: potreroview – excerpt
With live entertainment dormant over the past year, theater companies have shifted to offering shows online, a tactic that hasn’t generated significant revenues. As operating losses grow, ongoing uncertainties brought by the pandemic make it difficult to plan for whatever seasons lie ahead.
PlayGround pivoted to the web at the start of the public health crises. When Potrero Stage, the venue it operates on 18th Street, went dark last March due to COVID-19 restrictions, the company was celebrating its 25th anniversary, featuring its annual New Works Festival. The production morphed into the PlayGround Zoom Fest which, with 50 offerings over six weeks, laid claim to being the country’s largest live-streamed offering of new works, with actors performing in separate locations.
“It ended up being an experiment in what worked and what didn’t,” Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann said. “We were one of the lucky ones. We figured out the tools and we were able to use a lot of what we learned during that time.”…(more)
It is good to se how some of the theaters and event venues pivoted to survive. I suggest people in Artaud who have survival stories to tell, contact the author and share them. This article leaves out a few local Mission Theaters that may have some stories to tell. You may want to reach out to them too. The way the unions handled the change is interesting. Who knew that internet acts fall under the Screen Actors Guild. Read the article for more details.