OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FUTURE
Optimism is the word that best describes the state of the arts. This time last year, arts groups all over Connecticut were canceling productions and facing an uncertain future. Embracing what they do best, they got creative. Many found new ways to tell stories and embraced virtual platforms to present events. One silver lining that has emerged is that several groups have partnered with others in these ventures.
“The year obviously was pretty devastating but we worked really hard at keeping our audiences engaged and finding other creative ways to produce theater,” said Daniel C. Levine, artistic director at ACT of Connecticut in Ridgefield, which was just about to launch its third season when COVID-19 locked things down in Connecticut last March.
Looking ahead, Levine said their next show will be “Into the Woods,” which will run for one week in mid-May. It won’t be your typical Broadway-style musical.
“We decided to do a really cool, exciting and elegant concert version of the show similar to The Encore series at City Center of New York,” Levine said. “We are actually going to partner with the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra so it will be like a symphony concert hybrid production.”
Mark Lamos, artistic director at Westport Country Playhouse, said they are learning new ways to create theater. In February, it had its first script-in-hand playreading, “A Sherlock Carol,” recorded in real time on Zoom, adding music for a virtual broadcast.
The Playhouse is now preparing for its production of “Tiny House” to create an intimate, virtual experience focused on characters. “I can’t wait to see what we dream up with the designers, the playwright, and the actors,” Lamos said. “We will approach each virtual production this way: What aspect of the play can we explore in this medium to tell the story we want to tell?”
Cynthia Rider, managing director of Hartford Stage, hopes to resume in-person performances this fall. Owing to the layout of the theater, adhering to the state’s six-foot social distancing guidelines would reduce its max capacity to only 25% of normal.
In the meantime, upcoming programs are exclusively virtual, including a new play festival in June and an April 10 gala that will stream for one week, featuring a special performance by Kevin Bacon — he starred at Hartford Stage in “Rear Window” in 2015 — and his band, The Bacon Brothers.
Kristin Huffman, artistic director at New Paradigm Theatre in Stamford, said they produced two outdoor events last fall that were well-attended and were looking forward to continuing to use outdoor spaces, including at its June gala.
The theater also is producing a number of video shows on Broadwayworld.com. “That’s a big site for our industry,” Huffman said. “We have a great relationship with them and they really like our content.”
“Footloose,” their big production for August, will be in-person as long as all performers and staff have been vaccinated. Huffman is optimistic that the show will proceed as planned. “Plus, we perform at Black Rock Church's theater space with over 900 seats, so we will totally spread out,” she said.
Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum executive director Cybele Maylone said her organization is proceeding cautiously, but having staff on the front lines eligible to be vaccinated will make a difference.
“We are opening two exciting exhibitions June 7, which we are all looking forward to: the first solo museum shows of artists Hugo McCloud and Lucia Hierro,” Maylone said. “Both exhibitions were significantly delayed by the pandemic, so they feel long overdue and we are incredibly excited.”
Jonathan Winn, founder and co-artistic director of Thrown Stone in Ridgefield, said things are full steam ahead for their August production because it will be outdoors. “We won’t be producing indoors until 2022. The vaccine is everything. The faster it rolls out, the more optimistic we are,” he said.
Like many, Kevin Connors, Music Theatre of Connecticut co-founder and executive artistic director, sees vaccinations as playing a key role in getting the public back into theaters.
“I am very optimistic in the direction things are going,” Connors said. “I believe things will phase back in, not just flipping a switch... But with the vaccinations, I believe it will be a gradual return. I’m going to be planning a normal season beginning in September with small one-night events this summer as a transition.”
Area arts leaders are not only optimistic about returning to normalcy but are embracing the positive side of what they experienced in 2020.
“We all had to press a pause button and deal with our health, our society, our government, our racism and our art form,” Lamons, the artistic director at Westport Country Playhouse, said. “I’ve also been able to experience the changing of the seasons, day-by-day in a profound way that has truly uplifted my soul and assisted personal reflection on how I want to live my future as an artist and artistic director, a friend, a mentor, a colleague.”
The year also allowed Lamos to have long, substantive conversations with his counterparts at Long Wharf and Hartford Stage, as they negotiated, renegotiated and pivoted plans, laid-off staff and took pay cuts.
“These new relationships have forged a stronger bond between us, and yes, we are discussing collaborations between theaters in the state as we head into an ever-uncertain future,” Lamos said.