The Curtain Calls: Live Theatre, Opera Navigates Safe Productions
Bottom & Titania from the Classic Theatre’s production of “A Midsummer Night's Dream”. Photo: Siggi Ragnar.
August 13, 2020 - San Antonio
Article By: Brigid Cooley - Staff Intern, SA Sentinel
Adam Ochoa and Alyx Irene Gonzales were originally scheduled to star in the Classic Theatre's staging of "Our Town." The show, has been moved to next season. Photo: Siggi Ragnar.
Just three days before opening their production of “Our Town”, the Classic Theatre of San Antonio found themselves postponing their 12th season with no knowledge of when they would reopen.
“Yesterday evening, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that people throughout the U.S. should avoid events of 50 or more for the next eight weeks,” reads a March 17 Instagram post, announcing the sudden closure of the theatre to patrons.
While coronavirus cases continued to spike, The Classic began to realize it would take longer than expected to resume production.
“As things continued to go into April and May, it became very clear that we’re not just in a time of interruption; we’re in a time of disruption,” Kelly Roush, artistic and executive director of The Classic Theatre, said.
Rather than attempting virtual productions, the theatre is adopting classical solutions to live theatre by moving future productions outdoors.
“One of the health things that we know is that being out in the open air is safer,” Roush said. “If we go outside there is potential to be socially distant, have air flowing and certain plays, especially the Greeks and Shakespeare, really lend themselves to being outdoors.”
Downsizing from five shows to three, the upcoming season, coined as “Theatre in the Rough”, will follow a loose schedule to allow for unknown obstacles. No longer tied to one location, Roush hopes outdoor venues will allow The Classic to reach a broader audience.
The theatre announced a detailed plan for their upcoming season during their virtual cocktail hour on Aug. 9. Patrons can look forward to seeing “Macbeth”, “Our Town” and “Antigone during the season and can purchase tickets here.
The Classic will continue to update the community on their plans on their website or through their weekly emails.
The cast from Woodlawn Theatre’s “The Music Man”. In addition to continued online classes, the Woodlawn Theatre hosts virtual cast reunions to celebrate the theater’s 75 anniversary. Courtesy Photo: Facebook.
The Woodlawn Revisits Past, Prepares for Future
When the Woodlawn Theatre closed its doors during lockdown, the staff offered virtual lessons to students enrolled in their acting academy. As the city slowly opens up and residents adopt social distancing practices into their daily lives, the theatre works toward hosting live productions again.
“We’re staying on our toes, kind of in a holding pattern, but looking at smaller plays and one-man shows,” said artistic director Christopher Rodriguez.
Since the safety of patrons and performers is top-priority at the Woodlawn, Rodriguez said they intend to start with small plays and musical productions first, intending to resume regular programming sometime next year.
In the meantime, the theatre hosted a virtual cast reunion, celebrating the 75 anniversary of the theater building while looking back at past productions. The first was spent reminiscing their 2019 production of “Beauty and the Beast”, with performers from the cast singing songs from the show, discussing their audition and the behind the scenes process of putting on a show.
Rodriguez says the hope is to continue cast reunions and other virtual programming until it is safer to meet in public. Although the world was without live theatre for much of the year, Rodriguez hopes the appreciation for the art will continue to grow.
“The arts are what people are getting through these hard times with,” Rodriguez said. “They may not be able to go to a live show, but they’re listening to Spotify, watching Netflix. People are utilizing all these art outlets in a pandemic because it’s all they have, so hopefully when we get out of the pandemic we’ll have more appreciation for (art).”
The community can stay up to date with The Woodlawn by visiting their website.
OPERA San Antonio partners with Texas Public Radio and the San Antonio Symphony to broadcast opera performance. Courtesy Image.
Opera Wraps Up Summer Virtual Programming, Offers Radio Broadcast
For classical music lovers in San Antonio, virtual opera events provide whimsical opportunities to experience the art while practicing safe social distancing.
Sponsored by the Opera Guild of San Antonio, OPERA San Antonio collaborated with the San Antonio Public Library to provide a five part opera program, “Explore Opera for Kids!” While the program included interactive participation with those attending, children who missed the program will be able to access the video on their YouTube channel through Aug. 15.
For those interested in an old-fashioned night at the opera, the organization is partnering with Texas Public Radio and the San Antonio Symphony to broadcast OSA’s 2019 production of Puccini’s “Tosca”. The production is set to be broadcast for free for local listeners 7 p.m. Aug. 25 on KPAC 88.3 FM.
Individuals can also donate to OSA during The Big Give event scheduled for Sept. 10 by visiting their donation page. To keep up to date with OSA, visit their website.
Brigid Cooley is the editor-in-chief of The Mesquite, a student publication of Texas A&M - San Antonio. E-mail her at reporter@sasentinel.com.