Theaters need help during pandemic

On Sept. 23, a group of actors from the Warner Theater in Torrington gathered at the Pleasant Valley Drive-In in Barkhamsted to put on a fundraising performance of “Assassins,” the Stephen Sondheim musical.

The theater itself, of course, has been effectively closed since March, as have most theaters in Connecticut and across the country. The coronavirus left actors, musicians and dancers without any places to perform — and the theaters without any revenue.

But, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. The Warner had produced “Assassins” before, so they had a reasonable estimate of what it would take to put it on in a socially distanced setting, and the drive-in was the right place. The audience sat in their cars; each member of the cast performed from the bed of a pickup truck. A small crew handled the lights, the sound, the projections and everything else required to put a show together.

It worked — and Stephen Sondheim himself was in the audience.

A triumph to be sure, but an imperfect one. It could have been one of the last ensemble performances in the state for some time.

As the debate over playing sports during coronavirus has raged on, the question of live music and art has been largely sidelined. But the arts are no less valuable to our lives — some would say more valuable — and the question of how to maintain the arts institutions, and support the performers, during this lull must be asked and answered.

While Gov. Ned Lamont has moved Connecticut into Phase 3 of the reopening, which will allow performing arts venues to open to 50% capacity effective Thursday, it won’t be enough to fix all of the problems. Some theaters still won’t be able to open because of distancing restrictions for the audience. For others, half-capacity won’t bring in the money they need to operate. And trying to ensure social distancing between performers backstage is a difficult proposition.

That’s why the state Department of Economic and Community Development must act quickly to approve requests for economic support from some of the state’s most prominent theaters.

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Westport Country Playhouse, and Yale Repertory Theatre have requested $12 million. The Bushnell in Hartford, The Shubert in New Haven, the Garde Arts Center in New London, the Palace Theater in Waterbury, the Palace Theatre in Stamford and the Warner Theatre in Torrington have proposed a $10 million relief package.

Those are modest amounts. One wonders if it will be enough to keep them afloat until it is safe to reopen at full capacity.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the $2.2 trillion HEROES Act, a broad economic relief package, which includes billions for local arts. Whether that bill will pass is an open question at the moment, but we can hope that some sort of relief package will pass before the election and that it will include arts funding to be distributed locally.

Meanwhile, the state should move quickly to approve the requests. The season for outdoor entertainment is just about over, and the theaters’ accounts are running dry.

Local theaters are vital parts of their communities. Among other things, they offer the “theater kids” an afterschool outlet that they can’t find anywhere else. Sports are great for athletic kids and for learning the lessons of teamwork and character, but not all kids are athletes. Theater teaches all of the same lessons as sports (and some better).

The performing arts also support thousands of jobs and provide millions in direct economic impact to their communities. Theaters must be able to reopen when the time comes, and that means being able to pay the rent and utility bills and plan for the future while no tickets are being sold.

Our darkened stages have been one of the harshest casualties of the coronavirus pandemic. Connecticut can, and should, extend all the support the theaters need.