‘I miss it. I miss it all’

It didn’t take long for Samantha Mclaughlin to figure out why she was being called to the city of Vista’s human resources office.

As the technical director at Moonlight Amphitheatre, a venue run by the city, Mclaughlin oversaw a staff of nearly 70. Audio engineers, hairstylists, carpenters, costumers, makeup artists — people behind the scenes who are never in the spotlight but keep productions running like a welloiled machine.

When the pandemic hit, many immediately felt the impact.

“Because I employed so many people, they were affected long before I was,” she said. “I was one of the few remaining stagehands left. I kept going in, even though we didn’t have any shows. I was helping with ticketing. There are thousands of refunds and donations that have to be processed, so I was helping with that.”

But months after many of her colleagues were let go, Mclaughlin received the call.

Officially laid off July 1,

Mclaughlin said: “For months, there had already been a parade of people before me, so I just kind of knew.”

As a result, Mclaughlin has joined the thousands of stagehands across the country who have been furloughed or laid off as arts venues have shut down. Now, the reality of the news has hit her, followed by many questions and concerns.

She and her husband, Dallas, live in Temecula with their 6-year-old daughter. With her husband still employed in July — he’s an actor and performer whose full-time job is managing Youtube talent — her biggest concern had been how they’ll manage paying $1,859 a month to keep health insurance coverage. She also found out she was pregnant. Happy news, she said, but bad timing.

As a journeyman with Local 122 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, she can work at other venues around San Diego County, places like Balboa Theatre and the San Diego Civic Theatre. But all those venues are dark, too. She’s applied for unemployment and got approved.

“This sounds like a cliché,” she said, “but I was finally seeing what many of my friends and colleagues had gone through. Initially, when the shutdown happened in March, you thought it would be a month or so. Then a couple of months. But when I got laid off in July — four months later — I thought, ‘Oh crap, this is going to be for a long time.’ ”

In August, things changed drastically when her husband got laid off. Health insurance isn’t as big a worry anymore — “Now with my husband laid off, we can apply for Covered California and all have the same coverage, which makes that aspect a little easier.”

Mclaughlin added: “I think now our biggest worry is figuring out what to do next. We can’t just hang on for this to all end with a baby on the way and both of us on unemployment. So I think a big career shift is in our futures.”

She admits that for many people, especially those in the arts like her, making it work isn’t easy. That’s why Mclaughlin — who worked at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, for 12 years before joining Moonlight about a year ago — made it a point to help friends who have been laid off. When she and her husband sold their home in San Diego County and moved to Temecula in late April, she hired a few stagehands to help them pack and clear out the house for the move.

“The mama bear in me kicked in,” she said. “I’ve kind of always been that way. I want to help anyone get through whatever they’re going through.”

She knows that for countless stagehands, especially in theater, times are tough — tough enough to make her question about her future.

“The biggest question on my mind right now is what else I should be doing for a career,” she said. “What else can I do that’s going to be back before theater? The performing arts was the first to go, and it will be the last to come back. Should I be doing something else?”

What’s keeping her spirits up these days? Hope.

“In March,” she said, “I knew there was no way anything was happening through the summer. There was no way. It wasn’t realistic. But I’m hopeful that when things settle down, Moonlight will open again. Because of its outdoor venue, it’s set up the best to reopen sooner than others.”

This would have been the busiest time of the year for Moonlight, which mounts musicals in its outdoor amphitheater. And it’s not lost on Mclaughlin just how easy it was to take all of that for granted.

“I miss it,” she said. “I miss it all. I miss the last tech rehearsal before the show comes up. When it’s almost there and we’re making final tweaks to get it perfect. I miss the audience enjoying it. Yes, there are Zoom shows, but it’s not the same. Theater is meant to be experienced live, and I’m hopeful someday soon, we will get to experience that again.”

“We can’t just hang on for this to all end with a baby on the way and both of us on unemployment.”