Stepping up for theater
Laid off from Hartford Stage, she’s running 55 miles to help theater reopen
Erin Keller, who was laid off as Hartford Stage properties manager because of the pandemic shutdown, plans a 55-mile run across the state to raise money for the theater’s reopening.
Erin Keller helps theater shows run smoothly. With theaters closed, she just runs. On May 29, she’ll run 55 miles along the Farmington River Trail, from the Massachusetts border to New Haven, to raise money to help her former employer, Hartford Stage, reopen.
“My position was eliminated in July,” Keller says. “Fingers crossed that they’ll hire meback whenthey return. There are no guarantees.”
Keller was hired in 2013 and became the Hartford Stage properties manager during the 201516 season. She is one of the many casualties of the COVID-19 shutdown at the theater, which hasn’t staged a live production since March 2020 and has had to let go the majority of its staff during the past year. Hartford Stage hopes to begin producing live shows by the end of the year, but is unable to return at a reduced seating capacity.
On the Facebook fundraising page she set up for the run, titled “Acting like I can run for Hartford Stage,” Keller writes: “I’m taking the scenic route this time. On May 29th, I’m going to run through the entire state of Connecticut, top to tail. It’s 55 miles. It’s not going to be easy, but if working in the theater industry has taught me anything, it’s that impossible is just a frame of mind. And I want to raise funds for Hartford Stage so we can get that stage door back open and get some great theater happening again.”
Keller learned from the interest in her statewide run that “people
arereally hungryforthearts.” She has been “involved in the arts since I was a kid.” She grew up in St. Louis, studied theater at the University of Missouri and got an MFA in properties design and management from Virginia Tech. ShemovedtoConnecticut when a job opened up in the properties department at Hartford Stage.
“I have not done anything like this before. I just came up with it. I had a friend whoran from NewHaven to Southwick. The idea struck me that the Farmington Canal Trail runs through the state.” So she began plotting howtorun55milesalongthe trail. This includes locating convenient rest stops, getting familiar with the route and finding the many brew pubs and cafes along the trail whereshecantell her friends to sit, have a beer and waveat her as she runs by.
Keller originally set a goal of $1,000, but between her theater friends and her running friends, “we passed that amount in the first few hours,” she says. The goal was reset to $3,000, and by Tuesday she had raised $2,384 with over twomonths to go before the run, so it will be likely be reset again. “The goal is to raise as much as possible,” Keller says.
Though the 55-mile run planned for late May will be the longest distance she has attempted, Keller has been training in good company. She’s been working at Fleet Feet, the running shoes store in West Hartford. She’s joined running clubs (including Manchester Running Company, one of the largest running clubs in the state), run several marathons and also taken long solo runs.
Before announcing her intentions to run a 55-mile fundraiser, Keller says she “reached out to Hartford Stage” for their blessing.
Hartford Stage Managing Director Cynthia Rider said in an email to The Courant: “Weareinspiredandgrateful for Erin’s fundraiseronbehalf of Hartford Stage. We are continually humbled by the generosity of spirit so many of ourcolleagues andartisans have shown throughout this past year while we have not beenproducinglivein person performances. Doubly we have been inspired by those who have supported our ‘Raise the Curtain’ campaign. We look forward to cheering Erin on for her run on May 29.”
She’s also getting support from theater friends.
“Iknowalotofout-of-work stage managersnow, whoare more than happy to organize this with me,” she said.
Keller’s fundraising page is Acting like I can run for Hartford Stage on Facebook.