While professional equity theaters have had a rough time during the pandemic, community theaters have soldiered on and, in some cases, even flourished. A good example of that is our own Vero Beach Theatre Guild.
In fact, the 64-year-old institution is popping its buttons with renovation, expansion and the addition of a smaller second stage, called the Studio Theatre.
“It’s very exciting to be able to present many scripts that would not be considered on the main stage,” says Jon Putzke, VBTG artistic director.
A second stage is where a theater will typically present shows that do not have the mass appeal of a mainstage show or musical. Think intimate dramas and quirky comedies.
The Studio Theatre opened in February with the one-man show “Buyer and Cellar,” which runs on Sundays through March 27. It’s a funny take on an out-of-work actor who takes on a job running a shopping mall in Barbra Streisand’s basement. Streisand is the mall’s sole patron.
The next show scheduled for the Studio Theatre is “The Chicago Gypsies,” which follows the youngest actress in a family of four showbiz company during the Great Depression. That show runs Sundays from April 24 to June 26.
The Studio Theatre has what’s known as flexible staging, which means it can present shows in various styles, including in-the-round. Depending on the configuration, it can accommodate from 41 to 61 audience members. Therein lies its charm.
“It’s very intimate; you have actors performing right in front of you, up close and personal,” Putzke says. “Audiences have been pleasantly surprised.”
A theater professional who has made his living directing and producing for decades, Putzke knew the Vero Beach Theatre Guild had grown to the point where it very much needed a second stage. The VBTG had already offered three solid years of their Apron Series, a readers theater program Putzke began in order to present serious works such as Arthur Miller’s hard-hitting dramas. A second stage was the logical next step.
Then, during the height of the pandemic, Putzke sat down with Jeff Hall, the theater’s technical director and scenic designer, to discuss what they could do during those down months, when society was getting its COVID footing.
They installed a proper rehearsal studio on the second floor of the annex, added more space in the dressing room and built a covered “Actors’ Alley” running directly from the dressing rooms to backstage.
They also took out almost half of the seats in the large mainstage theater, which gave Putzke an idea: Use those extra seats to create that second stage.
The Theatre Guild then got a matching $13,000 grant from the Indian River Community Foundation and turned its old “green room” (the place where actors wait during a performance) into a studio theater.
The VBTG board of directors is excited about the opening of the Studio Theatre, says its president, Lisa McNamee.
“Most definitely,” she says. “It’s a wonderful thing. It gives us another way to reach the community and bring in local talent.”
However, as the organization’s president, McNamee concerns herself a great deal with finances. She expects that shows in the Studio Theatre will pay for themselves, but she would like to see it become a revenue stream for the institution.
That, she says, can only happen with sponsors. And that, she says, will only happen if people know that the Studio Theatre, and even the Vero Beach Theatre Guild in general, exists.
She frequently hears from people who are surprised that the Vero Beach Theatre Guild is open and has been producing shows since November 2020. It had shut down for only eight months during the early days of the pandemic.
During that hiatus, the organization went through a lot of effort to make things safe during COVID, so that it could re-open as quickly as possible. They took out seats, distanced audience members, enacted paperless ticketing, updated the HVAC system, restricted audience gatherings to outside and enacted a mandatory mask policy (now mask optional).
Only one show, a production of “Buyer & Cellar,” had to be postponed due to illness. No show has been canceled.
Indeed, being a non-professional community theater, the VBTG is free from union dictates requiring equity theaters to pay small fortunes for frequent COVID testing. Professional theaters, such as Riverside Theatre, which casts members of the Actors Equity Association, have been forced to cancel or postpone entire seasons due to COVID.
And there, says McNamee, is the source of irony plaguing her. Many people confuse VBTG with Riverside Theatre, which recently canceled the majority of its season.
“Word needs to get out more,” she says. “The biggest problem is people think we are closed. We have made it safe here. The shows continue and they are quality shows.”
Not only that, but the theater is also about to launch a new Theater Learning Center, which will educate children and adults on a continuing basis.
Other activities planned for the Studio Theatre include cabaret acts, jazz groups, lecture series and even film.
“The Wine and Film Festival is renting our place this summer,” Putzke says. “Now they will have two places to show their films.”
The theater’s popular actor and director, Alex Martinez, heads up the non-theatrical bookings. As the newly appointed Studio Theatre programming coordinator, Martinez sees this as an opportunity for both patrons and volunteers.
“I am incredibly excited about what this new theatrical space means for the community,” he says. “The Studio Theatre allows the Vero Beach Theatre Guild to broaden the horizons of what is possible at our theater by offering entertainment not seen before on the Guild mainstage.”
The Vero Beach Theatre Guild is at 2020 San Juan Ave. For more information, call 772-562-8300 or visit VeroBeachTheatreGuild.com.
Photos by Kaila Jones
