My Year in Theatre 2020 - Long Live the Arts

I received an email from the host site of this blog recently. It was a reminder to me that I have not posted anything in almost a year. The host site inquired if I was still interested in keeping the blog. So, I thought I should probably come up with something to write. I originally started the blog simply as a way to practice my writing, and I was enjoying writing about my own theatre experiences and about our local theatre community. When the pandemic struck, however, my motivation to write about theatre was gone.

The realization of how hard the arts communities and artists have been hit by the economic effects of the pandemic has been depressing. It has been nine months and the pandemic is worse now than ever. Our theaters remain closed. Our museums remain closed. Our studios remain closed. Our coffee shops with live entertainment remain closed. Our large concert venues remain closed. Artists continue to suffer financially. Add to this our nasty, embarrassing, and highly stressful presidential election as well as the horror of our national government encouraging racism, sexism and discrimination against anyone who does not act, look, feel, and believe exactly the same as everyone else, not to mention natural disasters, and the deaths of 300,000 of our fellow Americans due to COVID-19, and you can see why it has been difficult to come up with something uplifting to write.

As I look back on 2020 and try to push all the bad things to a far corner of my memory, I have found a lot for which I am very grateful. I think keeping track of the positives is important, even if they are outweighed by the negatives. My own personal year in theatre was actually interesting. The year started off great. I directed Crimes of Heart for Cedar Street Theatre. I was very proud of the cast and crew. We all came a long way during the rehearsal process, and I think the show was successful (a completely unbiased assessment, of course, lol).

I went straight from directing that show into an acting role for director David Wright's production of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, the famous Russian playwright with whom we did NOT have to collude to gain the rights to perform the show! The production was coming along very well. Lines were memorized. The set was built. We were only weeks away from opening night when we were shut down. To the credit of our director and the incredible team of artists, a decision was made to continue to rehearse over Zoom. The original thought was that by summer we would be able to be back on the stage. Obviously that did not happen. However, we have continued to meet monthly to keep our lines fresh with the hope that someday in the not too distant future, this wonderful production will hit the stage. I have grown very fond of my castmates in this show and look forward to seeing them monthly. After more than a year of rehearsing, the several monologues that my character recites will be ingrained in my memory forever methinks. Fingers crossed that this show will see an audience sooner than later!

Finally, I got involved in a production at Antelope Valley College. The entire production was done over Zoom. In fact, I have never met in person most of the people involved in the show. The show was an original script by Danielle Weinberg called Murder, Party of Ten, a spoof of murder mystery movies. I have nothing but admiration for our director, Erika Newman, for steering this ship into uncharted waters. It was such a new experience for everyone and we all learned as we plodded along through rehearsals. Left was right; right was left. All our instincts had to be ignored. We were provided green screens to set up in our homes. Each of us had to do our own tech regarding sound and lighting and recording. The show was not performed live but was fully recorded. It was a very different experience to act in a room all by yourself, reacting to only the sound of your fellow performers voice. From the feedback we received, I believe this was a very successful show. The cast and crew were top notch.

With all its flaws, Zoom has been a saving grace for theatre. There have been many Zoom productions throughout the local community this year. Everyone has had to be creative in getting their theatre fix. I admire all the steps and attempts that everyone has taken to keep theatre alive, not only locally but across the country and around the globe. The Broadway and West End communities have been hit especially hard, but the positivity that comes from the professionals on their websites and in their actions is inspiring, including benefit concerts and fundraisers.

I think it's important for everyone to take stock of the happy things (not theatre related) that happened this year as well. Many people suffered greatly, but there is always something to be grateful for. This year, we adopted a dog, Paddy. She has been a joy for the entire family and reminds us daily about unconditional love. This year my daughter, Hannah, graduated with a B.A. degree in English from UCLA. This year, my son Adam graduated with honors from Antelope Valley College and transferred to UCLA as a physics major. This year, the company I work for took all the right steps to keep everyone employed and continued to serve our community in the most positive ways. This year, my immediate family remained healthy despite some health scares earlier in the year. I am grateful for the love and support of my family and friends. I am grateful for the hope that next year will be better than this past one.

I think we have all learned the importance of the arts during this difficult year. Not to say that we didn't already know this, but in our countless hours stuck indoors, we longed for and sought out the arts to nourish our starving minds. We turned to the Internet and our streaming services to help get us through. We needed the arts as an escape from reality more than ever in 2020. My hope is that 2021 will eventually bring an end to the nightmare and that live theatre and all the arts will gradually regain its foothold in our lives again. If you have the means, I ask that you please donate to the arts, especially at this time of year. You will feel great for doing something positive in support of artists who are in need. Long live the arts!

In the spirit of spreading positivity across the Internet, I would love to hear some of your positive theatre stories or positive personal stories from 2020.

Sending you all love and wishing you a happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous, pandemic-free 2021!

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Gary S. is your average community theatre geek, residing in the Antelope Valley in Southern California where he participates in community theatre productions a few times per year. He works a 9-5 job in the medical field. He has the two most brilliant and talented kids. This blog is written simply for his need to write and for his love of theatre.