Moving indoors doesn’tmean suffering a loss of quality
ALBANY, N.Y. » Sunday is the start of Daylight Savings Time.
In a normal year, I can hardly find anyone who is happy about losing an hour of daylight. In the time of COVID, the negative responses are even more emphatic.
This is especially true for those involvedwith arts and entertainment as it means very soon outside activities will come to a halt and all events move indoors.
The summer months have offered some relief from the social isolation that is a burden of COVID.
Outdoor dining brought people to restaurants. Barrington Stage and Berkshire Theatre Group produced limited productions of live theater. And a few places, like Powers Park in Troy, managed a series of controlled outdoor music concerts.
They were small but important gestures. They offered a sense that, perhaps, the new normal might be bearable. But, in fact, no one has yet defined the new normal.
Some theater companies are pushing the envelope to extend outside activity where it is a safer environment. Troy Foundry Theater is presenting “Models of Perfection,” a play about two young people being dispossessed from the stoop on which they’ve lived for years. It plays tonight through Sunday in an alley in downtown Troy.
Even though it seems cold for outdoor theater, the 60-minute presentation will support the uncomfortable theme of being homeless in a visceral manner. For more information go to troyfoundrytheatre.com
Another approach is for an arts organization to present their event virtually but try to keep the rituals of performances as close to normal as possible.
This past weekend, and for all future concerts, the Albany Symphony will offer their performances in real time with the musicians performing live together.
Before the concert there was a typical pr econ cert interview between A SO Music Director David Alan Miller and some of the creatives. A question and answer event took place after the performance, on Zoom.
Miller has designed the new season with musical pieces that only require a minimum number of musicians. The selections are such that some rely on strings, the others on horns and some require woodwinds. His goal is that every member of the 60-plus member orchestra gets to play live in a controlled safe environment.
The overall goal is that the ASO subscriber, or single ticket holder gets an experience that replicates attending a concert as close as is possible to a live experience. For the full season go to albanysymphony.com
Barrington Stage’s new normal is the opposite of the ASO’s approach. On Sunday, the Pittsfield, Mass. theater company is offering a film of a new Broadway musical that will be shown to a live audience.
“The Right Girl” is about Eleanor Stark, who rises to be the Chief Creative Officer of a major film studio. On this momentous day, she learns that an industry leader whom she admires is a serial abuser of women. She has to find her role in dealing with one of Hollywood’s most closely guarded secrets.
The 2 p.m. showing is the world premiere offering of the material. Intended for Broadway or Off-Broadway before the pandemic hit, the decision to film was the safest way to get exposure for the musical. It has a large cast of highly respected actors and is directed by 5-time Tony Award winner, Susan Stroman.
“The Right Girl” is drawn from interviews of more than 20 women who were sexually harassed by about a dozenmen.
Seating at Barrington Stage redesigned theater has been reduced to 160 seats from its 520-seat capacity. The extremely limited seating is further acerbated by a large number of industry professionals who are invited guests. Tickets are limited. However, streaming is also available.
For information go to barringtonstageco.org
The most familiar version of “new normal” is the Shakespeare & Company presentation of “Martha Mitchell Calling.” It’s a play about Martha Mitchell. She was the wife of JohnMitchell, Richard Nixon’s Attorney General during Watergate. Annette Miller reprises her 2006 portrayal role of the woman who had to choose between patriotism and personal happiness.
It will be broadcast free of charge using Vimeo at 7:30 p.m. tonight through Sunday. For information go to Shakespeare.org
The take-away is that the delivery systems for the arts are still in a state of flux, but the product offered is of high quality and filled with thought. Who knows? Indoor entertainment might work.