The Ensemblist

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the country, it’s creating concern for many of us in the theatre industry. For those of us who make our living by occupying the same space as others to share stories in real time, the coronavirus is posing a real threat to our lives and work. Just yesterday, Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington state, officially banned gatherings of more than 250 people. Of course, that includes theatre performances...

Earlier this week, the Broadway League released a statement advising against stage door activities and increasing sanitation efforts in response to the coronavirus outbreak. But I’ve been wondering how COVID-19 has been affecting life backstage at Broadway theatres for folks like today’s guest: Adam Jepsen. Adam is currently one of two actors playing Sven the reindeer in Broadway’s Frozen...

Yesterday afternoon, Broadway theatres will went dark by order of Governor Andrew Cuomo. Performances will resume the week of April 13. The announcement comes as venues and performing arts organizations around New York City and the country have announced closures of their own amid rising concerns about the global coronavirus pandemic...

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow, we are speaking with performing arts around the country about how the shutdown of theatre performances continues to affect their lives and work. Today, we speak with Christopher Henry Young, who is currently in San Francisco performing in the "And Peggy" company of Hamilton, about how COVID-19 has affected the state of live performance in the Bay Area. Here's our conversation...

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow, we are speaking with performing arts around the country about how the shutdown of theatre performances continues to affect their lives and work. Today, we speak with John Tupy, who spoke to us from Palm Desert, CA where he was supposed to performing with the national tour of Chicago until performances were cancelled Thursday morning. Here's our conversation...

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow, we are speaking with performing arts around the country about how the shutdown of theatre performances continues to affect their lives and work. Today, we speak with Jane Bunting, who was in Dallas performing with the national tour of Come From Away until performances were cancelled on Thursday. Here's our conversation...

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow, we are speaking with performing arts around the country about how the shutdown of theatre performances continues to affect their lives and work. Today, we speak with Tara Tagliaferro, who was performing in the Maltz Jupiter Theatre production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying when the show was postponed. She shared how the theatre has been taking care of their artists in unique ways. Here's our conversation...

As the Coronavirus pandemic as raged across the country, national tours have been some of the first productions to fall victim. One of those is the national tour of Once on This Island which unexpectedly closed this week, cancelling almost five months of upcoming performances. Company member Tatiana Loftin spoke to us about how she heard the news and what she's doing now. Here's our conversation...

Roundabout Theatre Company's Caroline, or Change was the second Broadway musical to announce postponement in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. I was curious what it would feel like to be in the middle of a creative process, only to be stopped suddenly and placed on hold for the foreseeable future. Nasia Thomas is the dance captain and plays Radio 1 in this Broadway revival of Caroline, or Change...

As the Coronavirus pandemic has raged across the country, national tours have been some of the first productions to fall victim. One of those is the national tour of Miss Saigon which unexpectedly closed, cancelling almost four months of upcoming performances. Company member Adam Roberts spoke to us about how he heard the news and what he's doing since he found himself unexpectedly unemployed. Here's our conversation...