Miller Auditorium-CATS Cancelled, Blue Man Group Rescheduled, More

If you bought tickets for the May 1st through 3rd performances of Blue Man Group at Kalamazoo's Miller Auditorium, the staff there says to hang on to your tickets! Director of Marketing for Miller Auditorium, Tracey Lawie says, quote, "We worked with show agents to find dates that they had open in next year’s tour that fit in with our calendar." CATS, on the other hand, well, that's a different story. "Unfortunately, We were unable to find anything for CATS, thus we had to cancel that one," Lawie continued.

The Kalamazoo theatre community has been hit hard during this pandemic which has created a lot of uncertainty for the future of live performance. I asked Lawie if it was too soon to know what other productions would be part of their 2020-2021 season. "We have not finalized our season yet, and with the current situation, some shows have had to shift.  We hope to be able to make a full announcement sometime this summer."

In an effort to bring fantastic productions to fans during isolation, a lot of well-known playwrights and composers have been sharing their work on online, most notably, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber who is sharing a new production of one of his shows every Friday on YouTube's The Show Must Go On Channel. In fact, if you really want your CATS fix, it's scheduled to go live at 2:00pm Eastern on May 15th. You can watch from the comfort and safety of your living room. Returning to theatres to experience a live show will definitely look different. Miller is already thinking ahead. "Our first concern will be to ensure our staff and patrons are safe," says Lawie.

Seeing stages dark and actors out of work sure is hard on the soul, so I asked Lawie what her go-to pick-me-up showtune is, and without hesitation she said, "'You Can’t Stop the Beat' from Hairspray.  The great tune and uplifting lyrics are a sure fire way to put you n a better mood!" Lawie shared. "And when I’m feeling a little cheeky, I lean on JC Superstar and start singing 'Could We Start Again Please.' LOL!"