The show must go on … hold? Performers, venues grapple with sudden restrictions

New restrictions in the wake of surging COVID-19 cases have forced sports organizations and performance venues in the province to pivot at a time of year when events are just gearing up.

Among the measures the province imposed Friday were 50 per cent capacity limits for fitness spaces, cinemas, arenas and performance venues.

Kathie Hicks, co-owner of Spirit of Newfoundland Productions, called the news "devastating."

The company puts on near-daily shows between mid-November and early January — making up one-third of its annual revenue. 

In addition to monetary losses, Hicks said, having to cancel or reschedule a quarter of those tickets is "an administrative nightmare."

"We've got to literally go back and find people and say, 'OK, who doesn't want to come?" she said.

The changes, she said, couldn't have come at a worse time.

"It's Christmas, you know?" she said. "The time of hospitality."

She fears the impacts of the restrictions on the many who make it a tradition to take in a Spirit show.

"Organizations like ours … they're required for people's mental health, for heaven's sakes," she said. "So it's really important that we keep the town moving — that we keep all of us moving, but moving safely."

Let's call the whole thing off

Faced with new capacity restrictions, music group Shanneyganock was forced to cancel two weeks' worth of shows over the holidays — and some 3,000 tickets.

The show could have gone on at 50 per cent capacity, but lead singer Chris Andrews said the logistics of returning half the tickets was daunting.

"We figured the best and smartest move forward for us was to cancel and to all gather again," Andrews said.

Cancelling music performances over the Christmas season, Andrews said, is akin to "the tourism industry taking July off." 

"It's not like you can go back out in the middle of January and do these shows again," he said. "They're sort of gone [until] next year."

Andrews said the band receives little in the way of government funding, so there's no guarantee they'll be making up the lost income.

"So it's sort of another kick, for sure," he said. "But you know, we'll survive and we'll be back." 

'A lot of fatigue'

Arts & Culture Centres across the province were also forced to reschedule and cancel shows scheduled for the holiday season.

Folk duo Fortunate Ones were also due to perform back-to-back shows in St. John's this week, but decided to pull the plug.

Then, the Celtic Christmas show scheduled for Dec. 23 had to be split into two nights.

Aiden Flynn, director of the province's six centres, says that meant a lot of phone calls, refunds and disappointment.

"You take the full house and then you've got to create two houses out of it," he said. 

While sudden shifts in restrictions have "huge" monetary impacts on both artist and venue, Flynn said, postponing, cancelling and refunding tickets exacts a toll on staff too.

"It's as much work to not do a show as to do a show," he said. "If you're a box office staff person, you basically have to do the show twice. You have to sell it and then you have to unsell it." 

And after nearly two years of evolving protocols, Flynn said, the effects are starting to show.

"There's a lot of fatigue out there." 

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