To Stage or Not to Stage 2020-21 KCP Presents

by Jay Craven

I’ve been talking a couple times a week with Jody Fried, director of Catamount Arts, about whether and how we can stage our 2020-21 KCP Presents series. We have booked a fabulous line-up, I think, that will include a celebration of Mississippi and New Orleans Blues; a 40th Anniversary Momix extravaganza; comedian Paula Poundstone; tap dance maestro Michelle Dorrance and her fabulous troupe; the return of Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy; an 80-piece orchestra performing a tribute to the work of legendary American composers George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein – and more.

The current pandemic has put everybody into a place of uncertainty. Can we possibly proceed? Should we cancel the fall and hope for spring? Will people be willing to come back into public space – or must we have a reliable vaccine that is locally available before we can hope for a return to business as usual?

The pandemic has brought so many questions to the fore. More than ever we appreciate people who work in essential jobs and on the front lines – doctors, nurses, medical support staff, grocery workers, delivery drivers, postal folks – and many more. We also think of people who have lost their jobs, doing equally essential work that we can take for granted.

And we appreciate the value of performing arts – that bring us together in one place – to experience enduring moments of shared community. These moments nourish and connect us. I hope we’ll be back together soon.

We’ll announce our plans for the coming season by early July.

Feel free to drop a line to jcraven@sarahlawrence.edu with comments or questions.