No Ordinary Season

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By this time of year, rehearsals usually have wrapped up, schedules have been set, and tickets have been sold for the myriad performing arts venues across Kentucky. But not this season. COVID-19 has shuttered stages and canceled concerts nationwide. Many smaller theaters lost most of their revenue, resulting in budgets that hang by a thread. Other venues have adapted and found new platforms on which to share the arts, reaching audiences far beyond the Commonwealth’s borders. We talked to a few from across Kentucky to see how they are adapting to this difficult time.

Mountain Arts Center

The Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg had a full slate of shows and concerts ready to go for the 2020-2021 season. Then, COVID-19 hit.

“I think we say once a week: ‘Who would have thought we would be dealing with this?’ ” said Joe Campbell, the MAC’s executive director.

Campbell was forced to furlough many of the center’s full-time employees and all of its part-time workers last spring because of coronavirus. But, as things slowly began to reopen, Campbell said the center started bringing back some employees, scheduling some shows, and reopening its meeting rooms for public rental.

The MAC has been able to host a few concerts by local musicians. It has enacted strict social distancing guidelines, such as slashing the audience count and placing guests in every other row, although family groups can sit together.

The center has some events on the books for the coming months, but, as most people have experienced, nothing is set in stone.

“We just don’t know if that’ll happen,” Campbell said. “We’re in a holding pattern.”

In the meantime, Campbell said the MAC has purchased new equipment that will enable it to stream shows and performances online, so patrons won’t miss out on some needed entertainment. The center is relying on revenue from its rental spaces and its recording studio.

“We have a nice, full-fledged recording studio—anything like you would see in Nashville or New York City,” he said. “This gives an opportunity during all this to really push it hard and try to get some revenue from it. It’s available for bands, musicians and demos, and if you need to record a spot for a radio commercial, we can do it here.”

Campbell said that, once the MAC can fully re-open, it may have some national acts on the schedule. For now, it’s giving local artists the stage.

“At least for a little while and then build back up to some bigger events,” he said. “Our cash flow is pretty rough right now, so I think it’s going to take a while to dig out of that hole.”

To keep up with the latest schedule, visit the MAC’s website at macarts.com.

RiverPark Center

“Just because the world has changed, doesn’t mean our mission has. This pause in time is only an intermission.”

These are words of hope on RiverPark Center’s website touting its “Intermission” online series. The weekly presentation on the center’s YouTube channel enables local actors, dancers, musicians and poets the chance to showcase their work during a time when they normally would be on stage in front of a paying audience.

As a result of COVID-19, the Owensboro arts center has seen a 30 percent loss of annual revenue and a season schedule that can change at a moment’s notice.

RiverPark’s executive director, Rich Jorn, said this has been a crazy situation.

“Usually by August, your whole season is set up, you’ve done all your marketing campaigns, and you just wait for the money to start coming in on ticket sales and all that,” Jorn said. “Right now, you can’t get anybody to confirm … because they don’t know what they’re doing yet.”

Jorn said RiverPark does have a few acts lined up to take the stage, with strict health and safety guidelines in place, but at the mandated reduced seating capacity, Jorn said the center will lose thousands of dollars.

Jorn knows he’s not alone and that the entire live entertainment industry is in the same boat.

“The entertainment industry was probably the first thing that got shut down. We’re going to be the last thing that comes back full-speed,” he said. “Our whole industry is based on two things—having a crowd and disposable income—and the pandemic is pulling both of those right off the bat.”

In the meantime, RiverPark is booking what it can for in-person performances while also utilizing streaming technology to keep arts alive.

“Art is happening. Music is happening. Theater is happening, and here’s an opportunity to catch it [online],” Jorn said.

Check out the latest schedule and possible changes at RiverPark’s website, riverparkcenter.org.

Kincaid Regional Theatre

In 1997, a major flood devastated most of the town of Falmouth. Subsequently, the Kincaid Regional Theatre’s 1997 fall season was canceled. But theater treasurer Shirley Merrill said 1997 has got nothing on 2020.

The theater was able to rebuild after the flood and continue to entertain the community.

“But this summer? Wow. What a big disappointment,” Merrill said. “We’ve been through some storms, but we couldn’t have predicted this. This has probably been the worst.”

Brett Price, the theater’s artistic director, said it had reached an agreement with nearby Stonewood Gardens in the past year to begin hosting the gardens’ productions, and the momentum for a great year was building.

“We were just about at the top of the hill … and then, bam, COVID happened, and it halted all that,” Price said.

The company was forced to cancel its 2020 summer season, and the results were crippling.

“We have no income,” Merrill said. “With not having any productions, you can’t have audience ticket sales. Without a production, you can’t sell ads. Without a production, you can’t ask for corporate sponsors to be in your playbill. It puts a limit on all the ways we were making revenue. At this point, none of that is available.”

The theater plans to present at least two productions this fall, including the hit show Annie in December. But Merrill admits even that is “up for grabs.”

Not everything is doom and gloom. Price said the idea of live streaming the theater’s shows is on his radar.

“We haven’t had any official conversations about that yet, but I know personally, when it comes to scoping out the rest of the year, I think that’s something I think we could consider—especially with our Christmas show if we aren’t able to do Annie,” Price said.

To get the latest updates on what the Kincaid Regional Theatre is planning, visit krtshows.com.

Actors Theatre

When COVID-19 and its aftermath hit, Actors Theatre in Louisville immediately began looking at how to make the best of a bad situation and continue to share the arts with the public.

“What we’re just trying to figure out is how we can share good news in a moment where there’s a lot of bad news; a lot of demoralizing news; a lot of stressful, frightening news; a lot of cynical news,” said Robert Fleming, the theater’s executive artistic director. “We have invested in the digital platform, working in a virtual context. That’s just more than putting on plays without an audience on a digital capture. It’s actually transformed into something that allows us to broaden our connection with our stakeholders through different kinds of ways that we share stories.”

The entire 2020-2021 season will be what Fleming calls “transmedia storytelling”—virtual shows, audio productions and more that will be available online.

“People can access [our productions] from anywhere in the world,” said Patrick Owen, Actors Theatre’s chief external relations officer. “As word continues to get out about what we are doing and people continue to engage with it and they start sharing it, we believe our national audience is going to grow tremendously over time.”

Fleming points to the June Facebook Live presentation of Hannah L. Drake’s Fix it, Black Girl, which drew more than 400 live viewers—the equivalent of selling out the Bingham Theatre at Actors Theatre’s brick-and-mortar location on Main Street.

For the upcoming season, Actors Theatre will present eight productions ranging from one-act plays to radio dramas, all available online. Ticket prices to each event vary, but subscription packages are available.

More information on the show lineup and prices can be found at actorstheatre.org.

Singletary Center for the Arts

In ordinary times, the Singletary Center for the Arts at the University of Kentucky brings dozens of local and national acts to its Lexington stage. But the pandemic has forced it to close its doors to the public and shift its focus.

“So for the fall of 2020, it looks like we’re really going to be focusing our efforts on the academic mission for the College of Fine Arts,” said Matthew Gibson, the center’s marketing and ticketing director. “We’ll be acting primarily as a classroom space to be able to provide socially distanced spaces for music ensembles and other academic classes in the college.”

But Gibson said that doesn’t mean the public won’t be able to enjoy performances from the students. Like many professional theaters and venues across the Commonwealth, performances will be shared online.

“While it was difficult to initially accept the fact that we’re not going to be able to invite audiences in and not have the interpersonal aspect of the concert/performance experience, we’re looking at this as an opportunity to document these School of Music ensembles in a way that we haven’t been able to as much before,” he said.

“Normally, when you go to a concert, you have one seat, and that’s your fixed perspective for the entire experience. So we’re excited to be able to do some multi-camera shoots and show things to people in a different way.”

For updates on the Singletary Center’s online performances, check out finearts.uky.edu/singletary-center.