Photo courtesy of Village Playhouse
Like many other theater companies today, living through the Age of Pandemic means an empty stage. No shows. No patrons. And then of course, no income. But Village Playhouse has come up with an evening of virtual monologues as a fundraiser to cover its expenses.
“It started, as most great ideas do, with me just talking,” explains Elizabeth Havican, the Village Playhouse’s treasurer who’s also producing the event. “We have always relied heavily on producing shows to make ends meet and with being dark due to COVID, we needed to step up our fundraising game. At some point I said ‘we could do a ... monologue competition’ and everyone thought it was a great idea.”
Havican spent a week developing the idea with board members, resulting in 10 participants submitting individual videos performing a variety of monologues. Ticket holders are emailed a link to view the entries beginning at 6 p.m., Thursday July 10. The competition runs through 6 p.m., Monday, July 13. “They will be able to watch the videos all weekend, and if they so choose, vote for their favorite by making donations via that entry's fundraising page,” she points out. The entry receiving the most votes wins the monologue competition.
Most important to the Playhouse, which is housed at Inspiration Studios, is keeping everyone safe while having a successful virtual fundraiser. Havican herself filmed all the videos at the studios to ensure consistency and uniformity for all the entries, in addition to cleaning the space between each filming session and social distancing.
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“Putting everything together on the technical end has been a challenge as well, both in figuring out how to film the entries and the tech involved to then stream them and accept donations,” she says. Then there’s the marketing side and ensuring that as many people as possible participate.
To date, the theater company has had to cancel two of its productions and is unsure of when they will be able to reopen, emphasizes Havican. Rent and insurance still have to be paid, and the space continues to be used for socially distanced meetings, rehearsals and storage. “While our landlord [Inspiration Studios’ owner Erico Ortiz] has been amazing, working with us through this difficult time we do still need to pay for our space each month.”
So, the company is hoping for a strong turnout with plenty of votes, regardless of who wins. During these times, every vote helps the Village Playhouse keep “the lights on” while the shows are dark.
Says Havican: “We know times are tough for everyone right now and truly appreciative of every bit of generosity.”
Tickets are $5 each and available for this event via SimpleTix.com. For more information about the Village Playhouse and its fundraiser, call: 414-207-4879 or email: tickets@villageplayhouse.org
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