Theater forecast: Cloudy with breaks of sun
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Every year, on or about the Memorial Day Weekend, I create a calendar for upcoming summer events.
It’s almost painful to do the same for 2020 because so much has been cancelled or postponed. It’s a sad reminder of the bleakness of prospect for entertainment.
However not everything has been cancelled, though some local productions are extremely tentative.
Capital Repertory Theater was set to open their new Albany theater with the musical, “Sister Act,” on July 11. The show has not been cancelled and Artistic Producing Director Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill insists the theater space will be ready on time.
The question is will the show, with a substantial cast, be able to be mounted? The option remains to alter the scheduling and produce a smaller show. And if so, what seating restrictions will be necessary to make an audience safe and feel mentally secure?
Park Playhouse is in the same position.
Their opening musical “Evita,” which was to run the month of July has been cancelled. However, the second production, “Matilda: the Musical,” is still scheduled for August. The tentative plan is to scale the seating capacity to about 300 people in order to accommodate social distancing rules.
The production will still be free, but tickets will be required in order to maintain seating regulations. Masks will be mandatory for members of the audience. There is also the option to offer a different title.
However, time is closing in on the clarification on mass gathering regulations, which would permit the City of Albany to allow large numbers of people in the Washington Park Amphitheater.
Being an outdoor venue helps. Another asset is that the cast is composed of elite student performers of Park Playhouse. When you use outside actors, longer lead times are usually necessary. With local students, Park Playhouse can wait closer to show time to perform or cancel.
There will however, be theater in the near-by Berkshires. Both Barrington Stage Company and the Berkshire Theatre Group have announced seasons that will begin in August.
Barrington Stage has a summer series of one-person events, plus an outdoor concert version of “South Pacific.” The mainstage theater will only use every other row, with an aisle empty before and behind ever patron. There will be two vacant seats next to parties in the same row. The box office will be outside and extra entrances and exits will be in use to avoid congestion.
The shows will all be performed without intermission and audience member will have to wear facemasks.
The shows are “Harry Clarke” (Aug 5-16) about a timid man from the Midwest who breaks into high society in New York City. His cocky manner turns reckless, adding to the comedy. It is followed by the outdoor concert version of
“South Pacific,” at a downtown Pittsfield site to be determined.
On Aug. 24 and 31, BSC will offer two of the best cabaret singers in the industry. Marilyn Maye will be offering Party Time on the 24th. Ann Hampton Callaway celebrates the Linda Ronstadt Songbook on the 31st.
September starts on the 5th with a play reading “Eleanor” about Eleanor Roosevelt. The world premiere is written by Mark St. Germain and stars Harriet Harris.
It is followed by a onewoman concert as BSC favorite Leslie Kritzer presents “Is It Over Yet?”
Looking ahead, the Arthur Miller drama, “The Price” runs October 1-18. For more information go to barringtonstageco.org
The Berkshire Theatre Group operates three Berkshire venues. The Fitzpatrick mainstage, the smaller Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, Mass., and the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. The organization plans a show in each space. To date, no social distancing plans have been announced. This information is subject to change as circumstances dictate.
The season starts August 7 in the Unicorn Theatre, with the small musical “They’re Playing Our Song.” It has a book by Neil Simon, music by Marvin Hamlish and lyrics by Carole BayerSinger. It is a musical version of the angst filled reallife romance between Hamlish and Bayer-Singer. It runs through Sep. 13.
Aug. 22, 25 and 28, the Berkshire Opera presents the Mozart Opera “Don Giovanni.”
The other scheduled show plays on the Fitzpatrick main stage July 30Sept. 5. It is the joyous musical “Godspell,” a work that tells the story of Jesus and his apostles in a winning, entertaining yet respectful manner. It was the show that brought Stephen Schwartz to the public’s attention.
For more information on Berkshire Theatre Group go to berkshiretheatregroup. org