On Stage: Performer’s largesse helps Theatreworks weather pandemic.
Theater companies everywhere are suffering mightily from the months of closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most have been shuttered for almost a year, and some have shut down for good.
Others have tried a variety of ways to tread water until it’s be safe to offer live performances again. Local theater companies are presenting filmed or live-streamed virtual productions with small casts. Smaller theaters are offering virtual classes and venturing further afield into late-night comedy shows and circus productions.
Theatreworks Silicon Valley in Palo Alto has the added budgetary burden of a large staff and more administrative expenses. But executive director Phil Santora says they’re cost-cutting as best they can and are fortunate to have longtime donors who are continuing to support the organization financially (Theatreworks gets roughly half of its revenue from contributions).
“While the pandemic has prevented audiences from joining us for live theater, we’re still making our work accessible to a broad range of the community,” he says. “We’ve been producing online content and hope to return to live performances later this year.”
Theatreworks staff has had to take some furloughs but is supported by the Payroll Protection Program, Santora says.
“This careful financial management has been augmented by the generosity of longtime Theatreworks favorite Hershey Felder,” he adds.
In partnership with “Hershey Felder Presents,” Theatreworks will offer streaming access to three new shows by the pianist and performer over the next several months, and the company will receive 50% of all ticket sale proceeds without incurring any production expenses. Felder’s stage shows about classical composers are a big draw for Theatreworks, and he has donated proceeds from several virtual productions to the company during the course of the pandemic.
The first new show is “Before Fiddler” with Felder as Sholem Aleichem, the creator of Tevye the Milkman in “Fiddler on the Roof” and many other stories in Yiddish literature. It will be live-streamed on Sunday at 5 p.m., with on-demand streaming access through Feb. 14
Besides Felder, the production features the Klezmerata Fiorentino Quartet, which consists of violinist and violist Igor Polesitsky; clarinetist Riccardo Crocilla; accordionist and bassoonist Francesco Furlanich; and double bass player Riccardo Donati.
March 14 will see the debut of “Hershey Felder, Puccini” at 5 p.m. The show features excerpts from Puccini’s operas “La bohème,” “Tosca” and “Turandot” and focuses on both the real women in Puccini’s life and his female operatic characters. “Puccini” will be livestreamed through March 21.
In the third premiere, Felder will portray Sergei Rachmaninoff in “Anna and Sergei,” purportedly a story based on Rachmaninoff’s meeting with a woman claiming to be Princess Anastasia. It is set in the Beverly Hills house in which Rachmaninoff died in 1943 and features many of his most beloved melodies and music.
“Anna and Sergei” will be presented live at 5 p.m. on May 16 and live-streamed through May 23. The show features Felder as Sergei Rachmaninoff and explores the composer’s meeting with Anna Anderson, a woman who claimed to be Princess Anastasia, the sole surviving member of the Romanov Dynasty.
Tickets are $55 per household for each show or $148.50 (a 10% discount) for a pass that offers access to all three productions. To order tickets, visit www. theatreworks,org.