{"id":16272,"date":"2020-04-29T06:58:55","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T10:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=16272"},"modified":"2020-04-29T07:00:56","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T11:00:56","slug":"barrington-stage-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2020\/04\/29\/barrington-stage-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Barrington Stage Plans Live &#8216;Socially Distanced&#8217; Theater For August"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/barringtonstageco.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield announced yesterday<\/a> that it will postpone its planned summer season to summer of 2021 due to coronavirus concerns, but beginning in August will present a revised schedule of theater with \u201cSocially Distanced Seating.\u201d The move makes the Berkshires-based theater company among the first cultural presenters in the region to announce it is going forward with live performances in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think there is a strong need to do an alternate season that honors live theatre, that allows us to assemble safely and reminds us we are not alone in this self-isolated world we find ourselves in,\u201d Artistic Director Julianne Boyd said in a statement on the <a href=\"https:\/\/barringtonstageco.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">theater\u2019s website<\/a>. \u201cWe want to give you a safe place where you can experience wonderful stories and music and for a few short hours transport you to a different world. \u2026. Given the extensive precautions and preventive measures we are taking, we look forward to being able to support the artists, the staff and the Pittsfield community through what we do best \u2014 live theatre.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qX3gKbi8xr4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The theater said on its website and YouTube that precautions will include:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 The theater\u2019s mainstage will be reduced from 520 seats to 163, Boyd said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qX3gKbi8xr4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video posted to Youtube<\/a>. \u201cWe will be removing every other row of seats with 2 vacant seats between each party,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/barringtonstageco.org\/distancing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">theater\u2019s website<\/a> said, \u201cso getting to your seats doesn\u2019t involve close contact with other patrons in your row.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2022 \u201cWe\u2019ve decided to close Mr. Finn\u2019s Cabaret, close the St. Germain Stage. They\u2019re too small. We can\u2019t have social distancing there,\u201d Boyd said in the Youtube video.<br \/>\n\u2022 All patrons will be required to wear masks.<br \/>\n\u2022 The theater says it is creating multiple entrances \u201cto give everyone additional space while entering and exiting the theatre.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2022 A number of shows \u201cwill be performed without intermissions to minimize lines to bathrooms.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2022 \u201cAmple hand sanitizer\u201d will be available.<br \/>\n\u2022 \u201cSeats, armrests, countertops and other high-touch surfaces will be treated with disinfectant after each performance,\u201d the theater said.<br \/>\n\u2022 Ticket sales will only be by phone or email as \u201cthe box office will remain closed for in-person transactions until further notice.\u201d Also, \u201cWe strongly encourage patrons to print their tickets at home or select an e-ticket to be scanned from their phone upon arrival. There will be a tent set up near the east entrance for will call.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BarringtonStageCompany\/posts\/10156980064686099\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">March 17, Barrington Stage Company had announced<\/a>: \u201cWe wish we could continue with our season uninterrupted; however, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the first production of our season, \u2018The Great Leap.\u2019 [scheduled to begin previews May 27] We will now begin the season on June 18 with the Pulitzer Prize-winning \u2018Anna in the Tropics.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday\u2019s announcement supersedes that plan. \u201cBarrington Stage is postponing our previously announced 2020 season until the summer of 2021,\u201dthe theater explained on its website yesterday. \u201cWe want to present these plays and musicals to you, as intended, in glorious full productions, and that is just not possible this year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The revised season announced yesterday begins Aug. 5 with Mark H. Dold starring in David Cale\u2019s one-man show, \u201cHarry Clarke.\u201d The theater\u2019s Monday Night Concert Series will present jazz and cabaret singer Marilyn Maye on Aug. 24 and singer\/songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway performing \u201cThe Linda Ronstadt Songbook\u201d with Billy Stritch at the piano on Aug. 31. These shows \u201cwill be performed without intermissions to minimize lines to bathrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The theater plans to present \u201cSouth Pacific: In Concert\u201d from Aug. 21\u201323 \u201cat an outdoor venue in Pittsfield.\u201d On Sept. 5, they plan to host a reading of \u201cEleanor,\u201d a new one-woman play about the life of Eleanor Roosevelt by Barrington Stage associate artist Mark St. Germain and starring Tony Award-winner Harriet Harris. Then the \u201c10\u00d710 New Play Festival\u201d will run from Sept. 9 to 20\u201d and \u201cThe Price\u201d by Arthur Miller \u201cwill play as originally scheduled from Oct. 1\u00acto 18.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know how long this pandemic will last or when we can all get truly together,\u201d Boyd said in the Youtube video. \u201cBut it\u2019s important that we tell the stories we want to tell on the stage, that people listen, and that they leave the theater with not only with a sense of community, but a sense of shared humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/wonderlandlandfanclub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And <a href=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/subscribe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don&#8217;t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16275\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16275\" style=\"width: 664px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picBarringtonStage2w.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-16275\" src=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picBarringtonStage2w-664x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. (\u00a9 Barrington Stage)\" width=\"664\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picBarringtonStage2w-664x1024.jpg 664w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picBarringtonStage2w-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picBarringtonStage2w-768x1185.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picBarringtonStage2w-370x571.jpg 370w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picBarringtonStage2w.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 664px) 100vw, 664px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16275\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. (\u00a9 Barrington Stage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield announced yesterday that it will postpone its planned summer season to summer of 2021 due to coronavirus concerns, but beginning in August will present a revised schedule of theater with \u201cSocially Distanced Seating.\u201d The move makes the Berkshires-based theater company among the first cultural presenters in the region to announce [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,110],"tags":[749,706,750],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16272"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16272"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16283,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16272\/revisions\/16283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}