Join The League of Chicago Theaters and The Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks program as we host a conversation about producing live performance in the time of COVID. We’ll be joined by representatives from Chicago companies who were able to devise new and innovative ways to present live performance during the 2020 season, with the goal of sharing the challenges and protocols to safely produce outdoor performance for a live audience. We’ll hear from panelists Chicago Children’s Theatre, Chicago Latino Theater Alliance, Goodman Theatre and Midnight Circus.
Facilitated by: Angelique Grandone, Chicago Park District
Panelists: Scott Conn, Goodman Theatre; Christine Perez, Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA); Jeff Jenkins, Midnight Circus; Jacqui Russell, Chicago Children’s Theatre
Billed as an interactive drive-in movie, Chicago Children’s Theater presented The Beatrix Potter Drive-In Experience for an extended 6 week run in the parking lot of their theatre. These high-quality, made-for-screen puppet performances were projected onto a large screen on the side of the theatre for audiences seated in their cars. Live music was performed and live-streamed while puppeteers entertained and interacted with children at a safe distance.
Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) was able to redesign its annual Destinos international theater festival into a one night Drive-in multi-media spectacular. The 4 hour Destinos Al Aire featured live performances from an extensive line-up of Latino theater and music performers and companies, and closed with a film finale from the Chicago Latino film festival. The performances were simulcast on a large outdoor movie screen and streamed to over 1,700 people locally and internationally. The evening’s lead sponsor was Goodman Theatre and supporting sponsor Xfinity.
Packed neatly into a travel trailer, Goodman Theater’s Fannie Lou Hamer, Speak on It! toured to 9 Chicago parks over the course of four weeks. This modified 45 minute performance with full lights and sound featured just two performers and a tight 7 person production crew, enabling the show to load in and load out with a total time on site of less than 6 hours. Premiering in Sept 2020, this was the first production in Chicago to receive the approval of all 4 theatrical unions.
Returning to their open air roots, Midnight Circus presented their annual Midnight Circus in the Parks tour without their customary tent, using the art form’s unique attributes to play to pre-registered audiences assigned to discrete seating pods, able to accommodate up to 300 audience members per show, and utilizing an active audience management model developed in partnership with the Chicago Park District.