Group gears up for COVID-19 special
Measures to curb the spread of coronavirus have made this holiday season different from anything people have experienced before.
Speakers Publishers & Authors Association Theater & Performing Arts Center has leaned in to that to present the virtual show “How COVID Stole Christmas & Now We’re Taking It Back” on Dec. 18.
“It’s really about the real meaning of Christmas,” said Jay Collins, who recently was named executive director of SPAA Theater & Performing Arts Center, which is based in Park Forest and had been staging shows in Chicago Heights prior to the pandemic.
“There’ll be some elements of ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ and ‘In Living Color.’ We’re pulling concepts from different sitcoms through the years for a common theme and making them our own.”
SPAA Theater’s Actors Troupe and Michael V. Wilkins Sr., founder and chief executive officer of SPAA, collaborated to write a murder mystery series featuring the virtual shows “The Death of a Pimp,” “The Murder of a House Wife” and “The Murder of a Side Chick” in spring and summer.
“The entire team got together and chose our characters. Dr. Wilkins gave us scenarios and we wrote the lines,” said Collins, who hails from Chicago’s South Shore community.
Collins also worked with Wilkins to write “Privileged,” which was presented virtually in November and offered what was billed as “an uncensored and comical look at white privilege in America.”
SPAA Theater’s first four virtual shows were done live but “How COVID Stole Christmas & Now We’re Taking It Back” will feature recorded material and live performance, which shifted the production from the original Dec. 4 streaming date to two weeks later.
“We’re doing quite a few musical numbers. Those will be prerecorded. We had to figure out social distancing and how to set things up to make sure everyone’s safe. This is a little outside the virtual boundaries that we’ve been used to,” he said.
Music for “How COVID Stole Christmas & Now We’re Taking It Back” is being provided by the Experience Count Band featuring founder, chief executive officer and bassist Jeff Hill, lead guitarist Anthony Peel, keyboardist Keith Brooks and drummer Mike Eason, who are all from Chicago’s South Side.
“The Christmas show is a very comedic take on what we’ve been through the last eight months during the pandemic,” said Collins, whose first of more than 30 shows with SPAA Theater was a 2013 production of “The Grinch Family.”
“Although things are different, we can’t really forget the spirit of the Christmas holiday, goodwill to men, peace on Earth and working together especially with everything that’s going on.
“We’re taking you on a journey from when the pandemic first began all the way to Christmas and how we have a lot to be grateful for.”
“How COVID Stole Christmas & Now We’re Taking It Back,” which is appropriate for ages 14 to adults, features 10 actors including residents of Chicago’s West Side, Matteson, Oak Lawn and Olympia Fields.
“They’re a phenomenal cast and talented individuals who sacrifice endlessly of their time and talent,” said Collins about the cast members, the majority of whom have been in previous SPAA Theater productions.
“We were known for musical revues pre-pandemic, but during the pandemic we haven’t really done musicals, so I’m glad people can see the singers and musical staff that we have at SPAA.”
COVID-19 has not slowed down Collins.
“I actually won a scholarship for a short story I wrote. That was how I was able to publish my first book,” said Collins.
Wilkins awarded Collins the 2019 SGM Hartman Wilkins Scholarship, which covered the cost to release “The Spirituals: Beyond Church & Religion Lies the Spiritual Awakening” through SPAA Publishing in April.
“We also have a SPAA collaborative book that was released about a month ago,” Collins said.
The SPAA collaboration “Overcome! Challenges Are a Part of Life, Overcoming Them Is What Makes Life Meaningful” features poetry, fiction and nonfiction.
“I don’t think people realize that a lot of the workers in our theater industry and entertainment industry have really been affected hard,” Collins said.
“Support not just SPAA but any of the local Chicago talent that have virtual shows or shows through any sort of outlet that is a positive means of entertainment.”