Face The Music

When COVID-19 surfaced last spring, live entertainment was the first thing to shut down — and you can bet it will be the last thing to fully reopen when the worst of the pandemic is behind us.

But this week marks a milestone in what has been a difficult year, especially for those who make their living by performing for live audiences. Beginning April 2, the state will allow arts, entertainment and other events venues to reopen their doors at 33 percent capacity, with a limit of 100 people inside or 200 outdoors, provided all attendees are masked and socially distanced. If all attendees test negative before entering the venue, limits can be increased to 150 people indoors or 500 outdoors.

This is good news for our local musicians for whom this has been a particularly stressful time — a brutally lean year marked by struggles to not only to make ends meet financially but to stay sane and creative in virtual isolation.

Fortunately for the music-makers, one East End space that will soon be operating again is the fabled Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, a tiny club with a giant reputation for hosting top-notch acts. For decades, the Talkhouse has been the year-round go-to place for music on the East End, and the club is beloved for the very qualities that makes getting it up and running again in the wake of the pandemic so difficult: It’s a small, intimate space where patrons sit just a few feet away from their favorite musicians on stage. Even when operating at full capacity, making a club like the Talkhouse a financial success requires a strong skill set and keen business acumen.

The Talkhouse will benefit from the Save Our Stages provision, a $1.25 billion pot of money in the American Rescue Plan that allows independent live venues to secure funds for things like payroll, rent, mortgage payments, utilities and even expenditures put in place to meet social distancing guidelines.

And, let’s be clear here, while allowing venues to operate at limited capacity is definitely a step in the right direction, it’s hardly business as usual, and very few performance spaces on the East End will rush to throw open their doors this week. That’s because organizations will need to do some hard math and soul searching to determine whether it’s worth their while to operate at 33 percent capacity, especially given that they have to pay the talent on top of their bills.

It’s not just the Talkhouse doing the math. In the months ahead, places like Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, Bay Street Theater, Guild Hall, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton Arts Center, Southampton Cultural Center and others will all have to look at the numbers and make a plan about how to best serve their audiences safely with financials that make sense.

While it’s logical to assume audience capacity will be permitted to increase as summer gets nearer and more people are vaccinated, there are no guarantees. So how can any organization book acts in the months ahead with that kind of doubt? And what about testing? Will venues need patrons to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test at the door? Will the state’s “Excelsior” app, which promises to check status and provide a “passport” of sorts to live events, work?

All this remains to be seen, but in the meantime, we’re happy that the sounds of silence will soon be coming to an end and we will once again be able to enjoy our favorite live music in the company of a few other like-minded souls. It’s been a long time coming.