Cabin Fever: The Theatre Scribbles Guide on How to Stay Stagey in Self-Isolation
You know that scene from Muppet Treasure Island?
The one when it's really boring one minute and then the next the whole ship is full of pirates and Muppets alike with the most camp costumes full of fruit imaginable dancing the night away.....
Yeah that's what we're all praying these months of madness aren't going to turn into... Although think of the memes....
As we all know, the world at the moment is quite frankly insane, and a bit of a nightmare for the entire theatre community.
Broadway and then British theatres all closed their doors, leaving an industry out of work for the foreseeable future. But I have seen an incredible resilience and courage from the community on social media, giving us all encouragement that it will come back from all this insanity.
Theatre is a social hobby but it doesn't mean you cannot keep it up and support it whilst we're all rehearsing social distancing.
So I have been looking around the past couple of days to find ways on how we can all still be stagey nerds whilst self-isolating.
The one when it's really boring one minute and then the next the whole ship is full of pirates and Muppets alike with the most camp costumes full of fruit imaginable dancing the night away.....
 |
| https://hopetheanchorformysoul.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/ive-got-cabin-fever.gif |
Yeah that's what we're all praying these months of madness aren't going to turn into... Although think of the memes....
Broadway and then British theatres all closed their doors, leaving an industry out of work for the foreseeable future. But I have seen an incredible resilience and courage from the community on social media, giving us all encouragement that it will come back from all this insanity.
Theatre is a social hobby but it doesn't mean you cannot keep it up and support it whilst we're all rehearsing social distancing.
So I have been looking around the past couple of days to find ways on how we can all still be stagey nerds whilst self-isolating.
- Some musicals have released a filmed performance of their show in exhange for donations to charites related to the industry. For example, the run of Stiles and Drewe's The Wind In The Willows has been released on their website
Click here to watch The Wind in the Willows: https://www.willowsmusical.com/ - Another hit which has launched a streaming link for charity is the cult hit Eugenius, which played at The Other Palace, starring Rob Houchen (City of Angels), Laura Baldwin (Waitress), Dan Buckley and more. It's now raised thousands for Acting For Others.
Click here to watch Eugenius: https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/eugenius-musical-streamed-charity-coronavirus_51210.html
PS: please let me know if you would like me to review this... - Download rather than stream cast albums. We all love Spotify as much as the next person, but try and use that to test out an album before you choose to buy it, rather than relying on it alone. WhatsOnStage have also done a piece of good song choices to work out to: click here to read more.
- Get listening to theatre related podcasts. My personal favourites are The West End Frame Show and In The Frame both from West End Frame, and also the Theatre Club Podcast that also does recipes for stagey-themed cocktails you can try making at home. Mmmm yum!! 😋
If you want to listen to stagey voices but about something else, Carrie Hope Fletcher (Les Mis) and Celinde Schoenmaker (The Light in the Piazza) did a short podcast called Wonder Women, about all things female empowerment 💁 - Donate the cost of your tickets to the theatres if you can rather than ask for a refund, especially if it is a small/local space. I recently did that for my ticket for Zorro at the Hope Mill. Some might also be offering an exchange to a different performance, but if in doubt, check with the theatres.
- Support streaming concerts, like what Lambert Productions are doing with the Leave A Light On concerts. There is also the Rosie O'Donnell show featuring WAY too many Broadway stars to count which was aired on Broadway.com's YouTube channel. You can watch that by clicking here.
- Get binging. Amazon Prime, Netflix and BBC iPlayer have all got movie-musicals and adaptions of plays streaming at the moment. Oh and don't forget Disney +, which as just launched on Tuesday...! The National Theatre will also be releasing some of their broadcasts, and you can also find more on Broadway HD and Digital Theatre among others. Read more here.
- Why not agree a film with a group of friends and stream it together from home? Just because you're chatting over WhatsApp while the film is playing, it won't stop you all laughing together at how bad Pierce Brosnan's voice in Mamma Mia is (for example).
- Support theatre nerds on YouTube, such as The Break A Leggers, Amy Lovatt, Rukaya Cesar and more.
- Plan your bucket list. Fingers crossed, this will all be over by Autumn, so start planning what you're going to see from October onwards, and into 2021. When the theatres come back, we need to support them as much as we can to ensure the community rises back as best as it can.
With that in mind - stay safe, and happy geeking out. You can take the nerd out of the theatre, but not the other way around 😊
Comments
Post a Comment