Photo credit: Mark Frohna
Skylight Music Theatre’s newly revised “2020/21 Season” is a mix of “the live and the virtual,” courtesy of this Age of Pandemic that we all live in. And for subscribers and patrons, the choice is yours as to how to engage.
Photo courtesy of Skylight Music Theatre
Michael Unger, Artistic Director of Skylight Music Theatre
“We knew fairly early on that we could not go on with business as usual,” explains Skylight’s Artistic Director Michael Unger. “So, before the end of March we were considering our options, including a revised season (if a season was even viable). Immediately we began exploring virtual offerings, and started with “Skylight Socials,” an online interview program involving people who have been involved in Skylight past, present and future, as a way to stay in touch with our audience.”
The revised 2020-2021 season will have four live productions in its main Cabot Theatre, which seats 358. Given social distancing and health and safety protocols, attendance will be limited to approximately 40 percent capacity with a maximum of 130-150 patrons, based on seating configurations of family groups.
Skylight opens with a revival of Little Shop of Horrors, which will mark Unger’s Skylight directorial debut, (running November 13–December 27). In addition, the live performance four-pack also features two musicals appearing for the first time on the Skylight stage: the Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita in a staged concert version (March 12-28, 2021); and Raisin, based on Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (May 7-23, 2021). Rounding out the live stage performances is a contemporary, Milwaukee-centric adaptation of the Johann Strauss operetta, Die Fledermaus now renamed, Fledermaus MKE (June 4-20, 2021). For opera fans who prefer beer as their drink of choice, this one’s for you.
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Streaming Continues
There are also three subscriber virtual “add-ons” for those that prefer the comfort of their homes: Unger will direct the streaming presentation of Being Ernest, (Oct. 16-Nov. 12, 2020), an updated online musical of Oscar Wilde’s drawing room comedy, The Importance of Being Ernest. The Ernest production has a special place in Unger’s SMT directorial duties.
“The funny thing about that show is that when I was up for this job, it was the very first show I had scheduled in the proposed three seasons that were part of my interview process,” he points out. “As it turns out, it will, indeed, be my first full musical at Skylight, although in a virtual version.”
The additional add-ons with dates yet to be determined include a one night only concert reading of a musical version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, based on the novel by Victor Hugo. The composer is former Styx band founder and frontman Dennis DeYoung. (So plan on rocking out along with the expected bell ringing). Completing the trilogy of online shows are staged readings as part of the BIPOC New Musical Works Festival.
Skylight has a detailed Health and Safety Protocols plan in place, says Executive Director Jack R. Lemmon, emphasizing that “based on our surveys and discussions with patrons and supporters, we know that the decision to attend a performance is very personal.” That extends into the rehearsal period for actors as well as staff which requires a “complete overhaul,” Unger says. “We will start rehearsals on Zoom, so exploration of the script and teaching of music will be completely virtual. We will probably not assemble in person until we are on stage, thereby bypassing the rehearsal room altogether. We are attempting to keep the same duration of rehearsals—just change how we do them. Once we are in the same room (onstage, to be precise), everyone will be wearing masks until dress rehearsals.”
Even scenery will be scaled down, starting with the Little Shop revival, which will look markedly different from the original 2003-2004 production, including how the actors interact with one another. “Each performer will have their exclusive areas and moments like a kiss or a slap (both are in Little Shop) will happen with people across the stage from one another,” Unger explains. “I think audiences will enjoy the ingenuity we will have to apply in most every area and will forgive whatever oddities result from this unique period in our history.”
And in this Age of Pandemic full of uniqueness and oddities as we continue to adapt, the theater—live and virtual—can take us for a moment to another place where we can leave our uncertainties behind—at least for a little while. Adds Lemmon: “We believe musical theatre is a way to embrace hope and lift spirits, and we look forward to doing that again.”
For more information on the 2020/21 Season, call the Broadway Theatre Center Box Office at 414-291-7800 or visit: www.skylightmusictheatre.org.
