Hoping the shows will go on
Music spots, arts venues waiting to reopen — and maybe for a little help
off our open mic on Monday nights,” he said. “It went really well. You know, it made you feel almost normal for a change.”
But right now, “it’s the patio or nothing. You’re really dependent on the weather. So if it rains, the night is ruined. If it’s really hot out, the day and night is ruined.”
He’s been very careful with the music so far, moving it to an earlier hour, from 6 to 9 p.m.
“So for now, the musicians are playing for meals and tips ... and to tell you the truth, the tips have been great!” Heslin said. “A lot of times it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes you’ve got people playing to an empty room. But overall, it works.”
At The Windmill in Stratford, where the restaurant is open and even has begun doing some solo and duo music again, manager Kelly Doria said it’s been “hit or miss.”
The coronavirus shut The Windmill down at the height of its winter and spring busy season — St. Patrick’s Day, its busiest day of the year — and while it’s back open now, it cut back from being open for 84 hours a week (11 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week) to 45 hours a week.
It’s currently closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and while all of The Windmill’s employees are back at work, they’re working fewer hours.
“Most employees are OK with it,” Doria said. “We’re doing OK. I would say our sales are down probably 30-40 percent. We had a nice crowd last night for dinner, but Wednesday was really slow.”
The Windmill, which is located in a partially residential neighborhood that is sort of off-the-beaten-path — and has served that neighborhood and the town for 86 years now — has been doing music both outside and inside since June 20.
“A lot of the time we’ve been doing it inside. But when we’ve been doing it outside, thank God nobody’s been complaining,” she said.
The Windmill also is doing music earlier than it used to, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. rather than the old 8 p.m. to midnight.
“We’re just trying to get the word out that we’re open,” Doria said. “... It’s definitely not normal, but it’s as normal as we can get right now.”
For Carlos Wells, co-owner of The State House at State and Chapel streets in New Haven, “We’re along for the ride. We’re kind of in that really difficult spot of wanting to be open and not wanting to go under ... and wanting to be safe.
“Even when we reopen, I don’t know what capacity is going to look like for us,” said Wells, also a member of NIVA. “We’re still in our infancy as a business . ... I wish I could know ... exactly how we’re going to fare.”
“We really don’t know” what’s going to happen,” but “we’re hopeful,” Wells said. “We’re being as careful as can be with finances so that we can open when they give the word.”