Today I bring you a list of my favorite live streams right now. People have really stepped up their streaming game; there is SO MUCH out there. You can lose hours of your life going down the rabbit hole of live virtual entertainment. I did, so you don't have to. Here's a list of the best of the best...
Museums
Almost every museum has created virtual tours, though some are better than others. Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has a great user experience with 10 different ways to visit from home. Visiting The Sistine Chapel sans tourists is pretty special. Whitney has a huge number of options of things to do as well as tours, including art history classes and art projects. And you can now tackle The Met and The Louve at your leisure without the intimidation factor.
Nature
Every Zoo has multiple live cams these days, have fun visiting all of them. The Cincinnati Zoo has a home safari featuring a different animal everyday at 3:00 where you can actually ask the zoo keepers questions. The Monterey Bay Aquarium seems to be the best for under water fun. Above all, you much check out Explore, the world's largest nature cam network. You can drop in on animals from orcas to otters, watch for the Aurora Borealis, or tour your favorite national park. And if you aren't able to find a camera with action at a given time, there are highlight reels. Tip: check out the brown bears of Katmai Alaska and many of the bird cams have babies right now.
Music
There are an insane amount of lists of concerts to watch. I can't possibly narrow down to one or two. I did find what I feel is THE quintessential list, so you can skip skimming the 18,000 that are out there. Vulture has the list to beat. Highlights include Andrew Loyd Weber and Lin Manuel Miranda's piano playoff on twitter, The National's weekly live events on Youtube, and Billboard Live At Home featuring a different artist everyday singing from home.
Storytimes
For some reason my kid really likes to watch books being read on screen, even though we read to him constantly. I try not to be insulted as I explain I have an acting degree from Juilliard. Seriously though, most of what I can find on youtube is pretty terrible. But I found two fantastic ones. Dolly Parton and Michelle Obama are doing their own storytimes. I know! If only RBG would join in. You can tune into Dolly on Thursday nights at 7:00 and Michelle on Mondays at 12:00EST.
Theater and Performing Arts
Lincoln Center has the best variety of programing hands down, for obvious reasons, they have everything under one roof from Yo-yo Ma to Puccini. Their kid-friendly programing is also outstanding, and they are adding new content all the time, including an amazing video message from a group of past and present Juilliard students. Playbill has a great list of live stream theater events really worth checking out and adding some to your calendar. And if you are looking to make some theater of your own, check out Play With Us. A few theaters got together and commissioned some great writers to create short plays and have offered them to the public, just for isolation fun. You can read them on your own, or share them online. It's such a fun idea: as we struggle to keep theater alive why not just make some?!
Happy Hour
One more to start your weekend on the right foot. Here's a link to the live feed from The Soggy Dollar, a beachside bar in the British Virgin Islands. Go ahead and put it on your biggest screen and mix yourself a celebratory cocktail for getting through your week. Well done!
Happy weekend everyone. I hope you find something new and fun in this list. Lots of love to all the moms out there! We are the super heroes of isolation. Know you are amazing. I wish you all the gratitude and love you deserve this Sunday and every day. Much love.