Hilton Head performing arts groups chart path forward after governor lifts restrictions
Bathroom breaks. Choir spit. Crowded theatres. Kids shoulder to shoulder.
These are a few of the risky situations several of Hilton Head Island’s performing arts organizations are concerned about as they figure out how to resume operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For months, their venues were shuttered, performances canceled, lessons online.
Some arts organizations stayed in contact with patrons via social media, hosting virtual performances. But now, they have a chance to restart in-house performances and activities and satiate community members’ hunger for the live arts.
As part of an Aug. 3 executive order regarding the remaining establishments he’d ordered closed in April because of the pandemic, Gov. Henry McMaster allowed performing arts venues, racetracks, adult entertainment venues, movie theaters, spectator sports, parks and festivals to open.
Venues are not allowed to hold more than 250 people at a time — or 50% of the posted capacity, whichever is less — and employees and patrons must wear masks and follow social distancing protocol.
Yet even with these permissions in place, some local arts organization leaders say they do not feel comfortable reopening their doors just yet. Some have scheduled events for later in the year with the understanding that they may have to be canceled, while others are leaving their calendars empty for now.
Making a game plan
Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra is scheduled to start its concert season the last weekend of October. But Alan Jordan, president and chief executive officer, said he does not know how the HHSO will be able to hold regular concerts safely. He said the concerts tend to draw 700 to 900 people, which would not be allowed under current state restrictions. And the orchestra’s usual venue, First Presbyterian Church on Hilton Head, is closed to outside organizations through Oct. 31. It is closed for church activities through Sept. 13.
“I cannot think of a space that has a stage that can accommodate 60 or 70 musicians in a physically distanced way,” he said. “Even if we were able to use the venue, we cannot do it in a physically distant way.”
Cinda Seamon, board chair for Main Street Youth Theatre, said she is most concerned about holding in-person rehearsals. MSYT has no plans to reopen soon, she said, and is waiting to see how the pandemic proceeds.
“Face it, when you’re working on a show together, you’re pretty close,” Seamon said.
Additionally, she said it would be difficult to find a baseline for when it would be safe to restart rehearsals with the school year starting online.
“That would be a good opportunity to see: Is this working?” Seamon said.
But, she said, parents and children are eager to return to Main Street Youth Theatre when it is safe.
“When we come back, I feel we’ll come back strong,” Seamon said. “Everybody’s going to be happy to have the arts back. We just have to do it right.”
Tim Reynolds, artistic director of Hilton Head Choral Society, said the group’s season is slated for a December start date instead of the usual September start, due to the pandemic. But all that is subject to cancellation.
Singing, he said, is one of the easiest ways the virus particles may be transmitted.
“You can look at any number of stories that talk about singing, and singing in groups as one of the worst things you can do,” he said. “There’s a lot more projection ... of these molecules.”
The concerts, also held at the closed First Presbyterian Church building, tend to attract 800 to 900 people, Reynolds said, with up to 200 people on stage.
“I think the answer for us is, we don’t have a full-blown performance until after there’s a vaccine,” Reynolds said. “The demographic of Hilton Head is the target audience of the virus.”
Jeffrey Reeves, CEO of the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina on Hilton Head, said that the announcement from the governor came as a relief to their employees, but only after three performances had already been canceled.
The Arts Center’s first in-person event is scheduled for late November and will be the play Kinky Boots. It will run through the holidays with an audience at 50% capacity.
“There’s never been a better time for this show’s message of acceptance and love than right now,” Reeves said in an email.
To prepare for the return to in-person events, the Arts Center is trying to figure out the best ways to keep the theatre clean. The organization has already installed 36 hand sanitizer stations onto walls.
“For several months, we have been consulting with experts regarding airflow studies to determine the best method to ensure the filtration of air in the theater,” Reeve said. “We are looking at the viability and efficacy of UV Light Systems and Air Bi-Polar Ionization systems. In addition, we will be cleaning after all performances with CDC-approved and EPA-registered industrial–strength disinfectants.”
Until the reopening, patrons can expect more online events and activities, including a performance by the gospel choir Voices of El Shaddai, to be filmed and streamed in late August.
Other venues have no plans to open their physical spaces anytime soon. Blake White, executive director of Lean Ensemble Theater on Hilton Head Island, said the theater’s patrons have not indicated that they are ready to attend performances, and the theatrical unions — Actors Equity Association, Stage Directors and Choreographers — have not granted permission for their members to return to non-virtual work.
“Covering budgetary concerns in a model of 50% capacity is an entirely different conversation,” White said in an email. “When audiences and artists are ready to return to the theater safely, we will be ready.”
On the Lean Ensemble’s schedule are an online reading of Mitchelville, a commissioned play about a Gullah family, in October, and the presentation of Art in December. White said he doesn’t know whether Art will be released online or in person.
The great outdoors?
The Symphony Orchestra is considering moving its concerts outdoors and shortening them to one hour.
“An audience would come in, [see] an hour performance, they would leave, we would do a quick cleaning, and then a new audience would come in,” Jordan said.
Alternatively, the orchestra may defer its season until 2021. Jordan said he will be announcing a plan at the end of the month.
For now, the Symphony Orchestra is having a small group of musicians perform live shows, available for viewing on Facebook, at its venue SoundWaves. Jordan said the performances have actually increased the orchestra’s reach more than if it had squeezed an audience into SoundWaves’ 224 seats. The Facebook performances also have allowed the organization to stay in contact with patrons, many of whom have continued to make donations during the pandemic.
“But that is not a substitute for a live performance,” Jordan said.
John Carlyle, artistic director of Hilton Head Dance Theatre and School, is considering holding the 36th annual December performance of the Nutcracker outside at Shelter Cove rather than its usual Hilton Head Island High School location. He is also considering filming it in segments, with only a limited number of people on stage at a time.
“I can’t see that we’re going to have the theater open, seating 600 people for Nutcracker,” he said. “But we don’t want to let the season go by without it.”
Hilton Head Dance School, meanwhile, has already opened to older students, and children will be able to attend after Labor Day. Carlyle said he believes that because the youth will be coming from home instead of school, that reduces the risk of transmission.
“We haven’t had a problem at all keeping people away from each other,” Carlyle said. “Our studios are so large.”
Carlyle said the theatre and school have been fortunate to have a foundation that is keeping them above water, as other dance schools and companies fold.
“We’re surviving and we will survive,” he said. “[These are] sad times for the arts.”
