After only a handful of performances last March, the Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) abruptly ended its run of William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Fourteen months later, the theater is moving forward with its next stab—a return to live, in-person productions.
“Given the current status of the COVID situation in our region, it’s looking like we will finally be able to get back to doing what we do best—which is bringing live performances to live audiences here on the Central Coast,” PCPA Artistic Director Mark Booher said during a press conference on May 27.
Booher was also the director of 2020’s Julius Caesar, which remains the company’s final non-virtual offering to date.
“Eager is not a strong enough word. We’ve been yearning to get back into direct contact with our audience,” Booher said. “What we do as theater-makers has so much to do with the live relationship between the play and the audience in response to one another—not just the audience responding to the play, but how the play actually responds to that live audience as we’re having the experience together.”
In collaboration with the Solvang Festival Theater, PCPA plans to present two outdoor productions this summer, starting with Together: A Musical Journey, an original production written by Erik Stein and directed by Katie Fuchs-Wackowski.
With storytelling woven between performances of well-known show tunes and popular songs from other genres, Together: A Musical Journey is described as a theatrical concert that “revels in the simple fact that life is better when we live it together” and “a celebration of being able to share experiences through story and song again in the same space,” Booher said.
The show is scheduled to run in Solvang from July 21 to Aug. 8, followed by PCPA’s second summer production, Lanie Robertson’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, directed by Wren T. Brown. Set in a seedy bar in Philadelphia in 1959, this musical production recounts events in the life of Billie Holiday, portrayed by Karole Foreman. Accompanied by pianist Jimmy Powers, played by Stephan Terry, Holiday sings and tells stories from her personal experiences during the show.
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill will open on Aug. 19 and is scheduled to run through Sept. 5. Tickets for both upcoming productions go on sale starting on June 8. Patrons will have the option to purchase electronic tickets to print at home or store on their mobile devices, which will be scanned at the theater entrance, “for contactless ticketing,” Booher said.
As for questions of capacity limitations and other health and safety policies to be enacted during the two outdoor productions, specific answers will be provided during the next few weeks, Booher explained.
“The percentage of seats that will be available to sell and the proximity with which people will be able to sit will be something that we’ll be developing over the course of the next several weeks, as things continue to improve in the health situation,” Booher said. “The reality is, the situation will continue to change in the coming weeks as we approach the time when we can actually gather for public performances.”
Rather than outline what precise protocols will be enforced during the company’s initial return to in-person performances, Booher explained that attendees can be assured that both PCPA and the Solvang Festival Theater will operate “in adherence with the current best practices and public health protocols for sanitation, physical distancing, mask wearing, facilities use, and every other aspect of public gathering and public health.”
Booher added that he hopes the community will continue to take advantage of PCPA’s variety of virtual offerings during the company’s transition, including Songs, Sonnets, and Springtime, a virtual cabaret available to stream through June 27.
“I hope many of you will be able to continue to enjoy virtual programming, as we continue to walk our way out of this public health crisis,” Booher said. “As we stay vigilant and continue to prioritize our health and that of those around us, things at last seem to be steadily improving. Let’s do all we can to keep things moving in that good direction.”
Send songs and sonnets to Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 3-10, 2021.
