COVID spells trouble for Hippodrome Theatre
COVID-19 has brought the curtain down for a third time this summer at Gainesville's Hippodrome Theatre. Performances of the musical titled, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, were canceled for Wednesday and Thursday nights. The theater said it hopes the show will resume Friday, symptoms permitting.
"There's a resurgence. It doesn't care who it affects," Bob Robins, the Hippodrome's production manager, said of the show-stopping outbreak. "We have protocols to protect our actors, the rest of our company, and our patrons."
Robins said that union contracts require shows to suspend production when two or more cast or crew members test positive for COVID-19 and there isn't sufficient backup to cover for them. The lights are allowed to come back up after the sick have quarantined in keeping with CDC guidelines .
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The Hippodrome's COVID-caused disruptions reflect a summer spike in the virus as it continues to take on new titles in its evolution, most recently the variant dubbed " FLiRT ."
While it's not the plague that shut down Broadway theaters—and much of America—in early 2020, COVID remains a dangerous bug. Last year the disease put nearly a million Americans in the hospital and killed 75,500, far more than succumbed to the flu, according to the CDC , which estimates that at least a quarter of the U.S. population has not received the latest COVID vaccine.
"I had almost forgotten about COVID—nobody was talking about it anymore," said Sanchi Pandey, who plays a snarky, know-it-all character in the Hippodrome's current production. "Then, we got hit with it hard. It's been crazy."
Some suspect the bug made its way backstage after some members of the company took advantage of their time in Florida to visit Disney World.
"They rolled the COVID dice, but all of us are these days," said Hippodrome artistic director Stephanie Lynge, referring to the exposure risk posed by large crowds and close quarters at theme parks. "We are a union house and the union, understandably, has rules that came out of the pandemic."
Robins, the production manager, said audiences wouldn't get the quality they expect if cast members tried to work sick.
"If you have a fever and are coughing, you're not going to be your best, and certainly can't sing," he said.
As for the notion that "the show must go on," that originated with circus performances in the late 19th century, Robins said: "That's just not the reality now."
There are understudies—one male, one female—ready to cover any of the nine roles in the ensemble cast of The 25th Annual Spelling Bee, which allows for no more than two cast members to fall ill.
Robins said cancellations that began in June—the first lasting two days, the second a week—have impacted actors, production crew members, box office workers and others who rely on the Hippodrome for a living.
He also pointed to the downtown Gainesville economy: "Dinner and drinks before or after the show aren't happening if there isn't a show."
Dr. Brandon Bodlak, a primary care physician in Gainesville, said he has seen an uptick in COVID-19 among his patients this summer, some being "fairly severe cases."
"It's definitely not as deadly as it was previously, but it's still not very much fun," Bodlak said, adding that he hasn't yet had to hospitalize any of his patients during the upsurge.
Pandey, a musical theatre major at the University of North Carolina who takes on paid roles in the summer, said she's sorry some shows have had to be canceled but is grateful for the Hippodrome's response.
"The theater has been very responsible," she said. "They have done a good job of protecting us and the community."
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a raucous, campy comedy that was a Tony Award-Winner on Broadway, is running at the Hippodrome through July 21.
