McAninch Arts Center streaming fall season
The sudden shift in the weather sealed it, but in all honesty I have had one rather depressing thought looming in my head since the end of August: Winter is coming.
Winter is hard enough in the Midwest without a pandemic keeping many people from doing many indoor activities, from going to the gym to dining out to hitting the multiplex.
One of the more recent holiday traditions I started in my family was seeing the always excellent Second City touring company’s show. My sons are in their 20s, and many holiday events and shows are geared toward little ones. After having said for several years, “we should go to that” about the Second City holiday show, I finally pulled the trigger a few years ago and learned my sons really like improv comedy.
Luckily, this year we won’t have to miss it.
The McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage has announced an all-streamed fall 2020 season.
As most major suburban theaters remain shuttered to wait for a chance to open to patrons, these streams can provide some badly needed new entertainment.
And North Central College announced this week that Jim Brickman will perform in an interactive Zoom concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 4. Tickets, which go on sale Sept. 18, are $40-$125. Proceeds will benefit North Central College Fine & Performing Arts. Go to jimbrickman.com.
McAninch Arts Center Director Diana Martinez said staying closed was never an option. “I never wanted to cancel our season; there’s too great a need for cultural and human
connection right now. When we realized the impact COVID was having on the arts and artists, our staff had several meetings to discuss options and ways to stay relevant, while also keeping people safe.”
Livestreaming was considered as a safe choice for audiences of the McAninch-based New Philharmonic, but what about the performers? The performers badly wanted to get back to work, but obviously safety was a major concern, Martinez said. “We listened to industry webinars and read studies on what it takes to make it as safe as possible to perform, and shared information and kept looking at possibilities.”
It hasn’t been easy. “We had to change the way we do everything. We examined the way we could make things safer from rehearsing and performing outside, to making special instrument masks, reconfiguring dressing rooms with partitions, adding plexi-shields to music stands, logistics of PPE and cleaning protocols.”
They also had to create safe spaces both onstage and backstage, even assigning restrooms, Martinez said.
Then they set to work figuring out how to sell and distribute tickets.
“We are grateful to The JCS fund (a private, anonymous donor’s fund) and the DuPage Foundation who stepped forward with a generous matching grant to help us produce the first John Williams Concert, and truly, it is the only reason it was possible to try this,” Martinez said.
It’s paying off, too, as “95% of our subscribers have kept their subscription and will enjoy the season online,” Martinez said.
Some people said they did not want to watch shows online, and donated their ticket costs. Only a “handful” asked for refunds, Martinez said.
Sounds like I’m not the only one looking for things to do. Maybe you’ll find a new tradition for your family in this list.
Tickets are currently on sale for the following shows. Tickets are sold per household. Not all performances will be livestreamed from McAninch stages.
“The Magic Parlor At Home” featuring magician Dennis Watkins: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18 and Sept. 25; 8 p.m. Sept. 19. Tickets: $65.
United States Air Force Shades of Blue Big Band: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9. Tickets: free.
Student Ensemble Concert featuring the COD Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Singers and Small Group Jazz Ensemble: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14. Tickets: $7.
College Theater’s “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later:” By Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber; directed by Connie Canaday Howard. Filmed and produced on Zoom. 7 p.m. Oct. 15-17 and Oct. 22-24; 3 p.m. Oct. 18 and Oct. 25. Tickets: $16. Mature audiences.
College Faculty Recital: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22. Tickets: $7.
New Philharmonic: The Music of John
Williams: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 24 and 3 p.m. Oct 25. Tickets: $40.
“A Christmas Carol:” by Charles Dickens, adapted by William J. Norris; directed by Amelia Barrett. 7 p.m. Nov. 27; 3 and 7 p.m. Nov. 28-29. Tickets: $16.
DuPage Community Jazz Ensemble: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3. Tickets: $7.
The Second City: “I Saw Mommy Kissing the Second City:” 7 p.m. Dec.
5. Tickets: $30.
College Music Chamber Orchestra: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8. Tickets: $7.
College Music Small Group Jazz Ensemble: 12 p.m. Dec. 10. Tickets: $7.
College Music Chamber Singers: 7:30 p.m. Dec.
10. Tickets: $7.
New Philharmonic: “Holiday Sing-Along with the Symphony:” 7 p.m. Dec. 12; 3 and 7 p.m. Dec. 13. Tickets: $40. Ticket buyers will be emailed a song sheet of lyrics.
Presley, Perkins, Lewis & Cash: “Million Dollar Christmas:” 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19. Tickets: $50.
New Philharmonic: New Year’s Eve Concerts featuring soprano Alysa Jordheim: 2 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. Dec. 31. Tickets: $50.
Tickets are available at atthemac.org. The website also offers some free lectures and music performances.