The Art of Creation During the Coronavirus Era
Theatre has always been a place of comfort for me; somewhere I felt I belonged and was always surrounded by a diverse community of supportive individuals. However, comfort can easily turn to fear when something you hold so close is suddenly taken away. A lot has happened this past week, ending with Broadway theaters suspending their productions until the middle of April because of the Coronavirus. Everybody is practicing social distancing, including myself, and while I sit quarantined in my NYC apartment, I can’t help but reflect on the state of the world at present.
The Coronavirus has a lot of people in a panic. There are a lot of unknowns, and almost every hour there’s a new update informing the public of new closings, travel bans, or other forms of societal isolation. For Broadway, that big change happened on Thursday, March 12th, when Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that Broadway would go dark until the week of April 13th. In all of Broadway’s history, this is the longest shutdown. Schools have closed, canceling theatrical productions, and colleges around the country have begun canceling their senior showcases as well (Otterbein’s is still up in the air). People are disheartened and angry that their lives have been disrupted. Many seem to feel hopeless, and though these unfortunate events are frustrating, I believe out of this difficult period, great art will emerge!
On the same day Governor Cuomo made his announcement about Broadway closures, Lincoln Center Theater’s production of FLYING OVER SUNSET was supposed to have its first preview. This is a WONDERFUL new production with book and direction by James Lapine, music by Tom Kitt, and lyrics by Michael Korie. Seeing it get put on hold was quite disheartening. Many people worked on this production and were excited to reveal this original work to an enthusiastic audience, however, like many, a lot of company members were disappointed by the news of the suspension. They would still conduct an evening dress rehearsal, but the excitement quickly faded knowing they would no longer have an audience to interact with. The staff at LCT quickly came together.
That same evening, I was able to attend the dress rehearsal for FLYING OVER SUNSET that took the place of their first preview performance. Every staff member received an invitation to come watch, and what would have been an audience of zero quickly turned into a house of around 50 LCT staff members, all cheering on the cast, crew, and creative team. As an actor myself, I understand the strong desire to perform for an audience, especially after an extended period of rehearsals. Seeing each member of the cast light up when they saw us in the house filled me with joy. You can’t help but feel sorry for Broadway at a time like this. The work that went to waste, the loss of so many stories, and all of the actors who would’ve made their Broadway debuts. It is in these times, however, that we must remember what it means to be an artist; how art can make a difference.
Broadway is known for its big, flashy musicals and dramatic plays with big budgets. It can be easy to forget the true reason we do art. We get so distracted and caught up in the craziness of this industry, feeling as though we often have to “fend for ourselves.” We loose track of its real beauty; the ability to inspire and make a difference in someone’s life through storytelling.
During this time of hardship, I’m going to try and find the positives in my day to day life, and I encourage you to do the same. Don’t retreat to the dark depths of despair. Now is the time that audiences need you more than ever! You may be quarantined, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create. Now is the time to write that script you’ve always thought about, record that song everyone’s told you to sing, or collaborate with a friend on a scene. Just because the world’s been turned upside down doesn’t mean that theatre has to take a back seat. People need you, and lets face it, you need you! You’re going to be spending a lot of time in quarantine, so find the positives in this world and go create! Broadway will be up and running again before you know it, and when it does start back up, amazing art will most certainly follow.