🔒Hartford area theaters raise curtain on preparations for fall reopening

Although there’s no audience due for months, there’s plenty of action onstage and off at the Hartford Stage theater on 50 Church St.

Workers are upgrading the HVAC system, filters and fittings to meet new pandemic-era safety standards. Stagehands are back at work and preparing for upcoming shows. Casting is under way for the theater’s first in-person performance since the pandemic, Eugene O’Neill’s “Ah Wilderness!,” set for an Oct. 14 debut.

Meanwhile, the theater’s summer programs are going strong, with young people taking part in the Breakdancing Shakespeare program, livening up the venue’s long-empty spaces.

“It is a very busy, joyous time at the theater,” said Managing Director Cynthia Rider. Staff are overjoyed thinking about returning to in-person performances, she added. “We’re thrilled!”

Businesses in downtown Hartford are likely thrilled as well as theaters prepare for reopening to crowds.

In addition to their cultural value, theaters and other performance venues are vital to Connecticut’s economic revitalization, state lawmakers agree. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has been a leading advocate for a federal bailout for theaters and other venues, helping secure $16 billion for arts businesses under the American Rescue Plan act.

“It is a hugely important source of economic activity,” said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, when he recently announced a $5.75 million federal grant to city showpiece the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts.

The cash, distributed as part of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant carve-out of the American Rescue Plan, was expected to arrive within days and help rehire the dozens of theater workers laid off in the first weeks of the pandemic.

“That’s going to go a long way to stabilizing our financial position as we emerge from the effects of this pandemic,” Bushnell CFO Patti Jackson said. “It’s going to enable us to put ourselves back together again.”

The Bushnell isn’t alone in getting help from state and federal governments during the pandemic. Arts and culture institutions across Connecticut have received millions of dollars collectively over the past year to prevent permanent closure amid mandatory shutdowns, and to help with their reopenings.

Getting back in the habit

But putting theaters together again is about more than money, said David B. Byrd, managing director of Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam.

“A habit has been broken,” Byrd said, speaking of the regular theatergoers who keep many venues afloat. “It’s hard to rebuild that. We feel that this is a long road — no magic light switch will flip and we’ll be back to 2019.”

Starting last summer, the company worked to engage its fans by staging concerts and other programs on the expansive lawn of the Goodspeed Opera House, sited on the banks of the Connecticut River. This year, Goodspeed purchased a 40-by-100-foot tent and ramped up the outdoor productions to strong attendance.

“It’s been really magical,” Byrd said.

“It was special, that interaction that happened,” he said of the live performances. “Via Zoom, it just doesn’t replicate that.”

Broadway veteran Rashidra Scott stars in “Ambassador Of Love: Celebrating Pearl Bailey” through July 18 as part of the “Goodspeed by the River” series. In-person performances inside the historic opera house resume on Sept. 24, with a Rodgers & Hammerstein vocal revue.

Known for its large-format, Broadway-style musicals, Goodspeed is reopening on a more modest scale on purpose, Byrd said.

“That’s by design; we still need to ease into this,” he said.

Outdoor performances by the water are also marking the summer season for TheaterWorks Hartford, which debuts in-person performances of the U.S. premiere of “Walden” on July 23, at Riverfront Recapture, 100 Meadow Road in Windsor.

“Walden,” which tells the story of a woman returning from a year-long Moon mission to spend time with her sister in a remote cabin in the woods, will be staged at the new park under development on the banks of the Connecticut River just north of the Hartford city limits. The play will also be filmed for streaming: TheaterWorks Hartford was one of the few theaters nationwide to continuously produce performances throughout the pandemic, many using videoconferencing technology.

Donations power reopenings

Adding to the excitement about reopening at Hartford Stage with “Ah Wilderness!” is the directing debut of the theater’s new artistic director, Melia Bensussen. Raised in Mexico City, Bensussen has led productions across the country and translated and adapted a variety of texts for the stage.

Although Eugene O’Neill is mainly known for his searing portrayals of middle class life, “Ah Wilderness!” is a rare bright spot in his work, Rider of Hartford Stage said. The play, with its uplifting ending, is the perfect return to live theater, she added.

“People are hungrier than ever to have in-person experiences,” Rider said. “People want some amount of hopefulness and optimism.”

The Bushnell’s new season could not have gone forward without support from theater donors, who stepped up long before the federal government cut relief checks, said Bushnell President and CEO David Fay.

The Bushnell raised $2.1 million in its 2020 annual appeal — just short of the $2.2 million raised in 2019 — despite the fact the theater was dark most of the year.

“Our donors have stuck with us,” Fay said, adding, “you can’t overcome a pandemic with private donorship.”

The first stage of reopening at the Bushnell was the resumption of summer programs for young people, including its Children’s Theatre, Slam Poetry Program and Noah Webster JAZZicians instrumentalist program. Training for arts teachers is scheduled to begin in the theater’s Great Hall in August, and performances for youth are in the planning stages, said Yolande N. Spears, senior vice president for education and community initiatives.

“I cannot tell you how excited I am at the thought of hearing the cheering, applauding and laughter of children coming back in this building,” Spears said.

Seeking more steady support, TheaterWorks Hartford replaced its subscriptions with a monthly membership plan last August, promising monthly performances either virtual or live. Memberships cost $20.21 per person or $35 for a household; New Haven’s Long Wharf Theater has also started its own monthly plan.

Hartford Stage has also seen strong support from its fans, with more than half of its 3,000 subscribers renewing despite pandemic closures, Rider said. Most of the subscribers allowed the theater to hold on to their money and apply it to this year’s season.

“We’re so grateful for that outpouring,” Rider said. “That’s what’s allowing us to restart for this fall. It helps us to know that people are ready.”