From Broadway to Phoenix’s local theaters, the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered live performances for months.
Downtown Phoenix organizations, which have sought to engage the Phoenix community for years, had to innovate to keep performing arts alive.
Valley Youth Theatre made the decision in March 2020 not “to aid in the spread of COVID-19,” Bobb Cooper, artistic producing director at Valley Youth Theatre, said. Valley Youth Theatre innovated its programs by starting online Zoom sessions with the children, according to Cooper.
“It would break my heart if a child got sick or took that illness home and hurt a parent or a grandparent, Cooper said. “Valley Youth Theatre is about building kids up and making a safe place, physically, mentally and morally.”
After two years, this month the Valley Youth Theatre has been able to put on an in-person stage performance, a homage to the pandemic: “Dear 2020!”
Other performing arts organizations had similar experiences limiting rehearsals and performances throughout 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic spread to downtown Phoenix. In early 2020, the Center for Disease Control changed guidelines for community health and safety, spurring many organizations, including the Valley Youth Theatre, Herberger Theater Center, and Downtown Phoenix Church, to change their own health protocols.
Before 2020, Valley Youth Theatre, Herberger Theater Center and Downtown Phoenix Church provided the Phoenix community with near-constant opportunities to engage in the performing arts.
But closures and limitations at performing arts organizations soon impacted staff and volunteers when COVID-19 guidelines emerged. To keep the arts afloat, adapting was essential.
In March 2020, Herberger Theater Center stopped all indoor performances for nearly 18 months, Herberger Theater Center CEO and President Mark Mettes said. The theater shifted its programs to outdoor functions from November 2020 until April 2021, Mettes said.
However, the theater has been going “full-steam” with indoor performances since October 2021, Mettes said. Performing arts attendance has been up nationwide, with “63% of arts attendees … already attending in-person programs as of December 2021—up from 38% in September and 17% in April 2021,” according to a report released on Feb. 8 by Americans for the Arts.
As with live theater, live music was put on pause. The Downtown Phoenix Church promotes the concept of micro-churches, to bring together a community of students, residents and faith-followers through performing arts: live music.
Because of changing guidelines, the church had to adapt. The church is a part of Arizona State University’s Council of Religious Advisors, so it adhered to the health protocols ASU set, Rev. Jim Helman said. Live music performances soon went on Zoom performances for students that felt isolated from home in 2020, Helman said. “We were trying to find ways to help the students know that at least there is some connection,” Helman said.
It turned to local allies, businesses such as Songbird Coffee & Tea House, to perform live music in a safer way, while still allowing the community to interact in person.
Music allowed the community of Phoenix to engage each other, according to Helman. “Even if you’re six feet apart, you can still see their reaction in their eyes or their body language, and that communicates a connection as you experience the music together, and you’re experiencing it in live time just with everyone else,” Helman said.
Arts organizations also found support through loans, grant programs and donations to stay afloat during the pandemic. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provided funds for small businesses in the United States to “support 51 million jobs and over 80 percent of all small business employees,” according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The PPP assisted the Valley Youth Theatre by providing financial support for the theater to finance payroll, Cooper said. But despite this support, some staff still left. “We did have people leave, because this has been an emotional toll on us all,” Cooper said.
The Herberger Theater Center received financial aid from the PPP to assist with expenses, and the theater “hired as many staff as we could back,” Mettes said. The theater communicated with volunteers consistently, and when the theater began performing again under CDC guidelines, volunteers returned.
The status of the pandemic and the guidelines of the CDC continue to change, but performing arts organizations will continue to adapt to these changes. The Valley Youth Theatre, Herberger Theater Center, and Downtown Phoenix Church strive to keep performing arts alive in a safe environment for the Phoenix community.
Contact the reporter at mbadman@asu.edu.
