Tag: Venues

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Entertainment

With Venues Reopening Throughout New York, Life Is a Cabaret As soon as Once more

With Venues Reopening Across New York, Life Is a Cabaret Once Again

“Thank you for risking your life by coming out tonight,” joked Joe Iconis, welcoming a socially distant crowd to the Feinstein’s / 54 Below cabaret reopening in Manhattan in June.

Iconis, a composer, lyricist and performer popular with young music theater fans, joked before diving into an alternately silly and poignant set with actor and singer George Salazar – a star of Iconis’ first Broadway production, “Be More Chill”. He seriously added, “It’s the most incredible thing to be able to do this show for real people, not computer screens.”

Wet-eyed meetings between artists and fans have been held across the city as Covid-19 restrictions gradually eased. “I hope you are prepared for how emotional it will be when you are on stage because it will be emotional for us to support artists we love again,” said a fan of the band Betty. In the intimate spaces that house these shows, the interaction between artists and those who love them is an integral part of what downtown Sandra Bernhard calls “the instant, visceral experience.”

Traditional eateries such as the Birdland and Blue Note jazz clubs, newer eateries such as Green Room 42 and the City Winery in Hudson River Park (both reopened in April) as well as the old cabaret oases Pangea and Club Cumming in the East Village are back with food, drink and carnal entertainment, while veterans of cabaret – along with other jazz and pop acts and drag performers – return to the work that is their bread and butter.

“Seeing people react physiologically to music again – tapping toes, shaking heads – that’s almost better than applause,” said pianist and singer Michael Garin, one of many who used social media to connect with fans during the pandemic to keep in touch, and to resume the performances for the live audience initially.

However, Garin noted, “It’s not like we flip a switch and get things back to normal.” Especially in the spring, not everyone was ready to pick up where they left off. “Some musicians were willing to book as soon as possible and others said, ‘Let me see – I don’t know if I want to be indoors now,'” said Steven Bensusan, President of Blue Note Entertainment Group.

Producer and host Scott Siegel, creator of the virtual Scott Siegel’s New York Nightclub, said some guests are still anxious: “Everyone is hopeful, but I hear people are nervous. There are also many who come from outside the Tristate area and it is more difficult to get in. “

With regulations still in flux, both vigilance and adaptability are vital. Before Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced in mid-June that the state could reopen almost entirely, Birdland had planned to return on July 1 with only 50 percent capacity. Instead, all 150 seats were accessible from the start, with Diversity show hosts Jim Caruso and Susie Mosher returning with theater and cabaret luminaries like Chita Rivera and Natalie Douglas returning in the first week. (The club’s lower room, the Birdland Theater, will remain closed until September.) The Blue Note, which reopened in mid-June with about two-thirds capacity, has since made all of its 250 seats available. Proof of vaccination against the coronavirus is not required in either club, although masks are recommended for unvaccinated in Birdland.

In contrast, a vaccination certificate is necessary at 54 Below, where a full crowd of around 150 is to be gradually built up, as the 60-seat cabaret hall in Pangea still has a capacity restriction of 80 percent. Both venues were among those developing streaming series while they were closed. “We originally tried to stay active, but it became a way to pay staff and expand the audience,” said Richard Frankel, one of the owners of 54 Below, who is responsible for the new “Live From Feinstein’s / 54” series. will start below, ”with live streams straight from the venue on July 11th. “Right now we’re focused on reopening live, but it’s definitely something we should explore further after the dust settles.”

Ryan Paternite, Director of Programming at Birdland, was similarly encouraged by the response to Radio Free Birdland, though he added, “My feeling is that people are pretty burned out watching shows on their computer or phone – especially when they did it to pay for tickets. “

Artists generally remain optimistic about what technology can do. “I’m very pro-streaming,” said Tony Award-nominated singer and actress Lilli Cooper, who will appear on 54 Below on July 28 and August 15, that’s so important. “Caruso plans to keep his” Pajamas “weekly Cast Party ”; he noted that the virtual program enabled him to explore both his audience (“It’s literally and figuratively more colorful”) and talent pool (“I’ve been looking at TikTok and Instagram and discovered some exciting new artists”) ).

Many hope that diversity and inclusivity will be emphasized even more in an art form that includes colorful artists like Mabel Mercer and Bobby Short as historical icons. “My art is often based on what I’ve been through, and being black is part of it,” said Broadway veteran Derrick Baskin, who put R&B classics on his setlist for recent 54 Below dates.

Justin Vivian Bond, slated to reopen Joe’s Pub in October, said: “The great thing about cabaret is that if you can do it, you can react to what’s going on in the world.” For Bond, the pandemic posed equally sobering challenges like that of the LGBTQ community during another plague: “When AIDS happened, even when people died, you could be with them. What we just went through was a very isolating trauma. I don’t know if I’ll get any brilliant insight on this, but hopefully what I’m saying will resonate with the audience. “

Bernhard, who will return to Joe’s Pub in December for the annual vacation engagement she missed in 2020, is still unsure of the insights she will offer. “In the headspace I’m in, I don’t even know what the next two months will bring,” she said. “I just want to perform like everyone else is doing right now.”

Artists and fans are greeted with renovations at specific venues and other enticements. Birdland cut its admission price to 99 cents in July, the fee when the club opened in 1949. 54 Below is a new menu created by “Top Chef” winner Harold Dieterle. The Laurie Beechman Theater in the West Bank Café is getting a “facelift,” said its owner Steve Olsen – fresh paint, new carpet and bar furnishings, improved sound and lighting technology – in preparation for a reopening after Labor Day. The Triad Theater also used its forced downtime to “upgrade, repaint, and get new equipment,” said Booking Director Bernie Furshpan.

But it’s the love of the performance itself and the perspective gained after a year of lost shows that drives many artists’ emotional response to returning to the stage. Michael Feinstein, the American multitasking songbook champion and namesake for clubs in San Francisco and Los Angeles and New York, believes “that everyone who is a performer comes out in a completely different place, with a deeper sense of connectedness and joy and gratitude. “

“I can’t imagine an artist taking a moment of what we’re doing for granted,” he added.

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Entertainment

Cultural Venues’ Quest for Billions in Federal Assist Is Halted by Glitch

Cultural Venues’ Quest for Billions in Federal Aid Is Halted by Glitch

As the government prepared Thursday to apply for a $ 16 billion aid fund for music clubs, theaters, and other businesses for live events, thousands of desperate applicants waited eagerly to submit their papers right at 12:00 noon, than the system should be opened.

And then they waited. And waited. Almost four hours later, the system still didn’t work at all, causing the applicants to go into a state of anxiety.

“This is an absolute disaster,” tweeted Eric Sosa, the owner of C’mon Everybody, a Brooklyn club, at the agency.

Shortly after 4 p.m., the Small Business Administration, which runs the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program, abandoned its efforts to salvage the broken system and shut it down for the day. No applications were processed.

“Technical problems arose despite several successful tests of the application process,” said Andrea Roebker, spokeswoman for the agency, in a written statement.

After discussions with the providers who set up the system, the agency decided to “close the portal in order to ensure fair and equal access after the reopening, as this is first come, first served”, said Roebker. “This decision was not made lightly as we understand that this tough industry needs to be relieved quickly.”

Frustrated applicants vented and shared their anger on social media forums and Zoom calls.

“It’s hard to hear that help is on the way and then can’t apply,” said Tom Weyman, program director at Columbus Theater in Providence, RI. The process would be perfectly smooth, but this is life and death for our venues. ”

The meltdown reflected the problems the agency had over the past year applying for the paycheck protection program, which it is also overseeing. When that program opened, the agency’s overloaded systems were seized – and the same thing happened again weeks later when a new round of funding became available.

Applicants for the scholarship program were in disbelief that the agency wasn’t better prepared – especially as funds are supposed to be distributed based on the order in which people apply. Those who get their applications early have the best chance of getting help before they run out of money.

“Venues compete because we’re all crazy about them,” said Brooklyn club owner Mr. Sosa in an interview. “And that’s not how it should be. We are all a community. ”

For companies like Crowbar, a Tampa, Florida music club, getting a scholarship is a matter of survival. Tom DeGeorge, Crowbar’s principal owner, has raised more than $ 200,000 in personal loans to keep the business alive after it closed last year, including a loan that used the liquor license as collateral.

More than a year later, the club has reopened with some reduced capacity events, but the business is still in the red, DeGeorge said.

“We lost a year of gigs in the blink of an eye, which is close to $ 1 million in revenue,” said DeGeorge. “That’s why we need this scholarship so badly.”

The aid was approved by Congress late last year after months of lobbying by an ad hoc coalition of music venues and other groups warning of the loss of an entire sector of the arts industry.

For music venues in particular, the last year has been a problem with local club owners running crowdfunding campaigns, selling t-shirts, and worrying about creative ways to raise funds. For the holidays, for example, the Subterranean Club in Chicago agreed to put the names of patrons on its marquee for donations of $ 250 or more.

“It’s been the busiest year,” said Robert Gomez, the main owner of Subterranean, in an interview. “But it was all about, ‘Where do I get money from?'”

Even before the fiasco on Thursday, the opening of the closed program of events was characterized by complexity and confusion.

The Small Business Administration released a 58-page applicant guide late Wednesday night and then quickly took it offline. A revised version of the manual was published just minutes before the portal opened on Thursday. (An agency spokeswoman said the guide needs to be updated to reflect “some last-minute system changes.”)

And less than two hours before the agency was due to accept applications, its inspector general sent out a “serious concern” warning about the program’s waste and fraud controls. The Small Business Administration’s current audit schedule “exposes billions of dollars to possible misuse of funds,” the inspector general wrote in a report.

As of 2019, successful applicants will receive a grant equal to 45 percent of their gross sales of up to $ 10 million. Those who lost 90 percent of their sales (year-over-year) after the coronavirus pandemic outbreak have a 14-day priority window to receive the money, followed by another 14-day period for those who have 70 percent or have lost more. If there are still funds left over after that, they will go to applicants who had a revenue loss of 25 percent in at least one quarter of 2020. Large company venues such as Live Nation or AEG are not eligible.

The application process is extensive and contains detailed questions about the budget, staff and equipment of the venues.

“You want to make sure you don’t just put a piano in the corner of an Italian restaurant and label yourself a music venue,” said Blayne Tucker, an attorney for several music rooms in Texas.

Even with the scholarships, music venues can face many dry months before tours and live events return on a par with prepandemic levels.

The scholarship program also provides assistance to Broadway theaters, performing arts centers, and even zoos that face many of the same economic problems.

For example, the Pablo Center at Confluence in Eau Claire, Wisconsin raised about $ 1 million from donations and grants during the pandemic, but is still $ 1.2 million less than annual fixed operating costs, Jason Jon Anderson said . its managing director.

“If we reopen in October 2021 at the earliest, we will be closed longer than before,” he added. (The center opened in 2018 at a cost of $ 60 million.)

The thousands of small clubs that are on the national concert ticket have no access to large donors and, in many cases, have survived with smoke for months.

Stephen Chilton, owner of the 300-seat Rebel Lounge in Phoenix, said he took out “a few hundred thousand” loans to help keep the club afloat. In October it reopened with a pop-up cafe. The club hosts a few events, including quizzes and open mic shows.

“We’re losing a lot less than we lost when we were completely closed,” said Chilton, “but it doesn’t make up for the lost revenue from running events.”

The Rebel Lounge hopes a scholarship will help it survive until it can bring back a full range of concerts. What if the application is unsuccessful?

“There is no plan B,” said Chilton.

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Health

NY goals to reopen Broadway, massive venues, with Covid testing, Cuomo says

NY aims to reopen Broadway, large venues, with Covid testing, Cuomo says

All New York theater performances will be suspended until the end of 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Pictured Broadway theater with shutters.

Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images

New York plans to use extensive coronavirus testing to reopen its difficult entertainment options, which have been closed for months during the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday.

The coronavirus has crippled the live theater industry, particularly at its central hub in New York City. Broadway has been closed since March 2020 and is not expected to reopen until May 30 this year, according to the Broadway League, a trade organization that represents producers and theater owners.

However, Cuomo said there was hope that New York could allow Broadway, among other entertainment options, to reopen with some restrictions. The state would likely set an audience size limit, require everyone to take a negative Covid-19 test before entering, and require proper ventilation systems in theaters, the governor said.

“Would I go to a play and sit in a playhouse with 150 people? If the 150 people tested and they were all negative, I would,” Cuomo said during a press conference. “I think reopening with testing will be key.”

Cuomo said he couldn’t immediately provide a timetable for major venues to reopen. Much of the state’s plan depends on a pilot program that ran in January that allowed nearly 7,000 football fans to attend the Buffalo Bill’s home games as long as they presented a negative Covid-19 test.

The governor had already announced in late January that New York will allow some wedding ceremony venues to reopen on March 15 with limited capacity. Attendees can hold a wedding if all attendees are tested prior to the event and organizers get approval from their local health department in advance, he said.

“Opening locations with testing is something New York wants to lead the way,” Cuomo said Monday.

This is a developing story. Please try again later.

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Business

Federal Assist for Closed Cultural Venues Will Be a Race for Money

Federal Aid for Closed Cultural Venues Will Be a Race for Cash

An adviser to Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas and a sponsor of the proposal, said Mr. Cornyn had told the Small Business Administration of his concerns that the last-minute expansion of Congress would overwhelm the program with applicants and not enough money for it the venues that he and others wanted to benefit from.

A spokeswoman for the agency declined to comment on how long the money is expected to last. She said officials would “build the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program from the ground floor and put in place front-end protections to ensure these important grants are given to those who the law is supposed to support.”

Once the program opens, applicants will fight for money.

Most recipients are eligible to raise 45 percent of their 2019 sales, up to $ 10 million. In the first 14 days, grants are only granted to people with a 90 percent or more loss in sales between April and December – for example, Ms. Tallent’s orange peel. After that, applicants with a loss of 70 percent or more have a priority window of 14 days. These two groups alone could run out of funding for the program before other applicants – those with losses of at least 25 percent – can take their turn.

As a result, most business owners face a tough decision: should they apply for a closed venue grant or apply for Paycheck Protection Program relief instead? This program reopened last month, so hard-hit companies can apply for a second unsuccessful loan.

Venues that received loan through the paycheck program last year can apply for the grant, but those applying for loan this year cannot. The Small Business Administration said in its advice to applicants that they must “make an informed business decision about which program will benefit them most and apply accordingly”.

Take Billy Bobs Texas, a Fort Worth honky tonk who received a $ 1.1 million loan from the Paycheck Protection Program in April. It closed in March and reopened in August, but its once lucrative corporate sales business has cratered. The famous bull arena is empty. Even so, smaller concerts are held here, where dinners are served and converted to accommodate a capacity of 2,500 people, versus the 6,000 that used to be.

“I feel like we’re changing our business model every week,” said Marty Travis, the general manager. He estimates sales in the final eight months of 2020 were down at least 50 percent year over year – enough to qualify for the venue grant, but not enough to put the club in either of the top two priority groups to divide. By the time you are allowed to apply, your money may be gone.

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Business

Theaters, live performance venues left ready for assist after Trump risk

Theaters, concert venues left waiting for help after Trump threat

The $ 900 billion coronavirus aid package includes a long-awaited move to send aid to struggling independent theaters and music venues.

But now these cultural centers and small businesses are waiting for help again.

The measure was supposed to become law this week, but President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to blow up the deal, the result of months of controversial negotiations. It is not clear whether the president intends to veto the bill or not to sign it for the remaining weeks of his presidency.

The law provides $ 15 billion in grants to facilities including museums and zoos. It’s a multi-month push for the Save Our Stages Act, a bipartisan plan to promote small arts and entertainment venues that have come under pressure during the pandemic health restrictions.

Private, small performing arts venues, cinemas, museums and zoos could receive grants from the Small Business Administration – starting with those where revenues are down more than 90% year over year. Companies can use the money on expenses such as rent or mortgage, utilities, payroll, insurance, and maintenance to help them meet public health guidelines.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat who first co-sponsored the bill in July with Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, said the plan would send targeted aid to businesses that usually closed first and last will belong open.

“These are some of the companies and phases that have been hurt the most and that have literally been all but closed,” she told CNBC on Tuesday. The interview came just hours before Trump, who was expected to sign the bill, called it a “disgrace” and asked lawmakers to change it.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the entertainment industry. Live shows have been canceled for nearly nine months and dozens of blockbuster films have been postponed to 2021. This has cracked the bottom line and threatened to bankrupt businesses large and small.

However, it is only the smallest companies that could benefit from Klobuchar’s and Cornyn’s plan. Venues seeking help cannot fall into more than two of the following groups:

  • Listed companies
  • Multinational companies
  • Companies that operate in more than 10 states
  • Companies with more than 500 full-time employees
  • Companies that have received at least 10% of their revenue from government sources

These reservations mean that national theater chains such as AMC, Cinemark and Regal owned by Cineworld, as well as many regional chains, would not be eligible to apply for grants.

“The larger chains like AMC and Regal had easy access to funding that some of the smaller operators don’t,” said Doug Calidas, Klobuchar’s legislative director. “Even if the worst-case scenario comes up and they don’t make it, they usually get bought out and stay, while many of these very small theaters, if they close their doors, would be.”

The bill would provide relief to hundreds of independent cinemas that the National Association of Theater Owners has warned could close permanently if not supported.

“This act will help us survive until the vaccines are widely distributed,” said Brock Bagby, executive vice president of B & B Theaters, a family-owned company with 48 theaters in eight states.

While movie theaters in most states have been able to operate with limited capacity, live entertainment centers like Broadway in New York City are still closed.

The Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents around 51,000 stage actors and managers in the live theater industry, said more than 1,100 actors and managers lost their jobs on Broadway during the pandemic.

The theater industry in New York City supports more than 96,000 local jobs, according to the Broadway League. This includes those involved in productions and those who work in the Broadway area such as retailers, taxi drivers, and restaurant owners.

“We are grateful for this bipartisan deal that is immediate relief and a lifeline for the future in our industry,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League after lawmakers closed the deal – but before Trump got the deal after it Conclusion ripped passage in Congress.

The group declined to provide additional comments when CNBC asked for a response to Trump’s subsequent attack on the Covid relief bill.

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Entertainment

Stimulus Provides $15 Billion in Reduction for Struggling Arts Venues

Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

For music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions who have suffered without a business from the pandemic, the coronavirus aid package agreed by Congress leaders this week finally offers the prospect of help: it includes $ 15 billion to help them cope helping a crisis that has shut theaters and silenced halls.

The money, part of a $ 900 billion coronavirus aid package, is set to help the cultural sector – from pub rock clubs to Broadway theaters and museums – survive. Many small business owners cited it as their last hope of staying in business after nearly a year of drought.

“This is what our industry needs to get through,” said Dayna Frank, owner of First Avenue, a famous Minneapolis music club. She is also the chairman of the board of the National Independent Venue Association, which was formed in April and which has aggressively engaged Congress to facilitate its more than 3,000 members.

When the news of the deal broke on Sunday night, a collective sigh of relief rebounded through group text messages and social media posts. “Last night was the first time I smiled in nine months,” said Ms. Frank.

Broadway theaters, which have been closed since March, welcomed the aid package.

“We are grateful for this bipartisan agreement, which is immediate relief and a lifeline for our industry for the future,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, the trade organization for producers and theater owners, in a statement.

Nataki Garrett, the artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, said helping nonprofit theaters is vital. “Our situation was critical and dire,” she said.

However, those in charge of some large nonprofit cultural organizations feared that the way the bill is structured, giving precedence to organizations that have lost a very high percentage of their revenue before considering the rest, are pushing them to the background for scholarships As this is usually the case, you could receive a significant portion of the income through donations.

With the bill scheduled for approval by both houses of Congress on Monday evening, art groups across the country cautiously celebrated while studying the fine print to see what kind of help they might qualify for. Most doubt that the entertainment industry will not be able to get back into action until well into next year at the earliest.

The bill allows independent entertainment companies such as music venues and cinemas, as well as other cultural institutions, to apply for grants from the Small Business Administration to support six-month payments to employees, as well as costs such as rent, supplies, and maintenance. Applicants must have lost at least 25 percent of their sales to qualify, and those who have lost more than 90 percent can apply first within the first two weeks of the law going into effect.

Updated

Apr. 21, 2020, 4:40 pm ET

The grants are capped at $ 10 million.

The core of these provisions was proposed in the Senate in July by Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota and John Cornyn, Republican of Texas. As the relief efforts in Washington wore off for months, venues and institutions began to lose. According to the independent venue association, at least 300 music spots have been closed since the beginning of the pandemic.

Senator Klobuchar certified that the event groups were tirelessly campaigning to convince members of the Congress of their economic and cultural value to local communities.

“It was the basic efforts of musicians, theaters and fans across the country,” said Ms. Klobuchar in an interview on Monday. “And it was the fact that the coalition stuck together. You didn’t fight. “

The pandemic forced small music venues and nonprofit theaters – usually strangers to Washington – to learn the art of lobbying. The owners talked about the elbow grease they put into building their business, the added value to local communities through tourism and hospitality, and the historical role arts organizations have played in revitalizing the tainted corridors of urban America.

The idea that cultural groups are suffering in every corner of the country helped this part of the overall relief package gain broad support from both parties.

In addition to theaters and museums, talent agents and managers can also apply for relief under the law. The bill would restrict listed companies and other large companies.

“I wanted to make sure that the ticketmasters of the world didn’t benefit from it,” said Ms. Klobuchar.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, was an aggressive advocate of cultural relief – he wore a mask that read “Save Our Stages” during the last Capitol Hill negotiations last week – with a special focus on groups in New, of course York, including Broadway theaters.

“It wasn’t just Broadway,” said Mr Schumer in an interview. “Rather, it was the independent venues that were the lifeblood of New York. Young people come to New York, and that’s one of the reasons they come – to cities in general, not just New York. “

“The non-profit and artistic world is very important to the economy of cities,” he added. “People forget that.”

For some of the help-out mom and pop operators, the process has been a do-or-die necessity, albeit a confusing one.

“We used to call managers and agents to book talent,” said Chris Bauman of Zenith Music Group, which operates a handful of Chicago venues. “Now we’ve been thrown into this crazy world of politics. Eighty hours a week of zooms with mayors, senators, and congressmen. “

“It shows that there is a way to do this,” added Bauman, fighting back tears. “Not to be left behind.”

Sarah Bahr contributed to the reporting.