BOZEMAN, MT — On Wednesday, Governor Bullock announced an opportunity for live entertainment venues, like theater, to get much-needed COVID-19 funding to stay afloat while shut down.
Since the beginning of COVID-19, stages like the one belonging to Montana Shakespeare in the Parks at MSU and beyond have fallen silent, using virtual platforms to try to stay afloat.
But now with the Live Entertainment Grant Program on the table, there could be a future and the curtain could rise again.
“Bottom line, we do what we do on a shoestring all the time,” says Hilary Parker, executive director of the Verge Theater. “We can’t do that without a string.”
From virtual shows to virtual classes
The pandemic has not stopped Montana theater, from The Ellen in Downtown Bozeman to the Verge Theater and Montana Shakespeare in the Parks.
“The quality of life that is generated as a result of opportunities with live entertainment cannot be understated,” says Kevin Asselin, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks executive artistic director. “The arts, culturally, does so much on an economic level for the state, at large. For us at Shakespeare in the Parks, it’s so critical for us to find out ways to get into these under-served rural communities where they might not have access to any kind of cultural offering.”
But Asselin says as the days tick on with empty stages, that means no revenue.
“We’ve had to shut down completely because of the inability to assemble in the way that we do traditionally,” Asselin says. “If we don’t have the opportunity or means to stay afloat through the support of our state, we run the risk of becoming insolvent.”
Governor Bullock’s Live Entertainment Grant Program sets aside $10 million for the industry, providing up to 25 percent of last year’s revenue and a max of one million dollars per applicant as long as at least 33 percent of their earnings come from live events.
“This kind of support from Governor Bullock is monumental,” Asselin says.
Montana Shakespeare in the Parks and Verge Theater meet that criteria.
“We’ve drawn a pretty tough line which is that if there is still community spread in Gallatin County, we are not meeting for rehearsals or classes live,” Parker says.
And to Hilary Parker at the Verge, which relies on 35 percent, this could come not a moment too soon.
“We had a board meeting last night where we went through the financials and figured out that after some really draconian cuts to our programs and to our staffing, we have seven months of income available,” Parker says.
So from stage to stage, all groups agree: this could literally help the show go on.
“We don’t want to be responsible for putting people into a theater when it’s not safe just to stay alive,” Parker says. “We wouldn’t do that so this is critical.”
Applications are going to be looked over at a first-come, first-serve basis and have been open since Wednesday, August 12.
