I’m not sure how it started, but I got sucked into a YouTube wormhole of the videos I watched in that early-COVID quarantine phase, like:
- Reunited Apart from Josh Gad, which reunited various movie casts—my favorites being Lord of the Rings and Back to the Future
- Some Good News from John Krasinski, which included reunions of The Office and Hamilton casts and compilations of phenomena very specific to that lockdown phase
- Random one-offs like Father of the Bride Part 3(ish) (featuring Florence Pugh and Kieran Culkin!) and A Parks & Recreation Special
The first two especially were appointment viewing each week, because you never knew what celebrities would pop in. Then there were the virtual choirs:
- Welsh of the West End singing “Let It Go” from Frozen
- The Entertainment Community Fund singing “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray
- Congregation Bet Haverim singing “On The Day We Are Together Again” by Humbird
- The TikTok mashup of “The Wellerman” sea shanty
- The cast of Hamilton and The Roots singing “Helpless” from Hamilton
As with mask-wearing, I felt a strangely beautiful camaraderie watching these at the time knowing so many others were enjoying them too in similar circumstances. And watching them now brings me right back to that time, which, luckily for me, was positive—being able to work from home and see my wife and then 1 year old son a lot more.
What a time.