Comstock's magazine 0620 - June June 2020 | Seite 42

ARTS & CULTURE
program, set for March 26-29, was canceled,
and a series of concerts presented
by SBL Entertainment, which has
booked music for the arts complex since
its 2018 opening, was postponed.
The Sofia’s versatility with its 357-
seat proscenium Sutter Theatre and
254-seat Mainstage Theatre has been a
key reason for the upswing in performing
arts in the region. In 2019, The Sofia
hosted 600 events, and it was on track
to surpass that this year before the
ordered shutdown.
“Sacramento hasn’t had a state-ofthe-art
theater that size,” says Elliot
Prestwich, co-owner of SBL Entertainment.
“For years, we’ve been passed
over as not an ‘A’ market. We’ve been
considered a ‘B’ market. I’d say in
the last three years that’s changed
considerably.” Of SBL’s more than 190
shows regionally last year, 101 were at
The Sofia (SBL also books shows at the
Crest and Harlow’s Restaurant
& Nightclub).
Opening up The Sophia to a variety
of events was successful in bringing
more people to the space. “Standalone
theater’s dead,” says Buck Busfield, B
Street’s producing artistic director.
“If all you do is theater, you better add
concerts, stand-up comedy, workshops,
guest speakers, a bar, a restaurant, a pot
dispensary. The market can’t handle a
standalone theater.”
Busfield spent a decade building a
theater space specifically suited to his
company. Still, he can be circumspect
about its success. “It was a certain
degree of luck that the market moved
toward our size venue,” Busfield says.
B Street, long known for the intimacy
of its space and the talent of its acting
company, has been lean and nimble,
with an ability to adjust quickly to
circumstances.
“It’s starting to really look good,”
Busfield had said March 11, just a day
before he realized he would have to
close. “We’re turning the best three
quarters we’ve had since the 2008 recession.
Now, of course, the current health
scare is going to impact us, but there’s
stuff more important than the arts.”
Since the closure, B Street is maintaining
connections to its audiences
now through email newsletters and
online engagement. It uses Zoom for
its Sofia Virtual Party, a series of online
events that feature several of the
theater company’s popular ancillary
programs Wednesday through Sunday
evenings. “It’s all about connecting
with our family of fans,” Busfield says.
“At this time, connection is what matters
most.” Technology has allowed for
real-time feedback that performances
don’t usually receive. “We benefit most
from their countless texts during our
virtual offerings. In fact, they are a
better forum to share in.”
The Sacramento Ballet’s 2018-19
season, the first for Artistic Director
Amy Seiwert, was only its second
one in the black in the past decade.
Seiwert believes in “opening the door”
and letting patrons experience ballet
in more ways than just performances.
She looks for “points of engagement”
to simply let people know the ballet is
here. “We have a school that trains little
kids and toddlers in ballet through
to professionals, but we also started
a fall-prevention class for seniors,”
Seiwert says. The class was so popular,
another one was started to run
concurrently, and then another was
added on a different day. “I love that
we’re thinking of the school aspect
of our organization as beyond just
children and as an entire community,”
Seiwert says. The additional engagement
boosted attendance. In the 2018-
19 season, 60 percent of single-ticket
buyers were new attendees to the
ballet, an extraordinary figure, considering
the ballet’s been in business
for more than 50 years.
In response to stay-at-home orders,
Sacramento Ballet has developed a
program called SB @ Home that moves
a number of these community initiatives
online. It includes virtual classes,
public online classes, activity sheets for
kids and videos of the ballet company
in performance.
It’s a waiting game
Now Seiwert and other performing
arts leaders in the region wonder
when audiences can return to the theaters
— and if they will want to. These
spaces usually overrun with activity
are empty and silent. Whether it’s a
small theater company such as Capital
Stage or a high-profile organization
such as the Mondavi Center, leadership
must play a waiting game.
On April 12, Michael Stevenson,
Capital Stage’s producing artistic director,
optimistically announced through
a Facebook video party the theater’s
2020-21 season, it’s 15th, would start
Aug. 26. Originally, Capital Stage performed
on the Delta King riverboat, and
in 2011, the founders took over an abandoned
armory on J Street and turned
it into a 125-seat professional theater.
This year, it was on pace to set a record
with 2,300 subscribers.
“You can never do a mediocre
script,” says Stevenson, who has been
on the job five years. “You can do scripts
that people disagree with — that’s
totally possible — but the craft has to be
there.” His audience trusts him, and he
in turn understands their expectations.
42 comstocksmag.com | June 2020