Jonathan Rhys Williams, who took over as executive artistic director of Tabard Theatre Company in July, was certain he had figured out a way to bring the company’s season to audiences while also complying with Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Over the summer, Williams and his staff converted Tabard’s 150-seat venue in downtown San Jose into a livestream studio, installing a remote-controlled multi-camera system and removing seats to add appropriately distanced tech stations.
Over three weeks in July and August, Tabard used the new set-up to produce 11 live-streamed performances of “Looking Over the President’s Shoulder,” a one-man show starring James Creer that had only one performance in March before the shelter-in-place order shut everything down. The success encouraged Williams that it would be possible to produce Tabard’s upcoming season in a similar fashion.
But after “Looking” closed, a complaint was filed with Santa Clara County, which informed Williams that Tabard was violating the county’s health order that forced indoor theaters to close. Williams said Tabard wasn’t operating as a live theater but more like a television station, but that distinction went nowhere.
“If we were trying to be a live theater and have an audience, that would absolutely be against the rules. But what we are trying to do is have a very different business model,” Williams said, adding that fewer than 12 people are allowed in the house during production, everyone is masked unless performing and temperatures are checked upon arrival. “The last thing we want is for someone to become sick because of working with us.”
Ideally, Williams would like Tabard Studios — as he’s been referring to the repurposed company — to be reclassified so it can operate like a TV news station or churches that livestream religious services. At the very least, he’d just like someone from the county to see their set-up and offer clear guidance on what they need to do to be in compliance.
Williams has been in contact with Supervisor Cindy Chavez’s office, and they’re working to get him in contact with the right people. This isn’t an issue only for Tabard, either, as other performing arts groups in the county — including Palo Alto Players and Opera San Jose — have plans to stream productions.
To make matters more confusing, the Hammer Theatre Center, just a few blocks away from Tabard, has gotten a green light from San Jose State — which runs the theater — to operate as a studio and is moving forward with its plans. Having two sets of rules out there doesn’t make sense.
And for Williams, the clock is ticking. While Tabard’s San Pedro Square landlords have been patient, the company isn’t getting free rent. Williams canceled a performance by the Dirty Downtown Jazz Syndicate that was planned for Saturday night because of the lack of clarity. And actors are currently in rehearsal — over Zoom — for Tabard’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace: A Live Radio Play,” which is scheduled to open Sept. 18.
“We need to get this solved before then,” he said. “We’re in a real vulnerable position. We didn’t have a lot of money to invest in this equipment to begin with, and we don’t want to have to put it all on the shelf and watch it collect dust.”
IT’S THE MONTH TO BIKE: You might remember that Bike to Work Day in May was one of the many events disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. After all, it seemed pointless with so many people working from home — would people take a spin around the living room? But now the initiative to get Bay Area people out of their cars and onto their bikes is back this month with a new name — Bike to Wherever Days.
“Once people start biking for transportation, they’ll get hooked and become dedicated bikers who are ready to ride anywhere,” said Tim Oey, events manager for the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. Throughout the month, the SVBC is teaching virtual bike workshops and providing socially distanced “refueling” stations for cyclists. Get more information at bikesiliconvalley.org.
And while the official date is Sept. 24, you’re encouraged to ride your bike the entire month and potentially win prizes for the miles you put on by logging your rides at www.lovetoride.net/bayarea.
POETIC PLEASURES: The sixth annual San Jose Poetry Festival — online version, of course — opens Sept. 8, with former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera delivering the keynote on Sept. 11, when he’ll be joined through the magic of the internet by current Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Janice Lobo Sapigao and former County Poet Laureate Arlene Biala.
Otherwise, the six-day festival includes a wonderfully diverse lineup of readings, slams and workshops for poetry fans and writers of all levels. You can purchase individual session tickets or a festival pass. Get versed in the details at Poetry Center San Jose’s website, pcsj.org.
GOOD SHOWS: TiECon — which bills itself as the world’s largest conference for entrepreneurs — saw last spring that COVID-19 would affect its 2020 event. They moved quickly to launch a summer sneak preview event with Vinod Khosla and Deepak Chopra, and then built on that momentum to put together a slate of speakers for this past week’s conference that included former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and Zoom CEO Eric Yuan. They also partnered with Sand Hill Road reality TV stars Bill and Tim Draper to put a twist on the conference’s popular TiE50 startup competition.
The result was that registrations for the virtual event more than doubled last year’s attendance of 3,500 people in Santa Clara. And nearly a third of those registrants were from 60 countries outside the United States — triple the event’s usual international draw.
Closer to home, Cancer CAREpoint’s Garden Party fundraiser on Aug. 23 also had a strong transition to the virtual world. It has brought in $660,000 to the nonprofit so far, as people are still contributing to the “Make a Difference” campaign. More than 400 households registered, with “attendees” from as far away as Vermont and Maryland. Congratulations to the team, led by Sandi Frazer, Erin Baxter and Caterina Peterson, that executed the event, as well as Executive Director Dawn Hogh and KCAT-TV host Lissa Kreisler, who handled live duties.
