The words “no show” are familiar to anyone who had concert tickets during the first wave of COVID-19. In honour of these lost concerts, the Gladstone Theatre returned in October from two years of closure to present the theatrical production No Show: Songs From Lost Gigs.
March 15, 2020 was the last time the independent Ottawa theatre was open. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced its closure, concerts and theatre productions were cancelled and the Gladstone was left empty for the first time since opening in 2007.
On Oct. 29, the Gladstone turned the lights of its marquee back on and the Gladstone opened its production of No Show, which ran until Nov. 13. Betsy Burns Johnson, the Gladstone’s front of house manager, said it was thanks to the theatre’s dedicated patrons they were able to open again.
Proof of vaccination and physically-distanced seating are now a part of the experience for those wanting to spend a night out at the theatre. Despite the restrictions, Johnson said the humming of life back in the theatre is enough to make her happy.
“[The Gladstone’s] kind of a lonely little cinderblock building when there’s nobody in it. So I’m very thrilled to have bums in seats,” Burns Johnson said. “It feels like the theatre is alive again.”
Although the theatre’s patrons are back, ticket sales haven’t been optimal, according to Burns Johnson. She said instead of the usual audience of 100 to 150 for opening nights, the first performance of No Show sold tickets for only 25 of its 80 available, physically-distanced seats.
Virtual streams are offered to those who prefer to stay at home, but Johnson said there’s nothing like watching theatre in-person.
“I think there’s a kind of three-dimensional thing, energetically, that happens when you’re in a performance venue with live actors that you just miss when it’s virtual,” Burns Johnson said.
Interim theatre manager Robin Guy and performer Scott Richardson worked together to produce and perform No Show.
In the spring of 2020, Richardson had been learning a song a day to fill the time that he would have spent on theatre. When Guy and Richardson, who live together as partners, discovered a stack of unused concert tickets on top of their fridge, the idea for No Show came to life.
“We had a list of all the shows that we were supposed to see and we spent time choosing one song by each of those artists,” Richardson said. “That was kind of the groundwork of No Show.”
Richardson and Guy said they realised the covers of songs they had selected by Sloan, John Prine and Arlo Guthrie all shared the theme of cancelled plans and loneliness. Despite this dismal theme, Richardson and Guy said they aimed to put on a show that would welcome people back to the theatre.
“It is kind of about the joy of seeing performances and being part of performances, things that we were going to, events that we were going to attend,” Richardson said.
In between covers of songs like Arlo Guthrie’s The City of New Orleans and Blue Rodeo’s, Lost Together, the audience of No Show was treated to short skits and poems reminiscing about the artist’s personal experiences adjusting to the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns.
“It’s almost a musical, but not quite. It’s sort of this weird mashup between a straight concert and verbatim theatre,” Guy said.
“It would mean a great deal if people would just come to show support,” Burns Johnson said.
A Child’s Christmas in Whales and A Christmas Carol: Solo will be the next two shows to run at the Gladstone, from Dec. 1 to 18. Tickets can be purchased on their website.
Featured image by Louis Yoon.
