That old expression “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” has never been more apt for theater companies throughout the Bay Area, which are dark until the “shelter in place” order is lifted.
But necessity is the mother of invention, and local theater companies like Hillbarn Theatre, Peninsula Youth Theatre (PYT), Dragon Theatre, Los Altos Stage Company (LASC) and others are finding innovative ways to entertain, educate and occasionally even bring in a little cash.
Dragon Theatre put together a series of digital events with remarkable speed, starting with a nearly two-hour presentation on Vimeo of “MacBeth” (for a $10 rental fee), which Dragon produced last year.
Dragon also offers a full schedule of streaming events starting with “The Covid Crew Review” featuring several actors in separate locations running a trivia game.
“That was one of our more logistically and technically challenging events,” says co-artistic director Max Koknar, who himself has been reading Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories and poems using virtual technology.
Hillbarn Theatre Artistic Director Dan Demers is also hard at work developing the virtual means to “get some new programming out to the community from both our theater and our conservatory.”
PYT Executive Director Karen Simpson jumped on the bandwagon right away. PYT has now switched to both videos and the online interactive platform Zoom to continue their performance classes. “Most of the video sessions are being done from home, but there are a few that were done at our studios before ‘shelter in place’ began,” she explains.
“Naturally, this affects our classes and rehearsals, and because of the limits on public gatherings, it limits when we will be able to perform for an audience again. We’ve had to develop multiple contingency plans to figure out the best possible outcomes for our participants.”
Both Palo Alto Players and LASC have postponed or cancelled their spring productions but are continuing their plans to open up new shows in September. The Players will offer “Allegiance” in mid-September, while LASC will open “Tiny Beautiful Things” early in the month.
“For ‘Tiny Little Things’ we’re adjusting our traditional audition process to respect ‘shelter in place’ orders,” says Allie Bailey, LASC’s production manager. “We’ll review submitted head shots and resumes, then we’ll send selected actors sides and ask them to send us a video callback audition.”
Members of the Ragazzi Boys Chorus, which rehearses in Redwood City, San Mateo and Palo Alto, are now staying at home and rehearsing remotely. Although their May 2 concert with the Peninsula Girls Chorus was cancelled, Ragazzi director Kent Jue created lesson plans and practice material for each week so members can keep learning pieces remotely.
Ragazzi’s accompanists created rehearsal tracks for the boys to practice their parts from their homes. The boys are asked to send back their work via video, and then each boy gets individualized feedback and notes. Jue says he see this as an opportunity for the leaders to work with each boy individually on their solo work and give them personalized feedback—something he says he’s been wanting to do for a long time.
Dragon Theatre’s managing director Kim Wadycki says the company will offer classes like “Adult Essentials of Playwriting” with Bridgette Dutta Portman and Neva Hutchinson’s acting classes in an online format as well. They’ll also run their youth classes virtually.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s education department is also gearing up to offer free short videos for teachers who are now working remotely, reports executive director Phil Santora.
Even though he has some background in virtual events, the Dragon’s Koknar says there’s still a big learning curve, “and we’re only at the beginning of it. I think our events will keep getting better across the board as we all learn what we’re doing, and of course, I hope the audience will build, too.”
He points out that even if a virtual event has a small audience when it goes live, if it’s available to watch later, audience numbers will grow. He bases his reasoning on the “Dragon Story Hours” they’ve presented, which were only seen by a dozen or so people when they went live. “Based on the analytics we can see, the story hours now appear to have been viewed hundreds of times since the live viewings,” he says. “That’s an interesting statistic we’re trying to get a better grasp on understanding.”
Having to cancel performances has been devastating to PYT’s 2020 budget, says Simpson. “I estimate that we will lose $50,000 to $100,000 in revenue if we are unable to hold performances in May. If this goes longer, that loss gets higher.”
Summer is PYT’s busiest time of year, says Simpson, so she hopes PYT will be able to get back to singing and dancing on stage by then. “Until then,” she adds, “our staff is being creative in working out ways to give kids access to our programs from the comfort of their own homes.”
Redwood City Youth Theatre Director Justine Bechler, who operates out of the Dragon Theatre space, echoes Simpson’s concerns. “We must change our tactics and make adjustments to overcome bumps in the road and achieve our objective, and that is where we find ourselves now.
“I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to adapt during this time,” Bechler continues. “We’ll keep on providing the same quality theater education in an online format. We’re working with professional theater artists to provide courses for students of all ages…all geared to ensure their personal artistic growth.”
In addition to the other online offerings Dragon is planning, Koknar says he’s hoping to add some scientific talks or lectures as part of the theater’s “Dragon on Demand” series. “We got some feedback from actors who are scientists by day that they would be willing to share some of that knowledge,” he explains. “We might also run some Q&A sessions so that the audience could ask a question about the lecture and get a virtual answer.
“All of us in the theater community are doing our best to keep theater alive during these crazy times,” he adds.
Hillbarn’s Demers agrees. “We’re all, on some level, trying to rewrite the rulebook for nonprofit theater.”
