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Date: 5/4/2021
HAMPSHIRE COUNTY – Over the last couple of months, Gov. Charlie Baker has lessened the COVID-19 restrictions for venues that host live music and performances.
On March 1, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts officially announced that theaters and performance venues could open at 50 percent capacity, and musical performances are now allowed in restaurants again with proper distancing. Effective May 10, singing will be permitted indoors with strict distancing measures at performance venues, restaurants, event venues and other businesses.
The Academy of Music, a performing theatre located in downtown Northampton, just finished up their livestreaming series that has been going on since July 2020. Executive Director Debrah J’Anthony told Reminder Publishing that, despite the new guidelines, their plans for future construction have not changed.
“We have three projects under our belt at this point,” said J’Anthony. “So we won’t be providing any shows or openings to the public until the earliest at this point, September.”
In July, the venue plans to re-ignite their Summer Musical Theater workshop, but the program will have a limit of 25 people due to COVID-19. “We’re going to continue with our vigilance with masks and social distancing and disinfecting,” said J’Anthony.
Not all of the fall shows are booked or up on the website calendar yet. If all goes well, they plan to have 40 performances between September and December. J’Anthony said that their decision to bring shows back in September has nothing to do with Baker’s guidelines. The venue needs time so they can renovate their restrooms and install a new sprinkler system.
She added that Baker’s relaxed restrictions are good to hear, especially after everything was so up in the air prior to the newest guidelines. “We’re going to have slow growth,” said J’Anthony. “Hopefully by spring of 2022 we’re back to business.”
Fort Hill Brewery in Easthampton, meanwhile, began hosting live performances again about three weekends ago, according to owner Eric Berzins. The brewery was closed for most of the winter due to the fact that, under state guidelines, they could not be open without a food component.
On nice days however, the local ordinance allowed Fort Hill to expand their patio seating with six feet of distance in between tables, and used food trucks to stay open. “It’s kind of a bar in a parking lot, but people seem to enjoy it because we give them space,” said Berzins.
Currently, all of the performances Fort Hill has booked are planned for outdoors. According to Berzins, musicians are allowed to perform inside, but cannot sing until that May 10 mandate comes into place.
“The musicians very much prefer to play outside,” said Berzins, who added that a lot of musicians also do not want to have their expensive equipment destroyed due to poor weather. “We’ve only had one musician that was comfortable performing without utilizing their vocals.”
According to Berzins, the brewery has already booked weekend performances at least through June. During pre-COVID–19 times, the venue’s goal was to have music every time they were open. Because of the pandemic, they are now open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but not Thursday. He said people’s request for private parties have increased over the past couple of weeks.
“It seems like people are itching to meet in groups again,” said Berzins. “So [the new guidelines] will probably encourage slightly larger groups.”
The Flywheel Arts Collective in Easthampton had to leave their old space at the old Easthampton Town Hall back in December due to challenges posed by COVID-19.
According to Anne Macon, an associate with Flywheel, once it is safe to do so, the volunteer-run nonprofit will begin hosting live performances at different venues and locations.
“We’re just trying to make sure people feel safe,” said Macon, who also added that the group is open to collaborating with other organizations for live performances. “We’re starting to talk about that kind of stuff right now.”
Flywheel also started their own newsletter called “Flypaper,” which is available to the public on their website listed here: http://flywheelarts.org/category/flypaper/.
Reminder Publishing reached out to the Iron Horse Entertainment Group, which manages the Iron Horse Music Hall, The Basement, the Calvin Theatre, Pearl Street Nightclub and Mountain Park, but did not receive a response as of press time.