libraries, the free Libby App can search and store titles for you.
Another great outlet is Project Gutenberg, which digitizes public domain works for those in the mood for a classic. If you want to relive your favorite PBS memories of Reading Rainbow, LeVar Burton has a free podcast called LeVar Burton Reads, where he shares family-friendly stories with his audience. Missing Shakespeare? Sir Patrick Stewart is daily reading sonnets to his Twitter followers. You can follow him @sirpatstew.
Musicians are also providing entertainment through live streaming and on YouTube. New York music stronghold, Carnegie Hall, is still producing its radio program WQXR by running past concerts on its website for free (carnegiehall.org). Jack White’s Third Man Records in Nashville is streaming on YouTube with live concerts called Third Man Public Access. Miley Cyrus has taken to her Instagram live with her show “Brightminded” where she discusses female artists. Other musicians streaming free content on their YouTube channels are Metallica, Death Cab for Cutie, Sufjan Stevens, and many more.
Museums, both at home and around the world may be closed, but art lovers can rejoice with virtual tours and galleries found on their websites. A list of museums can be found here.
While social distancing may seem like a drag, just know that entertainment is only a click away.
Headline photo: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Photo by Calvin Craig via Unsplash.