Curtain Call: Broadway Ask Government To "Save Our Stage"
Broadway: The Broadway League has united forces with New York Senator Chuck Schumer in order to provide a bill that would provide relief to live revenues across the United States. Titled the Save Our Stages Act, the bill would provide $10 billion dollars in grants over the next six months to venues who have faced severe losses of revenue and permanent closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds would be workable with $12 million aimed at large-scale Broadway theatres in an effort to keep arts workers employed.
The S.O.S bill was written by Amy Klobuchar and John Cornyn and discussed in front of the red steps TKTS booth in Times Square. Members of the industry such as Broadway League Chair Thomas Schumacher and President Charlotte St. Martin, Schele Williams, and Tony winner Laura Benanti, among others, were present during the rally. All Broadway shows are currently shut down through January 3rd, 2021, with many industry experts contemplating opening up soon after that.
The cast of the Broadway show Jagged Little Pill performed a special rendition of “All I Really Want” at the Transformation 2020: Popular Democracy Defined event. The virtual performance included its original cast with Celia Rose Gooding, Elizabeth Stanley, Derek Klena, and Antonio Cipriano, among others. The song was presented as a “democracy remix” created specifically for the three day experience.
The virtual event was hosted by the Center for Popular Democracy and Level Forward, and featured panels, workshops, debates, and fireside chats for its audience. Topics ranged from LGBTQIA+ identities and activism to anti-Blackness in art and real life. Other Broadway performers present in the ceremony included Ali Stroker, Adrienne Warren, and Beth Malone, among others.
The critically acclaimed play What the Constitution Means to Me will premiere on Amazon Prime Video in October. The production, which was filmed during the final week of its run, will be the first project of Heidi Schreck, as she also announced an overall deal with Amazon Studios in order to create exclusive content for its platform. Schreck also stated that part of the proceeds will go towards the Broadway Cares COVID Relief Fund and the NAACP Legal Defends Fund’s Voting Rights 2020 Initiative.
Schreck earned two Tony nominations including Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play and Best Play, as a playwright, for the production which premiered on March 31st, 2019 at the Hayes Theatre. The piece presents Schreck in different time periods, as she juggles her modern self and her fifteen-year-old self in Constitutional debate contests. The production started making the theatre rounds in 2017 after premiering in the Wild Project that was part of the Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks Festival.
Roxanna Barrios, Bryan Joseph Lee, and Yuvika Tolani
Off-Broadway: The Public Theater has announced a round of promotions for its leadership team. Roxanna Barrios, Bryan Joseph Lee, and Yuvika Tolani will serve in three different areas for the theatre including Barrios as associate producer of artistic programs, Lee as director of the public forum, and Tolani as director of producing. Both Barrios and Lee had previously worked with the company as associate directors, while Tolani served as a line producer.
Lee stated that he will focus on The Public’s role and responsibilities involving community engagement. The announcement comes as a systematic shift that was long overdue according to Lee, who also expressed his excitement for BIPOC artists who are stepping in leadership roles. It was also recently announced that Saheem Ali and Shanta Thake will both join the institution as associate directors as part of a reshape in its artistic leadership effort.
The Soho Rep has also announced plans and new talents that will create works for the 2020-2021 season. Eight artists including Becca Blackwell, Shayok Misha Chowdhury, Stacey Derosier, and Jillian Walker, among others, have been hired through the Off-Broadway’s company initiative titled Project Number One. The project was launched in order to create jobs during the COVID-19 era by providing a $10,000 creation budget for their pieces and format, a weekly salary of $1,250, and health insurance through June of next year.
Additionally, the company has offered a $15,000 commission to Garrett Allan and Raja Feather Kelly through their initiative titled Writer/Director Lab and STUDIO programs. The company currently has four shows lined up for its 2021-22 season and will pay its lead artist in advance in order to relieve any financial troubles presented due to the shutdown. The company also took the opportunity to announce the inclusion of artist and activist Amber Tamblyn to its board.
The St. Ann’s Warehouse has announced an in person and virtual season for its 2020 season starting this fall. Productions will include a streaming through October 29 of the critically acclaimed all-female Shakespeare trilogy including Julius Caesar, The Tempest, and Henry IV productions filmed at the Donmar Warehouse in London and directed by Phyllida Lloyd. The season will also showcase John Cale and Lou Reed’s Songs for ‘Drella - A Fiction from November 13th to the 19th, and Reed’s Berlin, Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse starting November 20th until the 26th.
The venue also plans to continue its free unannounced concerts via the Get Back! initiative. Performances started on August 16th and will continue throughout the fall with artists such as Bobby Previte, Stew, and Baba Bibi. In September the venue will also be the home for visual art installations including Miguel Amortegui - Love in the Time of the Corona and a street photography showcase titled An Urban Canvas by Kobie Procter, which depicts photos documenting racial justice protests in America.
International: The 2020 Olivier Awards will move forward with a televised ceremony. The awards show will also feature various performances, interviews, and winner announcements in a mostly pre-filmed show that will take place throughout the London Palladium. Additional awards will be shown during the pre-show that will be presented on YouTube.
Due to the ongoing shutdown, the Society Of London Theatre plans to fully celebrate the theater community of 2021 in a ceremony set for April 2022. They also announced that they will carefully review the criteria for awards for future years in terms of diversity and inclusion. The original ceremony was set to take place in April 2020.
An opera performance in Madrid was halted after various complaints from audience members. The production of Un Ballo in Maschera ended abruptly during its first act after spectators were unhappy due meager social distancing standards in the mezzanine levels of the theatre. The company responded by relocating over 200 spectators to less crowded areas during the performance, which proved to be unsuccessful.
Patrons started clapping and shouting during the performance, which was delayed twice before eventually being halted. Madrid’s Teatro Real confirmed the opening of an investigation and offered audience members the option of returning tickets or relocating. The theatre was among the world’s first opera house to resume performances and had a successful socially distanced run of La Traviata during the summer.
