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The coronavirus pandemic has essentially halted life as we know it as theaters and venues remain closed. And for us stuck at home, there are plenty of ways for us to get our entertainment fix with virtual concerts, livestreams, and screening rooms.

Between the vast libraries of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Now, and many other streaming services, we have plenty of options on where to watch. But as the wait to reopen movie theaters, Broadway, the opera, concert arenas, and more will last at least several more months, it’s not quite the same as the real thing.

Fortunately, a number of initiatives have already started to fill that gap. While several studios have delayed their movies, released them on demand, or opted for a straight streaming release, others have opted for another option. Some independent movie theaters are offering virtual screening rooms where you can rent some smaller films that would’ve otherwise been in theaters. And while we still can’t see live performances, there are plenty of places streaming or placing a number of iconic shows and concerts online for free.

The 9 best virtual experiences for movies, music, and live performances

In the wake of theaters shutting down, smaller distributors with indie films set to be released were left with the decision to delay or re-release their films (like A24 chose to do with First Cow), put them on streaming services early (like Neon did with Portrait of a Lady on Fire), or make them available to rent on-demand (like Focus Features did with Never Rarely Sometimes Always). Kino Lorber, which had just released Bacurau in American theaters, went with another option: Bring the theater to us.

It initially teamed up with 12 independent theaters across the country (including Film at Lincoln Center, the Austin Film Society, and BAM) to launch Kino Marquee, a virtual cinema that lets viewers directly support their local independent theaters by renting the film through those respective theaters to watch in a virtual screening room. Revenue is split between Kino Lorber and the theaters. But late last month, the program expanded to include 150 independent theaters that now includes smaller theater chains like Alamo Drafthouse and Laemmle Theaters. To see what’s available to rent, head over to your local (or favorite) indie theater’s website.

While Alamo Drafthouse is participating in Kino Lorber’s virtual screening room program, its Alamo At Home virtual theater includes two of the theater chain’s oldest staples: Terror Tuesday (in which horror films get the spotlight) and Weird Wednesday (strange and bizarre films on the fringe). To see what’s available, head over to Alamo Drafthouse’s website.

The opera was probably unattainable for many of us even before the pandemic started, so the free daily offerings from the Metropolitan Opera are not only free entertainment, but it can help introduce new audiences to opera who would’ve otherwise not had access to them.

A new opera will drop on the Met Opera’s website or through the Met Opera on Demand app every day at 7:30pm ET and will be available to watch afterward for the next 23 hours (6:30pm ET). 

The long-running Jewish cultural and community center has made decades of talks, readings, and performances available to the public while streaming selections from those archives online daily.

Along with the Metropolitan Opera’s nightly stream, Lincoln Center is offering hours of free classes, workshops, concerts, and ballet performances for anyone to watch.

Last month, London’s National Theatre unveiled its plan to stream some of its plays—several of which already have a second life courtesy of theatrical events—every Thursday at 7pm GMT (2pm ET). After the livestream, the plays would be available to watch on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel for a week.

After its first four shows, the National Theatre announced its next set of plays, which includes the 2011 production of Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller (who both took turns playing the two lead roles).

On the heels of the National Theatre’s rollout, Universal revealed that it would host weekly livestreams of famous Andrew Lloyd Webber productions Fridays at 2pm ET at the new YouTube channel titled The Show Must Go On. After each new musical debuts, you’ll have 48 hours to watch it before it disappears.

There may be some new Terry Pratchett screen adaptations on the way—and they’ll be closer to his original vision than the upcoming BBC series The Watch.

Narrativia, the production company co-run by Pratchett’s daughter Rhianna Pratchett, just signed an exclusive deal with Endeavor Content and Motive Pictures. Not necessarily big names (Motive is a new-ish U.K. TV production company), but it sounds like Narrativia was looking for a partnership that promised more creative oversight in adapting Pratchett’s beloved Discworld novels.

Despite their massive popularity, Pratchett’s books have never received a big-budget adaptation in the way of fantasy novels by Neil Gaiman or George R.R. Martin. Previous Discworld adaptations were lightweight British made-for-TV movies or cartoon series back in the 1990s.

The Watch, which will air on BBC America this year, is the most high-profile screen adaptation to date, but it’s pretty controversial among Discworld fans—and, seemingly, among the people who actually control the rights to Pratchett’s work. While The Watch hasn’t actually aired yet, we know it takes a lot of creative liberties with the source material, following a grittier tone and changing the race or gender of several main characters.

Narrativia’s press release describes the deal as “exclusive,” announcing plans to develop “a series of prestige adaptations that remain absolutely faithful to Sir Terry Pratchett’s original, unique genius.” It looks like The Watch will be the first and last BBC production, but for many Discworld fans, this will be seen as good news. The announcement doesn’t specify which books will be adapted first.

Over the past few weeks, Americans nearly everywhere have been told they need to be wearing masks in order to keep ourselves and our fellow citizens safe from the coronavirus, which has crippled the globe.

New Yorkers are required to wear a mask whenever they can’t properly social distance. In Washington, citizens are required to wear masks when shopping. 

And when Congress came back into town to work through a coronavirus stimulus package, they came wearing masks.

But the face gear requirement, like most things in Washington, became a partisan divide.

Most of the Republicans ignored that rule, like Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who appeared on the floor of the House of Representatives maskless and coughing into his elbow.

Among those members of Congress who have donned masks on the Hill, some have done it better than others.

Undoubtedly, the worst attempt at wearing a mask goes to Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). Beyer’s appearance in a mask wrapped around the front of his face and covering only his nose was lampooned by Congressional Scheduler, a Washington meme account with a small but dedicated following of Capitol Hill staffers.