An old friend and I used to have an ongoing debate about which was stronger—love or fear. He argued that fear was stronger as more people were motivated to action by fear—fear of failing, fear of being left alone, fear of being caught without toilet paper during a global pandemic. I would always hold that love was stronger. And even now, in these strange times when fear is palpable and ever-present, I still believe that. I have to, because nobody makes theater or comedy out of fear (unless it’s a fear of being too wealthy). They do it—or at least I do it, and will continue to do it—because I love what happens when we are in the room together laughing with abandon. In that moment, even if it is brief, the world is a lot less scary.
That is one of the many reasons that I’m saddened that we won’t be able to be in the room together for a while. Tomorrow was to be the first day of rehearsal for Tyndale Place, a musical labor of love that composer Monica Stephenson and I have been working on for several years. The story centers on a group of women living in Levittown, NY in the 1950s. A group of women trying to balance their love of family with their fear that being a housewife is the extent of their lives. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are postponing the show until next season but we will use that time to further refine the script and music. Over the next few months we’ll be sharing little pieces of the script like this one:
ARLENE
Donna, those sandwiches were really good.
DONNA C.
Thank you. You don’t think peanut butter and mayonnaise will go together but they do.
...or pieces of the music like this one, which is decidedly NOT a love song. Click here to hear I Got Things to Do, one of the songs in-process from our last workshop featuring Eileen Cella, Lee Minora, Rachel Camp, and Emily Kleimo, with Pax Ressler on piano.
We’ll also be sharing some Patsy videos, some vintage 1812 humor and sneak peeks at other things we have in store for coming seasons. It is our way of being in the room with you while maintaining a respectful social distance.
Finally, we have been very moved by the number of people who have asked what they can do to help during this unprecedented time. We recognize that everyone is suffering, everyone has been hit by this in some way. If you would like to make a gift to 1812 we would put it to good use, and if you include a note with your gift, we will make certain it goes towards our efforts to support our Tyndale Place artists during this time.
You can make a gift at our website HERE or you can make a secure gift through Square on any mobile device HERE.
I also encourage you to consider helping the actors, technicians, designers, box office workers, and teaching artists who do not have the benefit of a non-profit structure behind them and who are seeing opportunities for work disappear. If you are interested, several of these artists have ways that you can give online to support their work directly. Rachel Camp, who will star in Tyndale Place has set up a Patreon page HERE where you can support her work and see exclusive content like this video HERE.
Here’s to being in the room together soon.
With love and hand sanitizer,
Jen
Jennifer Childs
Producing Artistic Director
Tyndale Place stars (l-r) Eileen Cella, Emily Kleimo, Rachel Camp, Lee Minora, and Ben Dibble. Photo by Mark Garvin.