Executive Order 107 brought the close of all performing venues in the state in March 2020. Many theatres like Princeton Movie Theatre and Hopewell had already moved to temporarily shut down stages before this announcement.
The days that followed showed a steady collapse of the niche industry of performing, which left small artists and performers and organizers at a loss for a venue and revenue. What was meant to be a week or few long gaps turned into nine months and more? The industry was the first to grow aware of the drastic blow it would take due to the lack of people pouring in.
NIVA and Sanctuary to Adapt To
In those months, NIVA (National Independent Venue Association) sprung into existence. Though Hopewell Theatre had known about NIVA in their radar, there was not much that could be known about the association and its objectives. NIVA started to call venue owners to become members to the existing 75 others to start a discussion about supporting the niche industry from utter collapse.
In May, the survey results showed that there was no hope for the venues to open; only for them all to close for good, unless the federal government intervened.
It was in June when Hopewell engaged with NIVA actively. In June, NIVA started the #SaveOurStages campaign and wrote a letter to Congress and senators. With a nod from the local body, the Save Our Stages Act was co-signed, which promised to provide six months of financial support as part of the Covid Relief Bill. Hopewell Theatre joined hands with NIVA then.
But until NIVA’s progress, Hopewell had little hope for the theatre. By May, 70% of its staff had been laid off, and while the layoff was the reason why the theatre could survive until June, the series of layoffs cost many people their jobs and income. All shows were canceled, and by June, there were little to no events, live or not. It became an experimental stage, the three remaining Hopewell directors recall, to brainstorm on how to keep the theatre running.
It was then that Scully, one of the directors, introduced a Sanctuary System. During the pandemic, the venue could serve as a stage for private recordings that could be used to build a library of content. Hopewell thus partnered with technical and other theatre teams to make this a reality, to support small musicians and filmmakers.
This is an ongoing process, one that has the advantage of pre-producing and recording live and fresh-faced plays and musicals to be released on holidays.
What Next
Even when the theatres open, this gig will continue to grow for the convenience it provides for many people. A mixture of both of them will become a service to which the user base will increase when theatres will reopen. It has helped Hopewell keep its venue afloat and also offer a space for indie musicians to live stream from a well-organized, maintained space.
Now, Hopewell Theatre is an active advocate for NIVA progress. Scully has also endeavored to start NJIVA for NJ theatres in specific. New Jersey and local spaces can utilize the benefit of NJIVA to create media content and bolster #SaveOurStages.