By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez
HOLMDEL – The Holmdel Theatre Company has been a staple of Holmdel culture for years. The Duncan Smith Theater has hosted distinguished guest artists and entertained hordes of audiences since the historic 125-year-old barn was transformed into a modern black box theater. But in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic this year, the company had to pull out all the stops and reinvent itself.
After canceling the 2020 season, like almost all venues with live events, Holmdel Theatre Company looked for other ways to entertain – including taking the show outdoors, said Colleen Cook, executive director.
The theater’s popular Broadway at the Barn series had been successful, attracting Broadway stars such as Jennifer Damiano and Betsy Wolfe to headline shows. But when you can’t put an audience “inside” the barn, you opt for the next best thing. The new series, called Broadway Outside the Barn, invites audience members to bring their lawn chairs and blankets onto the grass beside the theater; “pod” areas are drawn on the grass so groups can sit 8 feet apart.
“We decided we wanted to try it,” said Cook. “We wondered if people wanted to come to live events? Were they ready? Or are they afraid?”
The theater tested the waters with Lawn Chair Cabaret featuring New York City-based performer Tina Scariano in September, inviting an audience to enjoy socially distanced live music outside the Duncan Smith Theater. “We sold out in two days,” said Cook. “And realized how many people want to come out.”
Then Tony-award winner Alice Ripley, a friend of Cook’s and the theater, signed up to help raise money for the theater and kick off the Broadway Outside the Barn series Oct. 24. Increasing tickets slightly from 60 to 70, theater organizers wanted to make sure audience members can enjoy the show safely and the sound quality is not compromised.
Cook and the team are inspired by the success and plan for more shows in the spring. “The weather is the biggest challenge,” she said. Factoring in rain dates, they’ve been keeping their eyes on the forecasts and their fingers crossed.
Spreading the word through social media has helped, too. Photographer/videographer Michael Kushner filmed the Scariano show and Cook released it on Facebook and YouTube.
The Oct. 24 Alice Ripley show will be live streamed. “We’re going to film it and sell on demand tickets so people can see it,” Cook said. “It’s a way for the theater to survive.”
Cook said she’s been contacted by Broadway actors and performers eager to get back on stage – any stage. One comment, Cook said, came from an actor who told her “the sound of applause is truly inspiring.”
In the meantime, the company is still looking for other ways to make money and entertain those who crave live theater. A livestreamed virtual reading of a COVID-inspired original play, “Let the Chips Fall Where They May,” directed by Fredi Walker-Browne from “Rent,” was released this week. “We did rehearsals in Zoom rooms,” Cook said. “It’s like a play in little boxes. It’s all very different.”
Next on the schedule is a holiday show. “We’ll film it inside the theater, either with the 25 percent allowed or maybe without an audience,” Cook said. “We’re not sure what we’ll all be comfortable with at that time.”
The Holmdel Theatre Company at the Duncan Smith Theater is a nonprofit, semi-professional theater company dedicated to presenting fresh interpretations of classic plays as well as rarely presented modern dramas and comedies. The company is dedicated to providing opportunities for students and nonprofessionals to work with professional theater artists in a collaborative, artistic and educational exchange.
The company also brings students together with professional actors, set designers and directors fostering an innovative environment that allows for hands-on education and mentoring through performance opportunities, apprenticeships, workshops and master classes.
Cook said that, at this time, we’re all looking for ways to be creative, from Broadway stars to local theater organizers. “And we’ve learned that outdoors with an audience is irreplaceable,” she said. “We love it so much, we may continue to do shows outside.”
For more information, visit holmdeltheatrecompany.org.
The article originally appeared in the October 8 – 14, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
