CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A trip to the Chicago Theatre District has become a decades-old holiday tradition for many, with live shows inspiring holiday cheer and memories made, long shared with family, friends and colleagues.
A darker reality exists, though, for those tasked with creating that experience.
“Well, it’s been a terrible time for performers,” said Goodman Theatre CEO Roche Schulfer, referring to pandemic related closures of locally operated theatres.
Schulfer said during the pandemic, his theater was able to provide limited employment to artists. It has been hard, though, and he said there are still lingering financial impacts on performers, directors, set designers and stage hands.
This holiday season, theaters are again raising money through a fundraising organization called Season of Concern.
The fund was created by Chicago theater artists in 1987 and helps local cast and crew members pay for costs associated with illness, or lack of work, the fund even helps with paying monthly bills if necessary.
Schulfer said during the pandemic, his theater was able to provide limited employment to artists. It has been hard, though, and he said there are still lingering financial impacts on performers, directors, set designers and stage hands.
“You know, folks don’t realize … they look at the entertainment industry, and it looks like Hollywood stars, and they think: ‘Well, if you’re working in the theater, you’re doing very well financially,’” Schulfer said. “But the theater’s a very tough place, financially.”
The Chicago Theatre District has historically brought additional foot traffic to other businesses in the Loop, such as to restaurants and retail shops. Theaters, specifically, have been a leading driver of the Loop's overall economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Chicago Loop Alliance CEO Michael Edwards.
“People are scrambling to make ends meet,” Schulfer said. “Work is available now, but it’s just starting to get to the point where it’s fully returned.”
In 2021, local music venue owner Joe Shanahan highlighted the importance of the local entertainment industry as an economic machine, estimating that live venues brought over $2.5 billion in incidental spending downtown.
Shanahan — owner of Metro, The GMan Tavern and SmartBar – is also a co-founder of the Chicago Independent Venue League (CIVL). A report from CIVL was considered by the U.S. Congress in passage of the Save Our Stages Act, which showed that venue closures due to COVID-19 affected over 70,000 employees in the city of Chicago.
Following live performances in theaters across Chicago, cast members may educate the audience on how to donate directly to Season of Concern.
“A Christmas Carol’s” very own embodiment of poverty, Bob Cratchit — actor Thomas J. Cox — shared with his Goodman Theatre audience how to donate in person at theaters in Loop.
“If you would, please, place your generous cash donations into the glass boxes that you’ll find in the lobby, labeled ‘Season of Concern,’” Cox told the audience.
“Or, if you’re uncomfortable pulling out money and touching things that other people are touching, then you can also scan the QR code on the signage and make a donation via your smartphone, which also, interestingly, probably leads to more money than the money you carry in your pocket,” Cox said. “Convenient, that.”
Anything to ensure that the magic of a live stage performance remains tradition for generations to come.
Donations can be made right here, via credit card or PayPal.
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