2 Holyoke sites will offer COVID vaccine masslive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from masslive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Concert halls hope for return of live shows later in 2021 masslive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from masslive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Performing arts venues, suffering under pandemic shutdown, struggle to move forward
Updated Feb 08, 2021;
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There is a joke among concert promoters that since they have nothing to do, the government should put them in charge of distributing the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Everyone would get a wristband and head into a post-vaccination VIP meet-and-greet for a picture with Dr. Fauci,” said John Sanders of DSP Shows.
It’s a bit of dark humor. Sanders said he knows that vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the end of the COVID pandemic are the only thing that’s going to allow state and local governments to reopen venues across New York state and New England where he does business places like The Academy of Music and Pines Theater in Northampton or Springfield Symphony Hall. Otherwise, he’s left organizing a few online performances from Daryl’s House a club owned by Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates in Pawling, New York.
In the last 10 months, New England’s rich arts scene has been hit hard.
Those who depend on live audiences to make a living have lost wages and many lost their jobs. President Joe Biden’s proposed extension of unemployment benefits could help.
Still, music clubs and theaters have been forced to hibernate and some places have permanently closed.
Online fundraisers have become revenue streams for some venues. The Shea Theater in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, just held a two-day event featuring musicians performing from home studios.
Luthier s Co-Op in Easthampton started a GoFundMe page. So did Gateway City Arts in Holyoke, raising almost $40,000. But it wasn’t nearly enough.