The Show Must Go On
Examining the absence of live performance
—By Alyssa Maria Melani and Sam Schoenfeld
It’s been over a year since the initial stay-at-home orders and Coronavirus shutdowns. Many industries struggled to stay alive during the pandemic, while individuals sought career pivots and changes to previous plans. College students traded in study nights at the law library and Kerrytown house parties for their childhood bedrooms and FaceTime calls with friends. After being apart for so long, it’s difficult to imagine any return to normal. Now, as we inch closer to widespread vaccine distribution, the question of how to reopen is more relevant than ever.
Among those hit hardest by the shut-downs are individuals in the live performance industry, whose careers depend on the ability to gather. Similarly, students at the university level have lost out on nearly two years of training, with no live performances and few in-person classes. To these students, the potential to and ability to reopen is a life-changing proposition, yet the importance of retaining “butts in seats” has been overlooked and overshadowed. Theater departments all over the country, including at the University, have been forced to adapt abruptly and frequently, but have been overlooked in many primary reopening conversations.
The Initial Change
The University of Michigan made the initial shift to online classes on March 16th, 2020, a plan only meant to last until the end of the winter semester. Now, nearly 13 months later, students are still learning remotely with no definite end in sight. Throughout this time there have been many changes to what classes and performances look like. Professor Priscilla Lindsay, Chair of Theater and Drama at the University of Michigan, describes the initial stages of COVID planning as controlled by a “hang on” mentality. Many unknowns, including building access and class formatting, caused difficulty when creating potential Fall plans. Similarly, issues of lay-offs, budget cuts, and performance capabilities caused frustration among faculty; “even by the middle of July we had no university guidelines.” SMTD students were desperate for answers about the plans for University Production’s season, mainly its live elements, that the faculty and administrators simply did not have. As student Charles Lee-Rossing puts it, “Zoom is one thing, being in person is another.”
In terms of searching for new faculty to fill teaching absences for the upcoming semester, “it was a gamble,” says Professor Lindsay. Not being allowed to make any permanent hires also meant greater options in who could be brought on temporarily, including individuals not in the immediate Michigan area. Another silver lining was the ability to connect students with a wider range of artists. Throughout the semester, SMTD students have had access to a record number of guest speakers, including Tony Nominee Alex Brightman and playwright/director Aaron Posner, because of the greater accessibility Zoom provides. As plans for the fall began to form, so did the creation of the Theater and Drama Friday Forum, a space for students to discuss relevant topics, hold town halls, and attend workshops with various theater artists and professionals. Spearheaded by Professor Geoff Packard and Professor Antonio Disla, the Friday Forum became a source of creative hope in the midst of chaos. “We’ve had some incredible masterclasses that we never would have had otherwise,” says Charles Lee-Rossing, a sophomore in the Theater Performance: BFA Acting program.
Luckily, the long waiting game and frantic last-minute planning paid off. Professor Lindsay shared with us that “not a single COVID case is linked to our SMTD buildings,” a feat few other schools or programs at the University of Michigan can claim. This has meant that in the past semester students have been able to navigate safe ways to create live theater, but reimagining these shows has been an extensive process itself.
Reimagining Performances
There was a big question mark surrounding whether performances during the pandemic were possible up until August 2020. With extensive safety guidelines plans, SMTD has been able to produce almost 10 shows during the 2020-2021 academic year. The season included a hybrid production of Chay Yew’s A Beautiful Country directed by Matthew Ozawa, which was originally slated to begin performances last April. “The set was built [and] the costumes had been built,” allowing for a semi-easy transition to the new production formation, explains Professor Lindsay.
The biggest change was that, rather than performing to live audiences, all performances were filmed. The lack of a live audience was the hardest part of working on productions this year, according to sophomore BTA, Holly Adam. Holly explained that even though people will see the show eventually, “that sense of gratification and ‘good stress’ that comes with performing a live show was definitely missing once we got into the theatre.” Holly said that the lack of an audience has not affected her education, but it has taken a toll emotionally. “My favorite moment at any performance is the bows; I love seeing the actors accept the applause after all the hard work they’ve put into the show. When the opera performers bowed and only about five or six people in the live audience clapped, it was a really sad and harsh reminder of just how different this experience was.”
Strict rules were implemented such as distancing, mandatory room rests, and required weekly COVID tests. Despite these precautions, the process felt relatively “normal,” according to Holly, who shared that she was “so grateful for the opportunity to attend in-person rehearsals and performances” after a year of being away from the theater. As a testament to the preparation and preparedness of SMTD, Holly explained that she felt safe during the rehearsal and filming process because “everyone in the rehearsal room and in the theatre was very vigilant about mask-wearing and distance.”
One silver lining of this year for SMTD students has been the experience of working in front of a camera, rather than the classical theater audience setting. Although many Theater and Drama students go on to work in the TV/Film industry after graduation, their training curriculums are largely lacking in this area. This year has given students the opportunity to experience a new type of production while gaining skills they wouldn’t otherwise have.
“If there is one good thing to come out of staying at home, it has been artists’ abilities to adapt and try new things. I myself have moved into trying other mediums like voiceover, audiobooks, radio plays, and zoom plays,” shares Stefania.
The Big 10 Dilemma
Those who know the University of Michigan will tell you that the school’s athletics teams have lives of their own. When it came to creating a plan for navigating COVID, the university and sports acted separately. “Sports was its own thing,” explained Professor Lindsay. Athletics at Michigan is its own business, with an autonomous fueled primarily by football, which allowed athletic teams to make their own rules. The autonomy of football and other sports, and the greater attention and abilities this gave them, wasn’t hidden from students. “Football was the number one priority,” says Stefania Gonzalez, a sophomore and theater performance major.
The university initially vowed to hold off on a football season, shutting down and following the same protocols as every other program, but it wasn’t long before these plans were reversed. Emily Giambalvo from the Washington Post spoke with a senior administration official from the past presidential administration who reported that the White House was “heavily involved in discussions…to revive the Big Ten season.” The American government has been involved and invested in the reopening of college sports from the beginning, while the arts, especially on a college level, are not getting that kind of attention. “Money is able to buy anyone out,” argues Stefania, “and somehow they were able…to do a season in the midst of our biggest wave of cases.”
Shawn Windsor from the Detroit Free Press took this issue to task, ridiculing the University of Michigan’s insistence on finding a way for 2020-2021 football to happen. “College football isn’t that important,” he argues, “nor is it separate from the rest of the university, no matter how much money or attention it may bring.” Although the University of Michigan was among the top in college athletics for the planning of and implementation of COVID protocols, this didn’t prevent numerous shutdowns, including one which came at the end of January 2021 following numerous positive tests for the COVID B.1.1.7 variant.
For some students, including Stefania, the prioritization of sports over the arts is familiar and personal, “It infuriates me…we all want to keep doing our things.” This isn’t just a University of Michigan issue. Nationally, as Broadway shut down and some theaters closed their doors for good, sports teams were already planning their grand reopening plans. In June 2020, Tom Goldman from NPR wrote an article describing the pending reopening plans for 10 different sports leagues. Many of these leagues were planning to reopen by July 2020. In comparison, Broadway and most regional theaters will still be closed a year later in July 2021. “Sports are clearly the priority nationwide,” quips Holly, and she’s right. During the September 24th Presidential Debate, President (at the time) Donald Trump interjected that he “brought back Big Ten football,” equating the revival of college football to the importance of other political topics. The issue of athletics has also become a political one, garnering more attention and care than the arts.
At the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, there was a lack of access to COVID testing for students who were participating in SMTD productions. Meanwhile, the football team had access to regular testing. This fact supports the discrepancy between the way athletes and performers are treated at the University of Michigan.
In the end, the key question that still stands is one posed in our interview with Holly Adams, “If close-contact, in-your-face sports like football and basketball can happen, why can’t distanced, masked performances?”
A Year of Growth
Although the past year has been incredibly difficult for theater makers around the world, it has also been a year of personal growth. Berrit Keller, a recent Michigan graduate, explained that “in terms of theater, it felt like the year was lost, but in terms of personal growth, it felt like 10 years.” Taking time away from the theater has given artists time to reflect on their physical and mental well-being in a way that is nearly impossible during the strenuous schedule of a rehearsal or performance process. Stefania explains that “time is…a blessing in helping with mental and physical health. Not spending every hour in the rehearsal room leaves more time to take walks, do yoga, journal, and just spend time with myself.” Holly explained that she and her friends are now working on “new projects or pursuing different creative outlets that they otherwise might have disregarded if not for COVID and lockdown.” Increased flexibility is another product of the past year of staying home. Stefania says that “if there is one good thing to come out of staying at home, it has been artists’ abilities to adapt and try new things.”
Time provided by COVID also set the scene for students of the Theater and Drama major to take actionable steps toward unraveling systems of oppression built into the University. Through a list of demands, drafted by members of the BFA Theater Performance: Acting Class of 2022, the needs for creating a safe environment for the department’s BIPOC students were voiced directly to faculty and staff. The list included a series of short-term requests, such as the implementation of a “bail system,” a way for students to safely remove themselves from triggering emotional environments, as well as more transparency with students when formulating plans for the school year. A section of long-term demands, inspired by the White American Theatre letter, was also incorporated into the document. It’s an example of difficult times being used to create effective change for the future.
Looking Towards Reopening
After over a year away from the stage, students are itching for some semblance of normalcy in the upcoming semester. It’s more than likely that COVID will still be on people’s minds as we re-socialize, but what exactly mass gatherings will look like (or if they’ll even exist) is still to be determined. For a university of the caliber and magnitude of the University of Michigan, there are many questions yet to be answered. According to Professor Lindsay, issues like budgeting and the ability to have audiences will likely not be answered until mid-summer. The consensus among most is that in-person classes are the goal, but it’s a question of how to score the touchdown. Protocols, like masking and social-distancing, will likely still be in effect even after widespread vaccine distribution. Navigating these safety measures will be a major obstacle in bringing back live theater.
The students of the University of Michigan are hoping for a normal fall semester, but as Stefania puts it, “who knows what normal is anymore?” Holly and Stefania both hope for in-person classes and performances. Holly explained that she is hopeful that “student orgs like Basement Arts will be able to host some in-person performances and events again!” Stefania hopes for “in-person performances where audiences can come to the theaters again.”
In the end safety is paramount and until we can find a way to effectively (and hopefully permanently) navigate the virus, theaters will stay closed. Recent efforts from Mayor de Blasio to reopen Broadway by September, as well as plans for outdoor summer performances, are signs of hope for theater workers. The need for re-opening theater is not just an economic or moral one, but also a cultural one. As NPR quotes the mayor saying, theater is “part of our identity.” As Stefania put it, hopefully someday soon “we can just enjoy theater the way it was meant to be.”
Feature photo, State Theater; Photo Credit, Alyssa Maria Melani