William J Cataldi

Ewing Reviewing 2020 William J Cataldi

As I write this, the Pandemic is the single most discussed issue in the world and I simply can't discuss it again. It's already clearhow (and how much) it impacted the performing arts. Our hyperactive culture screeched to a halt, leaving creatives of all sortsstuck at home in front of their computers, brain cells twitching, inexorably coaxing a substantial new art form into existence. That did happen, in spite of the misery, pain, chaos and death that marked 2020 as a year few of us want to remember. Until the beginning of March, it looked like an ordinary year. The Prototype, Exponential, Insight. Alt, and Frigid Festivals were already festive. Broadway bound Romeo & Bernadette had thrilled us with an incredible score based on 18th-Century Italian art song. The great Len Cariou, and Tony Award winner Judy McLane reminded us that age has no meaning where a great artist is concerned, then everything just stopped. But, not for long. Zoom came out of the closet almost immediately. Basically, software for business meetings, it was cheap and easy to use and it gave New York artists a reach extending far beyond the con nes of their city. The rst few works were somewhat awkward; entertaining but clumsy. Then, the remarkable Kamala Sankaram, a composer of enormous potential, in cooperation with the HERE Arts Center and its superb technical team, created The Zoom Opera, and the medium has been improving ever since. Reviews on thirty-five Zoom works can be found inside, along with twenty-four new plays seen onstage in January and February. They provide a clear picture of artists adapting to the demands of almost universal isolation. If you love the theater and its development, this book is for you.