Without a Stage

Sean Collier kicks off an eight article series on the state of Pittsburgh’s arts and culture scene during the COVID-19 pandemic, with support from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Jeff Swensen photographs the series.

The Kelly Strayhorn Theater has some recommendations for dinner.

Perhaps you’d like a meal from Casa Brasil, or Tana Ethiopian Cuisine? Or maybe you’re just looking for dessert, or coffee; in that case, the theater recommends Everyday’s a Sunday & Cafe. Those three establishments are the first to receive a spotlight from the Kelly Strayhorn’s “KST Eats” endeavor, a loyalty program through which the East Liberty theater directs its followers and fans to patronize local restaurants as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Under normal circumstances, a theater’s role as an economic driver for its community requires no extra effort. Patrons come to the theater and visit local businesses and restaurants beforehand, or extracurricular activities such as classes and workshops bring more daytime traffic to the neighborhood.

During a pandemic, those channels are severed — and, if they’re re-established at all, they must be manually restored.

“We rely on each other,” says Joseph Hall, KST’s executive director. “The arts are not an isolated industry. We intersect with all these other sectors, and they too with us. I think to have a strong ecosystem, we have to check in with each other; we have to make sure we all have what we need in this moment in order to survive and thrive.”

Live audiences have been absent from the historic theater since mid-March, when the initial stay-at-home order immediately ended in-person performance. In the ensuing months, the Kelly Strayhorn has successfully pivoted to online programming, partnering with City of Asylum — the North Side home for writers-in-exile — as a participant in their The Show Must Go On(line) series. Through City of Asylum’s platform, the Kelly Strayhorn has presented new and archived performances from musicians, spoken-word artists, dancers, and more.

Hall says theater management was committed to maintaining their focus on emerging artists, even if they couldn’t offer those artists a physical stage. “[We were] asking, ‘What are you already working on? How can we support?’ And then finding a place for that support on our platform.”

They also hosted a telethon-style fundraiser, Hotline Ring, that was widely praised — and gave the theater a necessary injection of cash. While Hall insists that the financial state of the organization remains “okay,” they — like all arts organizations — have felt the effects of the pandemic.

“We did have a furlough in July and August; everyone’s hours and salaries were reduced by 40%. Our staff has been reduced by two,” along with the planned departure of a third employee, reducing the team from 10 full-time staffers to seven.

Even amid its own losses, the theater continued to recognize its role in the economy of the community — hence efforts such as KST Eats. In addition to asking its audience members to patronize those establishments, the restaurants receive a stipend from the theater as part of an R.K. Mellon Foundation grant the theater received to assist economic-support efforts.

Tim Guthrie is the co-owner, with Keyla Nogueira Cook, of Casa Brasil, one of the initial partners in the program. He’s also the former owner of Shadow Lounge and AVA, a beloved and influential bar and club that sat within blocks of the Kelly Strayhorn. He says help from established players in the community, like the theater, is vital to keep them in business throughout the pandemic.

“It’s not like we have a large marketing budget. We’re a word-of-mouth place. What this feels like is more of a commitment to sustaining more business, adding more business. I think that we certainly appreciate that.”

Guthrie says the restaurant is viable for the time being; they received a Paycheck Protection Program loan early in the pandemic, and launched a successful crowdfunding campaign in pursuit of a liquor license. “We’ve eked along,” he says. “We didn’t have to be fearful as much.”

In the long-term, though, he says it’s drivers like the Kelly Strayhorn that make the difference to local business. “To me, these spaces for art are the most important thing. There are some people that maybe don’t realize the relationship that these things have.”

That doesn’t just apply to a sit-down meal before a show. Albert Fonticiella is vice president of corporate services at Edward Marc brands, the parent company of the Milkshake Factory chain. When searching for expansion locations, he says, East Liberty came up immediately — largely because of the existing vibrancy of the neighborhood.

“Dessert businesses rely on other businesses to be around them to be successful; people won’t drive as far to go get a dessert as you might expect.”

Key among those necessary nearby businesses: the arts. “Some entertainment component is also, at a high level, what we look for. The Kelly Strayhorn is such a special partner in the area because they have such a depth in the community.”

Among Milkshake Factory’s locations, Fonticella says the best pandemic-era support has come in areas with robust institutional safety nets. “The areas where we have a local business organization that organizes the business community — like the [Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership] or Oakland,” via the Oakland Business Improvement District, “areas where we have places like that that are funded, organized and communicative ... we’ve felt support.”

When that support is not necessarily coming from a central organization, it falls to players like the Kelly Strayhorn to maintain community — and economy — by sheer force of will.

For the theater, the community aspect of that task is central to their mission. The businesses involved in the KST Eats program, Hall says, are “partners that we’ve had throughout the years. So it’s not a new relationship, but we’re finding ways to continue that relationship.”

Meanwhile, as Black Lives Matter protests swept the country — and locally, were a prominent part of the East Liberty landscape — the theater found ways to support without the benefit of their regular programming. Amid the protests, Hall says, the building’s lobby was opened “as a rest stop area, as part of the national Open Your Lobby movement.” Additionally, a Black Lives Matter statement took over the theater’s marquee; Hall says it “really outlines who we are and what we support.

“Even as a brick-and-mortar space that may not be used regularly on the inside, we still have the ability to communicate.”

As the pandemic stretches on, however, the fear remains: Will such efforts be enough? Even if a civic organization or cultural hub takes the lead on propping up an economic microclimate, how long can businesses last with limited customers and patrons — or, in some cases, none at all?

Existential concerns such as these may have to take a back seat to immediate needs — and the desire to press on.

“Mid-sized and small arts organizations are never in a great financial position,” Hall says. “Many of us have a month to three months of cash in the bank ... in terms of the historical cash flow and health of the organization, we’re doing well right now. But we have to continue to ask, what can we do right now? What is the type of programming that we can do right now…that is serving our community, but is very conscious that nothing is promised?”

Guthrie says it will take continued commitment from organizations like the Kelly Strayhorn — “It’s important that places that have that access to more money are funneling that energy toward developing business,” he says — but it’s the customers that remind him to keep up the fight.

“A lot of people tell us that they want us to be here when this is over. That feels good. It kind of keeps you going through all of this.”

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust