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AMERICAN THEATRE GUILD
AMERICAN THEATRE GUILD
is ready for anything
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By Lisa Van Loo
The American Theatre Guild, which presents national tours of Broadway shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix, has a full slate of shows scheduled for the 2020- 2021 season, beginning in January with South Pacific.
Amy Hamm, executive director at the American Theatre Guild, just isn’t totally sure if the shows will get an opportunity to take the stage in time, as she waits out the prolonged holding pattern the organization has been stuck in since spring.
“For a tour to work, it has to be able to jump from city to city. It’s not viable to go from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. It’s going to be very interesting,” Hamm says, explaining the need for continuity from a safety standpoint from market to market. “It’s going to be hard to put a Broadway touring season together without the majority of the country being open. It’s not a model that makes sense.”
Even so, the American Theatre Guild is ready for anything, setting a season schedule and then arranging for a full back-up schedule, just in case. Hamm says opening the type of shows the American Theatre Guild traditionally
presents at a reduced capacity isn’t financially viable for the company, especially at the quaint Orpheum Theatre. But, she says smaller shows could be an option.
Once shows are greenlit to go, Hamm says they’ll be ready. New shows that haven’t toured yet, like An Officer and a Gentleman, will need some time to prepare sets and casts. But, shows that have already toured have sets in storage and tour buses waiting to hit the road.
Until then, Hamm says the organization has doubled down on customer service and is working to spread the word about the national “Save our Stages” effort, aimed at saving independent theatres from closing entirely.
“We don’t want to invite audiences back to the theater until we’re confident it’s a safe and comfortable environment,” Hamm says. “We’re just waiting around like everyone else is.”
For more information, visit americantheatreguild.com/phoenix.
