The great pivot of 2020 and beyond Local artists, performers explore new professions during the pandemic By Bob Abelman
T
he arts were devastated in the wake of COVID-19. Since the initial shuttering of venues in March 2020, it has been reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that over 1.4 million arts related jobs nationwide were lost. And according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Business Pulse Survey, arts, entertainment and recreation enterprises are among the most likely to take longer to recover from the pandemic due to the in-person nature of their programming. “To non-theater lovers,” wrote Cleveland-born actor Joel Grey in an opinion piece in The New York Times shortly after the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic,
“lamenting the closing of Broadway in the face of so much widespread suffering may seem, at best, frivolous. But for many of us, this tragedy has been made that much more devastating by having to face the nightmare without the laughter, tears and sense of community that a night in the theater delivers.” Because the show couldn’t go on, many performing artists found interim work outside their chosen profession that not only paid the bills, but were an intriguing application of their innate creativity and well-honed artistic talents. Canvas asked some members of the local arts community about their pivot during the pandemic. Here are a few of their stories.
Stuart Hoffman, actor/baker Going from starring roles to cinnamon buns CANVAS: Before the pandemic, you were an itinerant actor specializing in intriguing characters in small plays performed in the intimate spaces of convergence-continuum in Tremont, Seat of the Pants in Canton and the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood, among others. When COVID-19 changed all this, you pivoted and became a professional baker. How did that happen? Stuart Hoffman: I was introduced to baking as a kid. My mom was one of those mothers who baked for every school event and as holiday gifts for my teachers. She allowed me to help in the kitchen and I discovered that cookie dough tasted so much better than Play-Doh. I occasionally worked as a baker before the pandemic, but once the theaters closed, I dedicated myself to laminated pastries – croissants and tea biscuits, mostly – for The Stone Oven in Cleveland Heights. And then I worked at Luna (Bakery) at its Cleveland Heights and Moreland Hills locations. I get genuine pleasure making something from scratch, delivering it to eager customers and giving them pleasure. CANVAS: Sort of like acting. Hoffman: I never sat down to think of it like that, but yeah. I really love the creative process of both acting and baking. The early stages of both start with a written recipe that needs to be followed, and there’s comfort and structure in that. And once those key ingredients and instructions that make up a play and a pastry are mastered, there’s a certain degree of interpretation and freedom of expression to make the work my own. CANVAS: Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet (“Glengarry Glen Ross”) hated actors interpreting his words. In his book “Theatre,” he noted that actors “need only say their lines and get out of the way of the play.” And then there’s playwrights like Eric Coble (“The Velocity of Autumn”), who trusts actors, directors and designers with his scripts. In a previous Canvas interview, Coble – a Cleveland Heights
26 | Canvas | Spring 2022
Stuart Hoffman as Archie in the 2016 production of “Birds of Paradise” at Gordon Square’s Blank Canvas Theatre. Photo / Andy Dudik resident – noted: “If I’ve done my job right in the writing, what I intended will end up on stage. But this is a collaborative process.” In terms of your baking, are Stone Oven and Luna more like Mamet or Coble? Hoffman: Definitely more like Mamet. They have a brand to protect.
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