COVID-19 has continued to bring bad news to the arts community as social distancing precautions make the traditional audience experience not in the best interest of the health of patrons.
On the Friday before Memorial Day, The Black Rep announced that it had made the painful decision to push its fall musical, the immensely popular black Broadway classic “Bubbling Brown Sugar” to the front of season 45 as opposed to the fall production for the start of season 44 – which is now set to start in January 2021.
“We were looking forward to opening with Bubbling Brown Sugar, but we’re not sure what the world post-COVID will be,” said Ron Himes, founder and producing director of The Black Rep. “But we know things will not be business as usual.”
Even if they had been able to present a September show, Himes said that they were in talks of a substitute for “Bubbling,” a musical that the Black Rep has been producing for much of its 40-plus years.
Favorites J. Samuel Davis and Drummond K. Crenshaw were set to return. Himes admitted that the original plans to move forward with the show were bittersweet because it would have been the first time in the company’s history that the show would have been without Black Rep leading lady Linda Kennedy in the role of Irene Page.
“We had all done it so many times when we were too young for the role,” Himes said. “Now she would have really been a sassy Irene Page.”
With its large cast, intricate set, full band, the show was a huge risk with respect to box office returns as people would still be tiptoeing into patronizing activities that present a challenge to social distancing.
The company was mindful of this when they decided to restructure their annual fall gala – which typically takes place in November – into a virtual event. The gala will take place on November 14, with details released as the event nears.
Himes says that the silver lining in the impact of COVID-19 is that his board is active and energized in their efforts to make sure that The Black Rep is not a casualty of the pandemic – and not only survives but thrives.
“Philanthropy will have a lot to do with how we come out of this,” Himes said. “Our capacity to fundraise and garner the kind of corporate and foundation support that is so integral to us being able to do the work we’ve been able to do.”
He had to end his season early, but this time of year is typically set aside for rest, rejuvenation, restoration and strategy.
“Our season would just now be ending,” Himes said. “It’s not like some of those other companies – likes Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, St. Louis Shakespeare and The Muny – who had shows scheduled to open next month.”
He’s reading plays, shuffling schedules and discussing alternative options depending what budgets will allow.
Himes is also using this opportunity to team up with other artists and producers. He has formed a cohort with Tef Poe, who made his Black Rep stage debut in Ntozake Shange’s “Spell #7,” and multidisciplinary artists Kristian Blackmon and Cheeraz Gormon.
“We are brainstorming right now,” Himes said. “Meeting and talking about possible projects and hopefully come out with something in the fall that might not call for us to need a full theatre – that might call for us to be in a space that would be limited capacity. In experimenting with the piece, we would also experiment as far as how and where we would produce it.”
Another bright side for Himes is that moving “Bubbling Brown Sugar” already has him looking forward to season 45.
“We will already know what season 45 is because a couple of things we had been looking forward to using this upcoming season will move to next season,” Himes said.
As he meets and discusses what’s to come with the artistic and production partners that will help him stage season 44 and 45, Himes is in fantastic spirits.
“I’m hopeful. I’m optimistic and like James Brown said, ‘I feel good.’”
For more information on The Black Rep, visit www.theblackrep.org.
