Imperial Theatre Executive Director Angela Campbell in front of plexiglassed box office (Image: Elizabeth MacLeod)
The Imperial Theatre’s first mini-season, from July to September, will feature performances from music and comedy duo Bridge & Wolak, Moncton country band The Divorcees and three Retro Film screenings.
The impact of COVID-19 led the theatre to create a program of mini-seasons, each lasting three months. Executive Director Angela Campbell said the Imperial staff worked full-time hours during lockdown to cancel, postpone and reschedule 58 shows while investigating financial solutions.
“Obviously every artist we had booked for the fall we’d put on hold or tours had moved, so we decided to just try a little mini-season, mainly focused on movies that we had already decided we were doing for this season,” she said.
The October-to-December mini-season programming is currently being selected, with an announcement planned for after Labour Day. Campbell said performances and showcases the from Imperial Theatre Incubator Pilot Project’s artists will be included in its mini-seasons.
The Incubator Pilot Project developed as the Imperial realized the gravity of COVID-19 and the financial impact it had on artists. It has housed 26 different artists since early June and has received funding from the Saint John Community Foundation and the Pannell Family Foundation.
The Imperial Theatre (Image: Elizabeth MacLeod)
“We have a sea shanty group that has a regular rehearsal here because there’s nine of them and finding a safe place for nine people to sing together is difficult,” said Campbell. “What we’re seeing is incredible talent. In some cases they’ve been able to bring videographers and photographers, so they’re actually able to produce some really great professional marketing and promotional material for themselves.”
The Incubator project and its desire to focus on local talent made the theatre more aware of a whole new selection of Atlantic Canadian artists. “Focusing specifically on Saint John and southern New Brunswick artists opened up a whole education for us to really engage with the artists in our community that we wouldn’t normally have an opportunity to work with,” she said.
The Imperial Theatre is considering welcoming national artists to perform in winter 2021, depending on travel restrictions and artists’ ability to tour.
Overall, Campbell is optimistic about both the cultural industry and Imperial Theatre’s future.
“It’s a weird place to be in that all of a sudden what we used to do for a living, which was provide people experiences collectively together and to enjoy art and celebrate our culture together, has become one of the most risky activities in the world right now,” said Campbell. She believes an art boom could happen once a plateau of safety has been met.
“I think that on the whole people are going to appreciate live performance in a way that they may have not before or appreciated more than they did before, simply because they’ve been starved of it,” she said.
