Items

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  2021-05-05

  Broadway Looks to Reopen at 100% Capacity on September 14

  This article discusses Governor Andrew Cuomo's announcement that Broadway can reopen at 100% capacity starting September 14. Broadway has been shut down since March 2020. It seems like the ability to go to see a Broadway show may be dependent on whether or not a person has had a vaccine.
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  2021-02-22

  UK Theaters Set to Be at Full Capacity by June

  This article discuses how theaters in the UK are already partially open and are expected to be at full capacity by June 2021. This is in contrast to Broadway, which is closed in any capacity until May. I feel like this shows how detrimental the United States' response to COVID-19 in 2020 was and how it set us behind the rest of the world in returning to normalcy.
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  2020-10-01

  Ramin Karimloo gave Youtube concert to raise money for healthcare workers

  On October 1, 2020, Ramin Karimloo, who starred in several musicals on West End, held a livestreamed concert on his Youtube channel to help raise money for healthcare workers. The charity he featured was Care Not Profit, a Canadian-based charity lobbying for living wages for people who work in for-profit long-term care facilities, better conditions for residents of those facilities, and better benefits for the workers.
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  2020-11-14

  Eva Noblezada giving a virtual performance

  Eva Noblezada, who has starred in Broadway musicals such as Miss Saigon and Hadestown, will be giving a virtual concert and will host a Q&A session afterwards via Zoom. This concert is one that you have to buy tickets for.
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  2020-11-14

  Youtube channel The Shows Must Go On! fundraising with a showing of Macbeth

  The Shows Must Go On! is a Youtube channel that started near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The channel is owned by Universal, and so has rights to many popular musicals, including Andrew Lloyd Webber's. Periodically, they stream performances and keep them up for 48 hours. This production of Macbeth stars Sir Patrick Stewart and will be available for a week when it's aired 11/16/2020. While it's up, the channel will be using it to raise money for The Actor's Fund to help performers struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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  2020-11-03

  Elizabeth Sconyers Interview with Jason LeClair

  Jason LeClair is a teacher at a theater arts teacher at a charter school in Rhode Island. In this interview, he discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected parts of his personal life and daily routine. He talks about specific effects the pandemic has had on performing arts, such as the use of Zoom and drive-ins for theatre and concert, the delays in reopening the performing arts to the public, and how the shutdown of performing arts has effected the economy. Finally, he touches on some concerns for the future of performing arts and how he believes the performing arts will be different after this pandemic.
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  10/10/2020

  Scott Adams Oral History, 2020/10/10

  Scott Adams, a graduate student at Arizona State University, lives in Camarillo, California. In this interview, he reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected his life. He highlights the effects the pandemic and quarantine has had on mental health and employment. He also touches on the division caused by COVID-19, politics, and the politicization of the pandemic by both the right-wing and left-wing. Scott also describes the precautions taken by he and his friends to avoid catching the virus, and how the quarantine and the current political divide has affected their relationships.
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  2020-10-09

  Broadway Shutdown extended through May 2021

  This article shares the news that the Broadway League has extended the suspension of performances through May 2021. Previously, Broadway shows were scheduled to reopen in January 2021. This is significant because of how much employment Broadway affects, from performers to those who work in costume shops.
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  2020-10-10

  Florida Theatre

  The Florida Theatre, a historically significant building in Jacksonville, Florida, has been closed since the beginning of the pandemic and has been unable to reopen safely since guidelines have relaxed. As this article says, the theater is now out of money and is trying to raise money through donations so that they can reopen in December.
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  2020-10-09

  Jacksonville Drive-In Concert

  his news article talks about a drive-in concert performed by country singer Jon Pardi in Jacksonville, FL. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many notable concerts and live events have been canceled in the area. Hopefully, until the pandemic calms down, drive-in concerts and theatre will help keep the performing arts alive.
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  2020-09-22

  Drive-in movie/Broadway hybrid

  This news article talks about Broadway at the Drive-In, which will show recorded musicals and offer live mini-concerts to accompany them. This drive-in is opening September 26 and will start by showing Phantom of the Opera. This showing will be accompanied by a live concert with an 11-piece orchestra. On October 1, they'll add a second, late-night show, Purple Rain. People who come can either watch ffrom their car or reserve picnic tables ahead of time. Social distancing will be enforced.
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  2020-08-27

  Drag in the Age of COVID-19

  This news article explores the effect the COVID-19 shutdowns have had on drag performances. Since March, Atlanta has banned gatherings of over 50 people in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. For drag queens in the Atlanta area, this means that they have not been able to perform live since March. However, many have found virtual performances to be a viable alternative. Some drag queens, in fact, are glad that they are able to work virtually now as they had been wanting to get out of performing at bars. While virtual performances don't make as much money as live performances, the audience is a lot larger than if they were performing live.
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  2020-09-02

  Costume Industry Coalition Launches COVID Relief Fund, Sets $4.5M Goal For “Survival”

  This article speaks to the dire straits the costume industry is in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these costume shops have been closed since March 2020. This affects not only Broadway, but also Hollywood, the television industry, and other performance industries. The Costume Industry Coalition, a newly created organization for the pandemic relief of the costume industry, has estimated that they need to raise $4.5 million in order to keep costume designers' shops open.
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  2020-08-19

  Russian Ballet Returned to the Stage. Then a Covid Outbreak Hit.

  This article discusses the Mariinsky Ballet, one of Russia's premier ballet companies. As Europe is a bit ahead of the United States in reopening their performing arts, they began performing in July, in the middle of the COVID pandemic, only to have to close three weeks later when the virus spread throughout the ballet corps. Since then, the Mariinsky Ballet has been criticized for returning to the stage too early, despite the precautions they made against the virus. This incident has caused several other ballet companies across Europe to rethink their own return to the stage. In spite of these issues, many dancers are also wanting to return to the stage.
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  2020-09-07

  I Am an Arts Worker

  I found this post on Ali Ewoldt's public Instagram account. This post breaks down the importance of performing arts in the economy and explains the DAWN Act. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, performing arts venues have been closed down and unable to reopen, causing major financial losses to that business sector. The DAWN Act is one of several bills being considered by Congress to help the performing arts sector get back on its feet.
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  2020-08-11

  Will the Florida Theatre's Darkened Stages and Empty Seats Survive Covid?

  One of the oldest performing arts venues in Jacksonville, Florida, is the Florida Theatre, which over time has been an opera house, a movie theater, and a venue for concerts and plays. Even though under Florida law, they can reopen at 50% capacity, the layout of the theater is so small they could only operate at 25% capacity to maintain social distancing. Because of this, they have to remain closed as 25% capacity is not financially viable enough to open the theater. The Florida Theatre is a building rich in local history, and in the past they have stayed open to the public because of the concerts they host. Not only that, it is a major local employer, employing people directly and also contracting work from other local businesses.
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  2020-09-01

  Why some theaters in Jacksonville lit up in red

  This news article from Jacksonville, Florida, talks about Red Alert Restart. Over the course of the pandemic, performing arts and venues for performing arts have suffered economically. RESTART (Reviving the Economy Sustainably Towards A Recovery in Twenty-twenty) is currently a bill in Congress waiting approval. To raise awareness of their financial problems, theaters across the country on September 1, 2020, lit their exteriors in red to represent their financial losses due to the pandemic. Many of the participating theaters in Jacksonville are places I have seen concerts at or are places I have driven by many times.
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  2020-08-20

  Coronavirus pandemic impacting Alberta music classes this fall

  This article from Canada highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting both music majors in college and students in public school and Catholic school who attend music classes. It outlines many of the adjustments being made for music programs, such as colleges restricting voice, woodwind, and brass lessons to being online. Public schools have banned singing in school, as singing has been deemed a high-risk activity. This really highlights how the pandemic may affect performing arts long-term, as college and high-school students may not be able to receive face-to-face training or recital experience depending on their choice of instrument.
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  2020-08-24

  What the Coronavirus Pandemic Means for the Future of Broadway

  This article from the New Yorker touches on what the long-term effects on Broadway plays may be due to COVID-19. It touches on multiple issues facing Broadway actors, such as the recent deaths of Nick Cordero and Terrence McNally due to complications from COVID-19, the strain on the Actor's Fund due to the financial aid needed by unemployed actors, and how actors are continuing to try to perform during the pandemic. The end even touches on the Black Lives Matter movement and its possible implications on Broadway.
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  2020-03-18

  LIST: Cancellations & changes for Jacksonville-area events

  This news article from News 4 Jax highlights events in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, that were canceled as a result of COVID-19 during the early stages of the pandemic. Most notable was that the tour version of Hamilton was supposed to have come to Jacksonville, but was canceled due to the virus. Concerts and theater are one of the many ways people can connect and develop a sense of community. Not only that, the amount of canceled events hints at the economic opportunities lost, both for the city itself and for those involved with the performance.
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  2020-06-20

  COVID-19 Test Results

  In June, the tutoring company I worked for decided to bring us back into the office to work in-person after we'd worked remotely for a few months. About two weeks after starting back, I nearly failed a pre-work temperature check, started having a bad cough, and developed other symptoms of COVID-19. Thankfully this was the last day I had to work in person for a few days. I decided to go to CVS to go get tested for the virus when I hadn't improved the next day. My mom ended up driving me to the CVS. The branch that I went to had drive-thru testing, and I ended up not being able to take my test until 30 minutes after my appointment because of the influx of people getting tested. When it was my turn, the pharmacist handed my mom the test through the dropbox where they usually pass medicine through. The test kit had two disinfectant wipes, a pair of disposable gloves, the swab, a plastic bag with my name on it, and a test tube. The first wipe was for me to disinfect my hands before touching anything else in the bag. Then, I put on the gloves and grabbed the swab. This swab was long and pointy, and when I inserted it into my nose it made me sneeze. Once I finished swabbing both sides of my nostrils, the swab went into the test tube and the test tube went into the plastic bag. I used the final wipe to wipe down the outside of the bag before handing it to my mother to put into this biohazard box the CVS had installed outside. It took a week to get my results back, despite the estimated 3-day timeline. Though my test was negative, it still changed my life for the next months. My grandfather had chronic respiratory problems, and since social distancing was near-impossible in my tutoring job, I took cut hours in order to go back to working remotely. Arizona State University, HST 580