How to Livestream Punch on Broadway

October 28, 2025
Bainbridge Island, Washington

By Brian Guy

I am an emotional wreck as I write this, as Punch hits even harder the second time seeing it. I was fighting tears the entirety of Act 2. This play is so good. I loved it when I saw it the first time at a Preview performance on September 10. But now, later in the run, this production is even better. The remainder of this article will focus on the livestream experience from home, and you can read my review of the show here.

This was my first time watching a livestream of a Broadway show, so I was not sure what to expect. With Punch, you select the specific show you want to livestream (only this week’s shows are available), you purchase a livestream ticket for $75 (as of this writing) for that specific show time, and you watch it live and/or any time after the live performance for up to 24 hours. Your access expires 24 hours later. I was not sure how quickly the on demand version would become available, so I chose to watch it live. You cannot pause it, but there is a 15 minute intermission. If you join the show late, I believe you would just join the live show at its current point, as there is no rewind option, so don’t be late! If you are late and want to see the beginning, you may have to wait for the on demand version to be available (which you have for 24 hours), but I do not know how quickly this becomes available. In my experience with other livestreams, there can be a delay of several hours after the show ends before the on demand version is available.

The hardest part about watching a Broadway play from home is just ignoring distractions and remaining focused. Walk your dog before the show, ignore all those package deliveries that come during the show, and ignore your phone. In Punch, this is a bit harder to do during Act 1, as it is Act 2 that then really sucks you in. Remember that the show times are stated in the Eastern time zone, so a 7 PM start is actually a 4 PM start if you are on the west coast. Punch is about 2.5 hours long, so you will be done a bit after 6:30 (the shows rarely start exactly on time).

It is easiest to purchase the ticket from your computer, as you will also need to create an account. The site where you purchase your livestream ticket and create an account is https://www.lolst.org/, and Punch will show up on this site’s home page. Take note of the username and password you create, as you will need these credentials on your Roku or Amazon Fire device, if you choose to watch the show on your TV and not on your laptop or tablet (I did not test Apple TV).

While you can certainly use AirPlay to stream the show to an Apple device and then mirror it to your TV, the quality will be better if you instead download the streaming app to your Roku or Amazon Fire device, and then stream the show directly to your streaming device (not using your phone or tablet). To find the app you need to download, you need to search from your TV’s streaming stick for The League of Live Stream Theater app. On both Roku and Amazon Fire, I used the remote control’s voice search button (a microphone) and spoke, “League of Live Stream Theater,” and that found the app. Remember, you are searching for an app (like Netflix or Hulu) and not for the show. Do not search for “lolst” (the web site address), as that brings up a completely different (and wrong) app on Roku. Once you open the League of Live Stream Theater app on your Roku or Amazon Fire, you then need to login using the credentials you created when you bought the ticket.

This next step is where it gets a bit confusing. When you attempt to launch your show, you may get a screen saying to check back later, and the livestream will typically start about 30 minutes before the show starts. I kept getting that message every time I tried to launch the livestream, even when the show was just 15 minutes away. I finally noticed a second option I could click, and this second option finally took me to the livestream with the countdown. This is a bit of a usability issue that there are two options, not one, and the first option keeps telling you that the livestream has not yet started, even thought it actually has, but just via a different, second option to select. I could see a scenario where someone just keeps getting that message and then misses the show. This first option telling you the livestream has not yet started really needs to go away once the livestream actually has started. It is odd they did not discover this issue during testing, but tonight was indeed the first night of live streaming this show. In this case, I suppose it is actually impressive just how otherwise perfect the experience was, once I found the correct option, and once the show started.

The view is like being in the front row of the mezzanine, except that it frequently zooms in. The video quality and sound quality are excellent. I was pleasantly surprised by just how good the quality is. The experience is no substitute for being in the live audience, and you do lose that energy you get from fellow audience members (but you can still slightly hear the audience, especially when there is laughter). However, this is a very positive experience and creates an accessibility option for seeing a show you might otherwise miss. I found the experience to be overall excellent, and I will definitely do this again. My wish would be that you can view a show that is no longer running. How wonderful if we could livestream shows that we missed and that are no longer playing. One day.

Punch is such a fantastic play (my review here), and I love that I got to watch it a second time from across the country, thanks to this new accessibility option. More importantly, people who have never been to Broadway can now experience a Broadway show for the first time.

Kudos to Manhattan Theatre Club, to the company of Punch, and to The League of Live Stream Theater for making this happen. More info on Punch is available at https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/shows/2025-26-season/punch/