The A.V. Club’s favorite at-home performances of the year

Hands down, the best livestream money I’ve spent in 2020 has gone to the fine queens behind the Race Chaser podcast. Drag Race alumni Alaska and Willam have put on a few livestream events during quarantine, with proceeds from each going to a great cause, like , a charity that helps support black trans people in economic need. They did a spelling bee with Mariah Paris Balenciaga, Meatball, Monet X Change, and a mousily dressed Jinkx Monsoon that left me laughing, as well as a version of Pictionary with queens like Naomi Smalls that thrilled and chilled, but their Name That Tune really had me rolling in the proverbial aisles. The one-two punch of Bianca Del Rio and Bob The Drag Queen competing against each other and Alaska and Willam’s not-so-friendly competitive streak made that stream a winner. If you’d like to check it out, for your viewing pleasure. [Marah Eakin]

While it was a thrill during early livestreams to get an unprecedented peek into the homes of our favorite musicians, the best shows of late have transported us to another world entirely. Leave it to reigning dance-floor queen Kylie Minogue to deliver the most joyful, escapist music event of the year, Infinite Disco, which invited fans to come into her world, a laser-lit discotheque floating in space. Streamed into homes the night Joe Biden became our president-elect, the show was a rush of euphoria, taking viewers through a tour of past favorites and cuts from her dazzling new album, Disco. Minogue looked radiant in a gold jumpsuit—with her vocals somehow sounding even better than on the LP—giving the whole experience the (good) kind of infectious energy we’ve so sorely been missing in 2020. [Cameron Scheetz]

With Broadway closed down indefinitely, my annual NYC trip and musical marathon of five shows in four days was canceled for 2020. Luckily, the industry decided to celebrate Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday in epic fashion. The most-publicized highlight of Take Me To he World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration was Meryl Streep, Audra McDonald, and Christine Baranski’s version of “Ladies Who Lunch” from Company, but that’s just one musical dream team from 140 minutes of performances. Be it Lea Salonga’s “Loving You” from Passion, Sutton Foster’s “There Won’t Be Trumpets” from Anyone Can Whistle, or Brian Stokes Mitchell’s “The Flag Song” from Assassins, there was something for everyone who considers themselves even a passing Sondheim fan. Best of all, the entire evening served to benefit , Artists Striving to End Poverty. [Patrick Gomez]

After watching a few very great remote live shows, the persistent challenge with these events lies in replicating the kinetic energy of a live audience. In truth, it’s an irreplicable element to any in-person performance. But it’s nice to see a group of performers like NCT 127 attempt to fill the void, which is what made the K-pop outfit’s Beyond The Origin live show so engaging. After following the group’s concert with similar attempts by others, I grew to miss the roar of the Zoom’d audience, the playful graphics, and even the extended Q&A. It came the closest to transporting me back to the far-too-hot arenas of yore and made such creative use of a soundstage. And I will never tire of a CGI dragon, which made for quite the finale. [Shannon Miller]