Binge-watched all of Smash already? Get your theatre fix online with these eight online series created by, and featuring, some of the best (and funniest) in the business.
Cady Did
Tony-winning star of The Producers Cady Huffman plays herself (kind of) in a new series about a fictionalized version of the actor, who is forced to move back to her hometown after an embarrassing moment—in a cat food commercial audition, no less—goes viral. Will she find happiness at a local access TV station working alongside her nemesis, Betty Ann (played by Tony nominee Veanne Cox)? Probably not, but you just might, watching all nine available episodes of Cady Did on YouTube. Billed as Curb Your Enthusiasm meets Green Acres, the series is created by Jason Cicci and Huffman, and written by Cicci. Watch it here.
Indoor Boys
Now in its third season, Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse’s Indie Series Award–winning show follows the lives of two roommates (played by Taylor and Wyse) with questionable boundaries. Filmed in Los Angeles, the series features a host of Broadway guest stars including Carolee Carmello, Kathryn Gallagher, Noah Galvin, Ann Harada, and Kyle Harris. All episodes are available for streaming on IndoorBoys.tv.
Before launching Indoor Boys, Taylor cut his teeth making It Could Be Worse with Rock of Ages’ Mitchell Jarvis. The two-season series follows actor Jacob Gordon, played by Taylor, as he navigates life, career, and relationships—not always successfully. The series features a host of Broadway guest stars including Audra McDonald as Jacob’s shrink, Nancy Opel as his mother, Gideon Glick as his boyfriend, and Alison Fraser as stage star Veronica Bailey. Check it out here.
Parkway Players
Created by New Jersey theatre company Exit 82 and Christie Schwartzman (who writes and directs), Parkway Players follows a group of misfits gearing up for their summer community theatre production of Grease 2. Formatted as a mockumentary, the four-episode web series features plenty of laughs, lots of theatre-inside jokes, and equal heart. Watch all the episodes here.
City of Dreams
Released in 2012, this musical comedic series follows three aspiring musical theatre actors from the Midwest who, after three years in the Big Apple, are struggling to establish their careers. Starring show creators Jee Young Han, Jonathan Lee and Justin Anthony Long, the series also features guest appearances from a handful of Broadway alums including Billy Porter, Laura Osnes, Kelvin Moon Loh, and Sarah Stiles. Expect loads of laughs, familiar locations and faces, and original songs. Watch all 11 available episodes here.
Outcast
Described by show creator and star Daisy Hobbs as “a mix between Issa Rae's Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, Michaela Coel's Chewing Gum, and Rachel Bloom's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” Outcast follows the struggles of a well-meaning musical theatre actor just trying to get ahead. Hobbs, who has been seen on Broadway in Aladdin and in the national tour of Memphis, is the first woman of color to create, write, direct, produce, star in, and compose original music for a digital series. Watch the first episode, “I Can't Be in a Black Musical,” in which Lisa struggles during an audition of The Color Purple, here.
Submissions Only
After sharing the stage together in Dallas in 2010, Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Kate Wetherhead decided to create Submissions Only, exposing what’s really happening “off stage." Following the friendship of actor Penny (Wetherhead) and casting director Tim (Colin Hanlon), the show features guest stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Nick Jonas, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Urie, Bobby Cannavale, Judith Light, Chita Rivera, Jeremy Jordan, and many more. In light of the pandemic, streaming network STAGE is offering free streams of all three seasons of the show April 10–12. Watch it here beginning at noon tomorrow.
The Outs
While it may not be about theatre per se, The Outs, which follows the lives of gay, Brooklyn twenty-somethings, is co-written by Adam Goldman, who wrote material for the 2015 Tony Awards, and stage and screen actor Sasha Winters. The show also features a good scattering of theatre alums, including Alan Cumming, Fun Home’s Joel Perez, Ana Nogueira, and Jordan Barbour. After launching a successful first season, and scoring a Vimeo Originals deal for Season 2, The Outs' has created the kind of fan base that speaks for itself. Season 1 is available here, and the second on Vimeo.
