Dance Magazine: Before the theater industry vanished overnight, I was a dancer in the Broadway company of Chicago. When Broadway shuttered on March 12, I filed for unemployment and fled New York City. Today, when the Broadway League announced that Broadway would remain closed through May of 2021, I was still 2,000 miles from home, sitting in an apartment in downtown Salt Lake City, watching the sun go down in an orange blaze behind the smoke from California and Colorado that had colonized the Utah skies for weeks.
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This article really was like reliving a bad dream over and over again. Spitulnik really went through every month since march and talked about exactly what he was feeling as a Broadway dancer. And while I am not a Broadway dancer, I definitely felt these same things just as someone studying theatre. The absolute worst thing was when people would say things exactly as he quoted like “theatre will be the last thing to come back if it comes back at all.” I don’t want to listen to people who say this, but how can I not. I don’t agree, I know (I hope) that theatre will come back. I want to say that people will be starving for live entertainment after the pandemic, and maybe they will be, but maybe not soon. It is terrifying to be studying theatre right now, I have to say it. I want to say this article was hopeful but it really wasn’t it ended with him talking about the idea that he wants to be okay with not being a dancer anymore. And I don’t know maybe he can do that after over 15 years in the industry. But really don’t want to have to accept my life as one without theatre before even entering the industry.
I really liked the genuine nature of this article, and think it is a true representation of the world that theater people are living in. Obviously, people in theater understand that theater is not the only industry that is suffering, but it does feel that the arts and entertainment industry, especially theater, is being left behind. It seems as if there will not be another stimulus package for the arts, and many people are wondering what the future could possibly hold for live performance. While some smaller theaters are slowly able to come back, Broadway theaters can not financially afford to open with houses that are less than 60% full, delaying an open for the foreseeable future. For many people who work in theater, live performance is their entire existence, and this unknown delay in opening is detrimental to any hope people have for a reopening of Broadway.
I've been hesitant to read and comment on articles related to COVID, but this one stuck out to me. There is so much talk about when things will re-open and what the procedure will be to get back to 'normal', that we are neglecting what damage has already been done. Back at my old theatre, I know of two people who have already announced their early retirement, and some of the technicians are already looking to move on to other things. The reality is, this has been the end of careers for many people, and certainly more to come. Here, though, we see the more sobering reality of people who need to rely heavily on the upkeep of their bodies and skills. This industry is, unfortunately, reliant on certain performers being in peak physical shape and at the top of their game with their dance and performance skills. Now that there isn't much of a medium to perform, many of these people are slowly losing their window of opportunity. I'm fortunate to expand on other skills in my spare time, but that's my privilege. I just hope that we as an industry haven't given up hope for a future for all of us, even if we can't see the horizon.
Graduating high school and leaving for college 2,000 miles away during a pandemic isn’t easy, especially not when you’re getting a degree in an industry that may never resurface. Some of my family members encouraged me to stay home, take a gap year, and change majors. I had a job this summer that paid $13.00 an hour, and they were willing to have me work full time. Seemed like a good idea, given that I had nothing to pay for and was living with my parents. But, I knew that I couldn’t do that without giving up on myself mentally. So, I left. Now that feels like possibly the dumbest decision I’ve ever made. And while I’m much happier here than I would be if I stayed home, I still feel like I might have made the wrong decision. My mom is a special education teacher for kindergarten and 1st grade students. She alone has 12 students, all of which are nonverbal. She has to teach them online this year, without her two assistants. My mom needs my support and I am 2,000 miles away. My sister just started her freshman year of high school entirely online. She is struggling. She needs my support and I am 2,000 miles away. It’s hard to justify being here and majoring in theatre when my family needs me and my industry is dying.
The way people are moving on from their lives in the theater is heartbreaking. It’s clear how hard these artists work to get to where they are today. Their talent and craftsmanship are some of the most revered in the world. But now they are being forced to go into real estate and “selling doors.” Mostly this just makes me angry. I try not to think about this too much, but I truly believe that if we had a different president in 2016, things might look very different now. I know there is no use in examining that “what if” but it’s just humping how our failure as a country years ago is still eating away at us. It makes my stomach churn thinking about having to give up what I have trained my whole life to do because of the failure of the person in the one office that is supposed to protect this country. I guess the upside is more I read about the devastation of COVID-19, the more excited I get to finally be able to vote.
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