CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The sound of shuffling ballet shoes back on stage inside the Auditorium Theater is music to Rich Regan's ears.
"For the last 16 months, I was the only one coming in here alone, it was dark and it was lonely, but today we had staff back and we have a group of young dancers back on stage as part of the Master Class. It's a good feeling. It's so great to be back and doing what we do best," said Regan, CEO, Auditorium Theater.
Regan said they had to cancel and reschedule some 100 shows in 2020 and the beginning of 2021.
As the first to shut down and the last to open up, large performance venues took the biggest hit, but Regan said the artists are ready to return and upcoming shows are selling swiftly.
"We're selling a lot of tickets. We're bringing everybody back, everybody from our traditional season of international dance, as well as Made In Chicago dance and music. We're going to bring lots and lots of music back," he said with a smile.
At 131 years old, Auditorium Theater is the only theater that already experienced a pandemic in 1918.
"We saw it in our calendar when we did some research, there was a gap of a year where there were no events here, so we knew that it was through the pandemic. We knew we'd survive. We survived before." he said.
For actors and performers, it was a long 16 months as well.
Actor Frank Ferrante said a year and a half without the arts took its toll on everyone.
"I've been a freelancer for more than 35 years. You have good times and bad times, but this was the most difficult time of my life," Ferrante said.
His show "Teatro Zinzanni" at the Cambria Hotel in the Theater District, opened to a sold out audience last week. He hopes its grand reopening starts the theater ball rolling as other productions follow their lead.
"We certainly hope we start the ball rolling. I know many of the Broadway in Chicago shows are opening in the fall, The Goodman, Steppenwolf. In fact, I was walking down Randolph today and I was seeing so many people out again. I haven't seen that many people downtown in a long time. The city is coming alive again." he said. "And that's promising."
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For independent downtown music venues like Reggie's, House of Blues and Metro on the North Side, the future was uncertain and downright grim.
"We never got a handbook on how to be closed for 16 months. It was hard. It was very hard," recalled Joe Shannahan, Founder, Metro/Smart Bar/G Man Tavern. His excitement shows through as he walks up the iconic stairs into the nearly 40 year old music venue.
"I'm looking at these two empty light boxes, which will soon be filled with shows confirmed, and on sale for 2021," Shannahan said. "It's a thrilling feeling."
Metro, like many independent venues throughout the city and downtown, is taking baby steps in reopening.
"I started with Smart Bar and G Man with local artists, smaller crowds, masks. Then we opened Metro on July 4 to a full capacity crowd, we had so much support from our community, our patrons. Now we see the other side of this. As Lollapalooza approaches, we have six sold out nights with them. We are encouraged that this room will be open and full of people, celebrating music, celebrating life, and the communal experience because we've missed this so much," Shannahan said.
For many big and small venues downtown and beyond, a loyal staff, a loyal community, and eventually, help from the government, saved many of Chicago's stages.
"I have to give credit to my staff. They were dedicated to coming back and bringing music back. We had amazing support from the community and eventually help from the government. It was an emotional rollercoaster, stop, start. You never knew when we'd be back," Shannahan said.
The Chicago Independent Venue League (CIVL) launched the CIVL SAVE Emergency Relief Fund to help furloughed staff, local artists and venues. Round one raised and disbursed $85,000 for Chicago’s out-of-work venue staff. Round two will focus on local artists and performers.
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"We are a force. We were already hitting the ground running when we were shut down. Thirty to forty venues began to talk to each other and we pushed Congress to green light the money," Shannahan said.
Back at The Auditorium Theater, Regan is excited to talk about their official "reopening" with its first ticketed event on Oct. 16.
"We're not looking at a single reopening. We're looking at it as a reopening season. We know our patrons will come back, they are already buying tickets, our artists are ready to come back, and I know a thriving downtown will follow," Regan said. "Live music, arts and culture, they are the backbone of economic prosperity in any city."
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