Bad News on Seating Capacity - Berkshires

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/13/20 at 10:45pm

Both shows have to reduce from 100 to 50. Truly unfortunate, and this is outdoors!

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/theater/godspell-harry-clarke-reduced-capacity.html

When we talk here about reopening Broadway and producer unwillingness to take the risk, this explains what we are talking about. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/13/20 at 11:09pm

I'm glad this is happening due to the uptick in cases in MA. I was there today and it was a goddamn mess. It was all very crazy, people did not where to go, tons of confusion and the actors looked less than confident. It was awful, sad, and I deeply regret going. My friend wanted to go so badly, she misses theater so much, but I told her "This ain't it" at the end. 

Theater as we know and love it will hopefully open next year but not a second sooner, as it should be. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/13/20 at 11:38pm

Sad to hear that from on the ground. 

"I deeply regret going" is something I hope I never have to hear again from a theatregoer. We will persevere but no one benefits from false starts.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 8/14/20 at 8:43am

I declined a ticket to one of these productions, and as much as I'm missing live theater, I feel confident in that choice. 

Barrington Stage is supposed to be presenting an indoor concert next Monday featuring 92-year-old Marilyn Maye -- I wonder what the chances of that actually happening are at this point.

Updated On: 8/14/20 at 08:43 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 8/14/20 at 11:54am

It's important to remember that the Berkshires are closer to Albany than they are to any major MA city and they draw heavily on audiences from the Albany area, and many people regularly shuttle between the Albany area and NYC. Despite the focus on case numbers in individual states, the virus doesn't acknowledge state lines. This was always going to be a hard- and risky- thing.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 8/14/20 at 12:00pm

Lots of New Yorkers have summer homes in the Berkshires too, and those are often the people you find in the audiences of productions at Williamstown, BSC, BTG, etc.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/14/20 at 12:16pm

to add: the numbers in Berkshire County are enviable; the virus is effectively contained. That does not help these theatres because a regional approach is not being followed. 

[Kad]

Posted: 8/14/20 at 12:23pm

The fact that there is no real regional approach to the Northeast is truly baffling. The states are the most interconnected of the entire country. I grew up in central-west Florida and leaving the state for anything but an extended trip was a rarity; in the Northeast, you regularly cross state lines, can do so quickly and easily even without a car, and can journey through several states in a few hours by train.

Updated On: 8/14/20 at 12:23 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/14/20 at 12:37pm

and from the Berkshires you could HIKE to New York State, were you so inclined. (I'm not, mind you.)

[LarryD2]

Posted: 8/14/20 at 12:47pm

Borders in the Berkshires are particularly tenuous. If you're in Williamstown, for example, you can drive 10 minutes in one direction from the center of town and be in New York state -- and drive 10 minutes in the other direction and be in Vermont.