Now that we’re all trying to practice social distancing and home isolation, the Hammer Theatre Center is doing its part to provide some in-home entertainment.
The Swiss mime troupe Mummenschanz was supposed to have shows at the downtown San Jose theater, but now it can’t have audiences. Instead of canceling, the Hammer is going the tech route and live-streaming the shows Monday and Tuesday for ticketholders.
The show, titled “you & me,” is described as a surreal theatrical experience that features glowing creatures and props, manipulated by unseen performers. “In these dark times, we hope these performances by Mummenschanz will keep spirits high,” Hammer Theatre Center General Manager Chris Burrill said.
Tickets to watch the live-stream show online at 7:30 p.m. each night are available for $10 at www.hammertheatre.com or by calling 408-924-8501. Patrons who already have tickets should be contacted by the Hammer box office with instructions on how to redeem their tickets (and get reimbursement). The Hammer currently plans to also live-stream the New Ballet’s upcoming March 28 show, “Fast Forward.”
This won’t be the South Bay’s first example of live-streamed entertainment during the COVID-19 crisis, either. The funny folks at ComedySportz San Jose live-streamed their Saturday night show on Facebook from an audience-less auditorium at 3Below Theatres in downtown San Jose. Viewers were encouraged to send in improv suggestions and votes through the social-media site.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like live-streaming is in the cards for two upcoming live productions at 3Below. “A Statue for Ballybunion,” the comedy by former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery that was scheduled to open Tuesday night has been indefinitely postponed. And Guggenheim Entertainment’s production of “Schoolhouse Rock Live!,” which was to open April 4, has also been knocked off the schedule for now.
Like other arts groups and nonprofits, 3Below owners Shannon and Scott Guggenheim hope patrons help keep the venue going by purchasing gift cards now to use when everything gets back up and running.
COMMUNITY MATTERS: Crises like the one we’re all currently facing brings out the bad and good in people. We’ve seen the bad with empty store shelves and heated arguments over rolls of toilet paper, but the good has been very good. Neighborhood email lists are filled with people offering to grocery shop or pick up meals for their older or ill neighbors, sharing strategies for keeping kids home from school engaged and educated, and even offering to keep an eye on youngsters whose parents can’t be away from work.
Zanotto’s Family Markets, which has four locations in San Jose and Sunnyvale, is offering to shop for and provide curbside pickup for customers who are ill or over age 60 and concerned for their health. They’re also asking those who don’t fall into those categories to limit their shopping visit to one person per family to keep stores from getting too crowded. And, yes, they’re working on getting more toilet paper.
Tony & Alba’s Pizza and Pasta on Stevens Creek Boulevard is also going the extra step for residents over 70 and quarantined at home who live in their delivery area — roughly bounded by El Camino to the north, Campbell Avenue to the south, Lawrence Expressway to the west and Meridian Avenue to the east. They can request a free “take-and-bake” pizza, which will be delivered to their house. (Because there are only two delivery drivers, the free orders may take a day to fulfill.)
Co-owner Bianca Vallorz said thousands of people have shared Tony & Alba’s Facebook post and the restaurant has received donations all across California to help feed elderly in the community. “During a time when supply hoarding is rampant, this is a wonderful act of the community banding together to help the most vulnerable,” she said.
ACTIVITY REPORT: No real surprise, but the San Jose Museum of Art has temporarily closed its doors and is suspending off-site education programs through April 17. The museum joins the Winchester Mystery House, Happy Hollow Park & Zoo and the Tech Interactive as major San Jose attractions that are shut down, following Santa Clara County Health rules banning large gatherings.