ZOOMing In On Live Entertainment COVID style....

My how things have changed since the first of the year. When did you last go to the movies? Have you been to see live theater lately? Those trips are rarer than a serving of beef tartar and that hard to imagine! (look it up) Theater regulations for operating are more stringent than restaurants and bars have ever been mandated to observe. Live theater presents an even more restrictive set of requirements than the others. 

A 25% occupancy maximum will never support royalty based productions. A 300 seat house would allow up to 75 seats to be sold, however the distancing requirements might mean only 50 seats could be occupied. There's little chance of recouping expenses if one could stage even a non musical production.

Don't forget. Distancing goes for those on stage as well. Actors, in the act of speaking with their mouths wide open, can inadvertently spray saliva into the air in the direction of either their cast-mates or the audience. (I've been told that while singing from the stage the spray can reach distances exceeding 10-15 feet.)

Years ago my wife and I watched Gary Morris, as Les Mis's Jean Valjean, emotionally spray the front row and beyond with glinting arcs of spittle when he sang "Bring Him Home" from the apron of Broadway's Imperial Theater stage. Yup. It's a real thing. Those droplets you imagined having felt on your cheek or head at a show could have been ingenue or chorus spittle. Might want to wear a hat or scarf when next you go.

The on stage distancing makes life difficult to actors, directors and crew. It does, however, present opportunities ("Desperate times call for desperate measures" Sweeney Todd) to explore performance from outside the proverbial box. 

Hello Zoom and applications of a similar ilk. Virtual shows done via streaming...kinda like PBS and  others have done. Now production values wl not be the same but professional and even theaters need to keep their doors open. The bills haven't stopped coming due for those mega million dollar productions whose theater marquees went dark back in late winter/early spring 2020. There is no subsidy for community playhouses to assist in keeping the lights on and the rent paid. Hundreds of theater groups have shut down...closed up shop...given up the ghost. You have to adapt to survive.

Welcome to the world of streaming on YouTube! Breaking out of the proverbial box and being open minded when it comes to approaching producing entertainment as media.  It requires finding material within your capabilities to afford, rehearse, stage, record and edit as viable content for streaming. Once that's been accomplished creating a channel to upload your content comes next and then you must be able to promote and "sell" your new approach to your patrons.  Sounds daunting but in truth it's something that should have been on every theater group's radar for years. 

Content is rather easy to find and some playwrights will even forgo royalty if you follow certain guidelines when doing their material (of course you must make sure they own the rights to what you want to produce). There are also tons of radio scripts from the golden age floating around. Some could be available in the public domain but it's always smart to contact the rights holder for permission.  You do what you have to do. 

I'm in the process of editing three shows for streaming. The process is the culmination of the efforts of cast, crew and production staff who were willing to suffer through Zoom rehearsals, mapping out the technical details for filming, editing and promoting the production. Without the COVID restrictions this would be a breeze and the community groups that have the capability should see this as an avenue for the future. Sometimes you gotta color outside the lines.

The arts are the first cuts in funding when times get tough. That's the American way. In Europe and other regions of the world arts make up a large percentage of their national identity.

That reverence isn't shared here. We have classic plays and films we might include in our lexicon of things "Americana" but nothing that can define us as a nation. Are we too diverse for that notion? We just went through the MAGA propaganda period, but I don't recall feeling we were in need of that hype to start with. We don't refer to this as the "motherland" in our culture (whatever that is). So entertainment is just that. Something to keep us occupied in our unproductive periods during the day, week or month.

In this the worst of times we need the release of tension. Our fears come alive daily whether in the news or via social media. Political unrest and a relentless viral attack have been the focus for most of us for months. If you hear about one of your local playhouses streaming a show tune in. Most of the time there is no cost to a ticket. Donations are certainly appreciated. Help keep the lights on and the stages lit.