Theaters help each other in Helene’s aftermath

The destruction from Tropical Storm Helene has brought out the best in many Western North Carolinians. Sifting through the aftermath, neighbors met each other for the first time and, along with other former strangers, have joined forces to help those in need.

The Asheville-area theater community was already close-knit before the natural disaster, but the crisis is forging even stronger bonds between local stage professionals.

Power, water, phone and internet outages forced Asheville Community Theatre to cut short its run of The Sound of Music and prompted N.C. Stage Company, Flat Rock Playhouse, the Sublime Theater and Parkway Playhouse to cancel shows slated to open in late September, early October and beyond.

Elsewhere, Montford Park Players were able to stage four performances of Richard III, Oct. 24-27, and Different Strokes Performing Arts Collective pushed the world premiere of Dear God to February. But as these and other theater companies navigate an uncertain future, their peers who have been able to rebound are using their good fortune to help those that are struggling.

Haywood Arts Regional Theater (HART) in Waynesville rescheduled its production of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap to Oct. 17-27 and Nov. 8-17, and will donate 50% of profits from this run to nonprofit WNC theaters that have yet to reopen after Tropical Storm Helene. And Hendersonville Theatre, which delayed its production of Stephen King’s Misery by one week to Oct. 24-Nov. 3, will donate proceeds from these shows to the Community Foundation of Henderson County, Interfaith Assistance Ministry, and Rural Organizing and Resilience WNC.

Taking stock

“We felt so lucky that we still had a theater,” says Victoria Lamberth, Hendersonville Theatre artistic director. “We realized it was very possible that we could have lost everything, and we had an opportunity to respond to the situation and bring people together.”

The Hendersonville Theatre building sits in a floodplain and sustained some water damage in the back of the property. Though the performance area escaped unscathed, several members of the community who work with the company weren’t so lucky and lost their homes.

Thankfully, everyone emerged physically unharmed, and after 10 days of repairing damage to the theater and allowing the community at large to absorb events, Lamberth and her team evaluated their situation.

“We were in a condition where we felt like we could [reopen]. And also felt like, by Halloween, a lot of people were going to need a diversion from everything, and we might be one of the few Halloween events still left in Western North Carolina,” Lamberth says. “We felt like we needed to provide people an opportunity for entertainment and a chance to escape from reality for a few hours.”

She adds that the Hendersonville Theatre wanted to serve as “kind of a hub” for the community. During the performances of Misery, the lobby served as a drop-off spot for attendees to donate specific items for the beneficiary aid organizations. And monetary donations will be split evenly among the three nonprofits.

“We wanted to make sure that there was a way for us to provide [donation drop-offs] and make it accessible to people — and also kind of alleviate some of the survivor guilt of coming to the theater and enjoying the night out,” Lamberth says.

The appropriateness of offering escapism at a time when many community members are suffering likewise weighed heavily on the mind of HART artistic director Candice Dickinson. Like Lamberth, she first gauged the health and safety of her team and the condition of their building. With her cast and crew “chomping at the bit” to get back, Dickinson sent a survey to HART’s mailing list, inquiring about recipients’ thoughts of resuming production on The Mousetrap, and was met with enthusiastic support.

“We got off scot-free with the flood, so we wanted to be able to give back,” Dickinson says. “I saw that we really are in a great place financially, and it made me realize the decisions I’m making from this point on don’t have anything to do with finances for us. They have to do with our community.”

Since HART is a nonprofit, Dickinson says, it’s only allowed to donate funds to fellow nonprofits. In turn, half of the show’s proceeds will be distributed equally to qualifying impacted theaters.

Organized efforts

Such support is encouraging to Jeff Catanese, founder of the Asheville Theater Alliance (ATA). The nonprofit launched in late August and seeks to help create a more vibrant, diverse and sustainable theater community and patronage in WNC.

“I think it’s amazing,” he says. “It really shows what a great community we have here.”

Though a fledgling organization, the ATA also looked for ways to help out industry colleagues and partnered with George Awad of Double Dip Productions to organize The Show Must Go On. Held Oct. 25 to a capacity crowd at LaZoom Room, the showcase of improv comedy raised funds for ATA member organizations that lost income due to Helene. And the Helene Performing Arts Relief Fund seeks to bolster those numbers with a goal of raising $5,000.

“We are hoping that the organizations will use those funds to pay the casts and crews of the canceled shows who were counting on that money in their bank accounts,” Catanese says. “We also hope they can be used to replace any tangible assets that were lost.”

He adds that the storm’s devastation “demonstrated the need for a well-funded and easily activated organization dedicated to WNC’s vibrant performing arts scene.” Though ATA growth has been slow thus far, Catanese is optimistic about its future and that of the Asheville-area theater community’s ability to bounce back from the storm’s destruction.

“[The COVID-19 pandemic] prevented people from coming together, but Helene has driven them to,” he says. “With very little permanent damage done to most of the performance spaces here — unlike what happened to the visual arts — our theater community provides a wonderful opportunity for folks to join each other as we repair and heal.”

While Lamberth is concerned that some companies might not bounce back from these latest setbacks, she’s encouraged by the community response shown at a recent cleanup day at Hendersonville Theatre. She says they usually get 10-15 people to volunteer on these occasions but wound up attracting over 60 folks, including many who “have never walked into the theater before.”

That level of unexpected aid is part of what gives Dickinson hope about the weeks, months and years ahead.

“Western North Carolina, in all of its beauty, has always attracted amazing artists and people who love the arts — and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon,” she says. “People want to give money to what they love and what they believe in. And I think we’re really lucky to live in a space where people love the arts.”