Ontario’s performing arts sector ‘running out of time’
Organizations call for rehearsal allowances so they can reopen too
“We just want to be treated like any other industry.”
This sentiment from awardwinning actor Chilina Kennedy sums up the viewpoint of Ontario’s exasperated performing arts sector, which sent a letter late last week to Premier Doug Ford and other government leaders asking for adjustments to Ontario’s Roadmap to Reopen that take the needs of the performing arts on board.
Close to 100 organizations from across the province signed the letter including the Stratford and Shaw festivals, Mirvish Productions, the National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre, and numerous arts support organizations and unions. On Monday, the consortium launched a social media campaign to raise awareness of their concerns under the hashtag #FairnessForArtsON.
Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy is among the prominent artists and arts leaders speaking out as part of the campaign.
The need for adjustments is particularly acute for organizations that have been planning outdoor summer programming using the previous colour-coded government framework as a guideline. Organizations have committed millions of dollars to customize outdoor venues to make them safe for spectators and performers alike.
The industry has put three requests to the government: that rehearsals and digital content capture (that is, filming of live performances to be transmitted digitally) be allowed in Step 1 of the government plan; and that capacity limits for audiences be set in percentages rather than numerical terms in Steps 2 and 3.
There are no provisions for rehearsal in the new Roadmap, noted Mitchell Marcus, artistic and managing director of the Musical Stage Company, one of five organizations on the steering committee behind the letter. “There’s a presumption that performances in these outdoor spaces can start up in Step 2 having never rehearsed in Step 1,” Marcus said.
“Like sports, and like restaurants, we need the ability to practise and prepare to reopen,” said Monica Esteves, executive director of Canadian Stage, another steering committee member. “And if that decision is made two or three weeks from now it will be too late.”
The earliest possible date for Step 1 of the Roadmap to begin is June 14. If that happens, rehearsals may start at the earliest on July 5, likely prompting delays, cuts or wholesale cancellation of some organizations’ outdoor summer plans.
“We’re running out of time,” Marcus said, “simply because there’s not enough information to make decisions.”
Before the current stay-athome order, livestreaming and recording performances was permissible, but provisions for this are not included in Step 1 of the Roadmap. Those organizations that do not have outdoor venues and which “want to get content out in the next six weeks have no way to do so, yet again,” said Marcus. “They’re actually being penalized as we come out of shutdown.” By contrast, film and television companies are allowed to work with no more than 50 performers on set even before Step 1 begins.
Blue Rodeo has been planning a livestreamed show from the Danforth Music Hall for several months and has repeatedly pushed back the date given lockdowns and changing government guidelines. “The music and theatre communities have been devastated by the pandemic,” Cuddy said. “Not only have we lost the opportunity to play for our audiences, but the ancillary jobs that support many artists are gone too. Our industry has been livestreaming for years and we should be treated in the same manner as the film and TV industry.”
The amount of people allowed to attend live performances is expressed numerically in the Roadmap rather than as a percentage of capacity, which performing arts leaders find questionable given that venues across the province range in size from less than a dozen seats to more than 3,000.
“It’s unfair when other sectors are given competitive percentage capacities that we are not,” said John Karastamatis, director of sales and marketing for Mirvish Productions. “I can fully understand and appreciate and respect faith-based services and how important they are. There are capacity percentages for those services. The same thing with restaurants and retail.”
Such thinking “does not take into account one of the most important pillars of the performing arts,” Karastamatis said. “It’s a communal experience. Having 50 people in a 2,000-seat theatre, it will defeat that purpose. You might as well be at home or across the street.”
Kennedy, who has committed to perform in an outdoor theatrical production that could be impacted by the inability to rehearse in Step 1, expressed frustration at the lack of consideration of the performing arts in the government’s plans. “We all understand that we need to make sacrifices,” said Kennedy. “But I think that what we’re being asked to do right now as an industry in Ontario is not fair. Artists want to get back to work. I think people sometimes underestimate what the performing arts give back to the economy, and the hearts and souls of the people.”
Performing arts organizations across Ontario have been working together for over a year on health and safety plans for reopening, said Marcus, also noting the relative safety of performing arts gatherings: “These are not like large-scale, uncontrolled public events. We are talking about an incredibly controlled setting to bring people into, where people will be sitting in a stationary position, distanced from other audience members, facing all in one direction. There are way fewer variables in our world than playing a game of soccer or, frankly, even serving a meal to a group of diners.”
As soon as lockdown lifts, Marcus said, “this sector is ready.”