The show must go on at GMPA this weekend

December 14, 2020 | By Lisa Scagliotti

Who hasn’t heard the expression “the show must go on” in show business, right? 

Tapping reindeer await their rehearsal for their Winter Wonderland performance filming recently. Courtesy photo. 

That’s exactly the mantra the staff, students and teachers at Green Mountain Performing Arts have embraced this fall as they adapted for the COVID-19 pandemic. Rolling out now-familiar protocols for temperature checks, sanitizing, mask-wearing, distancing, fall classes went ahead. 

The result is the Winter Wonderland virtual holiday show recorded in segments and presented this weekend in several ticketed streaming online viewings Friday, Dec. 18, and Saturday, Dec. 19. Tickets are $20 per device to view. Details are on the center’s website at greenmountainperformingarts.org.

The center’s directors Jenna Companion and Katie Decker put it this way in their show announcement: “It is so clear to us that our students were aching for the chance to work toward SOMETHING together, to feel connected, to feel a sense of ‘regular’! They are most excited to show their families and each other their hard work and we hope you will e-join us.”

The show will feature performances by more than 20 classes with dozens of students from kindergarten through high school. The program has ballet and hip hop performances, tap and modern dances, Irish and Scottish Highland numbers, and performances by classes studying musical theater. 

GMPA dancers perform in the 2019 holiday show at the Barre Opera House. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti. 

While shifting from preparing for a live performance on the big stage at the Barre Opera House may have been disappointing this year, it wasn’t a big stretch. Studio spaces at the nonprofit GMPA have setups in place for video recording and streaming online as classes were online last summer. Many fall classes have had hybrid sessions with dancers both in the studio and others at home for a variety of reasons such as quarantine after travel, illness, or just a family preference. 

Studio teachers were mindful to devise costumes at no extra cost to families except for  a $5 special face mask that each performer will wear for the show. 

Studio directors say that as ticket sales have picked up, viewing capacity has been adjusted to allow for more people to log in to watch the performance. One advantage of the online format is that family and friends may watch the show from anywhere with an internet connection. As of Monday, more than a quarter of the tickets sold were purchases from out of state, organizers said. 

And to make up for the lack of the in-person recital experience which always includes a bake sale, local audience members can purchase special family snack packages put together by Stowe Street Cafe with popcorn, hot cocoa, and sweet treats from the cafe for $25. The studio’s website also has an option to purchase a recording of the performance on DVD for $20.

Tickets and information online at greenmountainperformingarts.org.