The shutdown of shows by two North Texas theater companies raises questions about whether a new cessation of live performances is looming. Despite rising cases of coronavirus locally and nationally, the immediate answer is no.
The biggest production in town is the first Broadway tour since the pandemic shuttered theaters in March 2020. Dallas is the debut stop for Wicked, which is set to open Tuesday at the Music Hall at Fair Park. Dallas Summer Musicals says the show will go on with precautions that have been in place since tickets went on sale in May.
That includes requiring audiences to wear masks at all times, except when they are eating and drinking before the performance and during intermission in the lobby. Food and beverages will not be allowed in the theater.
A June agreement between Broadway producers and the actors union requires that all cast and crew be vaccinated and tested weekly. Contact with audience members before and after performances is forbidden.
The AT&T Performing Arts Center is taking a similar tack, though without the union requirements.
Prism Movement Theater’s Lucha Teotl completed its run at ATTPAC’s Wyly Theatre last weekend, and the center plans to go on with upcoming productions in its Elevator Project series of shows by small local arts groups at both indoor and outdoor venues.
“We’ve gotten good at protecting audiences, staff and the artists,” said Chris Heinbaugh, vice president of external affairs, referring to an update to the air filtration and flow systems, a reduction in seating capacities and the requirement that patrons wear masks when moving around the facilities. “The reality is we’re not going into a shutdown. We have to learn to live with the virus.”
Unlike local theater companies, ATTPAC and Dallas Summer Musicals primarily present touring shows by outside groups that create their own protocols and make their own decisions about whether it’s safe to perform. Those presenters are also large commercial enterprises under pressure to keep the stage lights on.
Amphibian Stage in Fort Worth, in the midst of its annual comedy and theater festival, was the first to announce a closing last Thursday.
“We have learned that some fully vaccinated people involved in different capacities of Spark Fest have tested positive for COVID-19 even while practicing safety guidance from the CDC, the Actor’s Equity Association, and our Covid Compliance Officer,” the theater wrote on social media and its website.
“We have also had multiple cancellations for the upcoming weekend from fully vaccinated patrons who had been planning to attend but have unexpectedly tested positive. This follows the trend of data from local government that shows since 4th of July Weekend the test positivity rate in Tarrant County has increased by more than 10%.
“We are heartbroken to make this decision but must prioritize the health and safety of all. We will move forward with any contact tracing and further testing as needed.”
Later Thursday, hours before it was set to open the musical Cursed! at an outdoor venue near Fair Park, Ochre House Theater announced that it was postponing the production. Artistic director Matthew Posey said in an interview Friday that he took his cues from Amphibian and an abundance of caution. “I admire them for their fortitude,” Posey said.
Ochre House had already moved the show from the outdoor patio at Deep Ellum Art Co. after a DEAC employee tested positive for COVID-19, Posey said. The new venue was Eight Bells Alehouse, a beer garden down the block from the company’s still shuttered storefront performance space.
The entire cast and crew of Cursed! is vaccinated, one of the precautions the small, tight-knit troupe took in the hope it would keep them safe as they returned to performances in front of live audiences. “I was down last night, but I’ve pulled myself up,” Posey said.
He said the company plans to open the show when the number of COVID-19 cases drops and may institute new rules like requiring that audience members be vaccinated or have a recent negative test for the virus. The wearing of masks might also be mandated.
Posey seemed prescient when Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins raised the coronavirus threat level from “yellow” to “orange” Friday. Jenkins based his decision on the rising number of cases attributable to the delta variant and the lack of herd immunity.
Meanwhile, several other local companies — including WaterTower Theatre, Uptown Players and Shakespeare Dallas — went on with the final performances of new productions last weekend. Cry Havoc Theater Company plans to complete its run of Committed: Mad Women of the Asylum this coming weekend.
Artistic director Mara Richards Bim said all but one member of the teenage cast is vaccinated, and the company is following precautions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control. She cited the fact that local schools are opening without mask mandates. At last Thursday’s opening performance of Committed, a few members of the audience chose to wear masks.
The usual August lull will give most theater and dance companies a chance to wait and watch before launching their 2021-22 seasons. Dallas Theater Center, for instance, isn’t scheduled to perform again until it opens Tiny Beautiful Things and Cake Ladies in early September. It recently completed its run of the musical Working at the outdoor venue Strauss Square.
Some major local companies like Kitchen Dog Theater and Undermain Theatre have held off on announcing new seasons. Another, Second Thought Theatre, is opening its 2021 season with two filmed productions it will stream. The company plans to go live late in the year with the premiere of Janielle Kastner’s Sweetpea, which was postponed from last season.
ATTPAC has productions scheduled outdoors Aug. 12-15 (Bombshell Dance Project’s The Great 30 in Sammons Park) and Aug. 19-21 (Junior Players’ Amplify in Strauss Square) as well as a few shows inside the Winspear Opera House in September.
Heinbaugh said the center is having ongoing discussions with the groups about rehearsal protocols and other safety measures but aren’t mandating or monitoring their behavior. “The artists have to take some responsibility,” he said.
