“Breathe, punch a pillow, find quietness.”
Emily Michaels King is trying to give herself the “space to experience all the pain we’re going through.”
Leave it to a performing artist to put words around the fear that’s smothering the arts community since COVID-19 shut down all live theater, galleries and gatherings in the Twin Cities.
When the curtain dropped in mid-March, most paychecks stopped. Actors, dancers and musicians are going online with performances, but any pay is just a fraction of what they were making. Side jobs at restaurants or teaching classes are gone. Theater companies are making appeals to patrons, asking them to bank the tickets they hold donate the amount.
Emily and her husband, actor/director/singer Tyler Michaels King, have worked in the gig economy all of their professional lives. They know times of solid employment can be followed by long dry spells and have planned their finances to include a reserve fund. “We’re thankful for that,” Tyler said, but it’s only enough for a month or two.
“We’re suddenly looking at more than half of our annual income that disappeared in a week,” Tyler said. They’re still grieving and trying not to panic, he said in a telephone interview from their St. Paul apartment.
Tyler, who’s appeared in major productions throughout the Twin Cities — the Guthrie, Theater Latte Da, the Ordway, Children’s Theatre, History Theatre — says theater thrives on communal experiences. “We’re all trying to figure out what our art looks like during this time,” he said.
Their two-year-old Trademark Theatre was going to announce its fourth season on March 18. That’s been postponed, of course, Tyler said, and maybe it will all be moved to fall. “We’re a pretty nimble company,” he added, so they’re exploring options including podcasts.
He was about to begin directing “Runestone: A Rock Musical,” scheduled to open at History Theatre in May. And another major summer stage contract has been canceled.
Most mornings, Emily is at her computer, working on graphic design, marketing and other visual aesthetic projects. That work is also tapering off, she said. Before the shutdown, she spent evenings at rehearsals or performing. She is movement director for the Guthrie’s “Emma,” which was scheduled to start in mid-April. Current Guthrie productions have been shut down.
Though their gym just closed, it’s important to move every day, Emily said. The couple runs outside or moves furniture in their one-bedroom apartment to make space for yoga or working out with “our tiny weights,” Tyler said.
They started a 1,500-piece puzzle to keep busy, and Tyler has cracked open Stephen King’s “The Institute” and a body weight training book “perfect for having no gym equipment.”
Emily hopes to dig into some drawing, painting and poetry writing. “This is also the perfect time for me to focus on self-care, so I’m really thankful to have more space for meditation, breath work, journaling and moving my body; this feels imperative as we all face this incredible distress and uncertainty.”
COMMUNITY RALLIES TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER
The COVID-19 shutdowns hit artists hard because many of them rely on side jobs in the service industry, working at markets and fairs, performing for events and teaching, said Laura Zabel, executive director of Springboard for the Arts, an arts organization based in St. Paul and Fergus Falls.
“The bottom fell out” of all those work areas “in a matter of hours,” she said. Springboard has been working as a sort of clearinghouse for Twin Cities artists who are out of work due to the COVID-19 shutdown.
“That’s what we’re here for,” said Springboard’s executive director Laura Zabel. The organization is gathering information on resources for artists.
Springboard has had a Personal Emergency Relief Fund for artists for about 20 years, Zabel said. Before the COVID-19 closures, the organization received two to four requests for assistance a month. Since last week, it’s had 500 applications and staff has processed 183 of the applications, Zabel said Monday
The fund gives $500 to each artist, which Zabel said can make the difference in meeting next months’ rent. Springboard added $10,000 from its own reserves to the fund and has raised another $55,000.
GROUPS FINDING WAYS TO ADJUST, HELP
With all Twin Cities stages shut down, each theater company’s website has a way to help — from donating the price of tickets already purchased to gift cards to cash contributions to the company. Minnesota Opera has established an Artist Support Fund.
Peter Rothstein, artistic director for Theater Latte Da, encourages theatergoers who had tickets for canceled or postponed shows to hold the tickets with the theater company “if you don’t need the money right now.”
Latte Da had to halt its production of “La Boheme,” which opened March 11 and shut down a week later. Because the theater gets the bulk of its budget from ticket sales, Latte Da would be in trouble if it had to return the ticket money, Rothstein said. “Boheme” will return to the Latte Da’s stage at the Ritz Theater in northeast Minneapolis because of the time and resources already invested in the show, Rothstein said in a phone interview on Monday.
He said he polled the other artistic directors at equity theaters in the Twin Cities last week to “imagine a new reality where we can’t gather.”
“I’m not there yet,” said Rothstein, though he’s editing film from Latte Da’s “All Is Calm” for broadcast on PBS. “I have to believe we can reach a time when we can all gather for this communal experience.”
Latte Da had to take “brutal” measures when the theater went dark, Rothstein said. He had to lay off staff and terminate contracts. “It was my least favorite day in my professional career.”Theaters including the Guthrie and Children’s Theatre Company have furloughed staff and reduced pay for those who remain.
He said the artists were understanding. Like Tyler and Emily Michaels King, their careers are part of the gig economy.
“Artists are tenacious,” Rothstein said. “I love them even more now.”
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