COVID-19 is severely affecting communities around the globe, making many things in the near future uncertain, especially for schools and universities. The Colorado Mesa (CMU) performing arts department was one of the many departments that have been affected by this global pandemic. “We had to make the very unhappy decision–along with everyone else in the country planning for events and shows and concerts– to cancel all of our shows for the spring: ‘The Wolves’, ‘Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me’, and the spring dance concert, ‘Celebrating WE’, as well as our One Acts, ‘RAW’ and ‘Cabarets’,” Chair of the Theater Department, Mo LaMee, said.
There have been many changes recently but the faculty at CMU is finding a way to adapt.
“Art can be an important way for humans to cope with difficult times. It’s poetry and the spoken word and music and dance which we often turn to in life’s significant moments-during rites of passage, during marriages, or funerals, or times of social or personal disruption like we’re experiencing now. We are seeking ways to share the art we’re making,” LaMee said.
The spring performance of ‘The Wolves’ has been canceled but, before it was clear that students wouldn’t be able to return for the rest of the year, the cast decided to do a voice recording of the show.
“We wanted to capture the story with this specific cast regardless of if we couldn’t do it,” Brooklyn Buhre said. There is discussion of whether this show can be added to the fall season’s productions.
‘Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me’ was student-directed by a senior so, unfortunately, it will not get the chance to be performed.
This unforeseen obstacle has changed many aspects of the department’s courses. But, with today’s technology, students and faculty have been able to make do for the most part.
“We are still able to perform and get feedback on our work. In my acting class, for example, we can record ourselves performing a monologue and post it in a discussion thread […] and get instant feedback from our professor and classmates,” Theatre student, Brie Angel, said. “I think that our faculty are doing the best that they can to keep our student body safe while making sure we have a smooth transition to online learning. This change is hard, but students and faculty of CMU will get through this challenging time with hard work and optimism.”
While most things have been able to stay relatively the same, a theater and dance major is still performance based which would need an audience.
“The lack of performance opportunities is another impact COVID-19 has had on the performing arts department,” Angel said. “A big part of our major is learning through experience while we build a resume that will prepare us to get jobs once we graduate.”
Senior capstones for the performing arts department were meant to be performed this semester but, because of the nationwide CDC recommendations for social distancing, they can’t perform.
The senior capstones differ for each major. As a musical theater major, students would have had to perform 6-7 songs and monologues for a total of 30 minutes that illustrate the question, ‘who am I as an artist?’
“The biggest [thing] I’m trying to figure out is how to still perform the senior capstone that I’ve been dreaming of since I was a freshman,” Buhre said. “I’m trying to follow the mindset that whatever is meant to be will happen, and I am going to keep chasing my dreams and accomplishing [my] goals.”
The loss of these senior capstones and one acts, as well as “The Wolves,” “Someone Who Will Watch Over Me” and the “Celebrating WE” dance concert, is a harsh reality for everyone in the theater department. As they mourn the loss of the performances they poured their hearts into, the CMU performing arts department is trying to find ways to stay positive.
“There will be opportunities discovered through our limitations that we couldn’t have foreseen,” LaMee said.
