In anticipation of its third year in existence, I’m happy to announce some new changes to the website!
Who could have predicted how crazy this year has been so far? Instead of adding in new information about the 2020/2021 season, my time has been spent trying to adjust nearly 700 engagements that have been cancelled, postponed, or rescheduled. It’s certainly been sad to see all of the shows be cancelled–especially the ones that won’t be returning in the fall. However, I’m optimistic that we’ll start to see improvements soon so that we can be back enjoying live theatre again.
I wanted to take this opportunity to announce a few major updates to the site. These updates primarily concern the layout of the main menu.
My main goal for the site is to try and convey information in a clear and concise manner. I was starting to find it difficult to keep track of each of the overlapping information I needed to add to each individual show–especially during this time of so much change. So, I have combined the active shows from the 19/20 and 20/21 seasons to create one menu tab called “Shows.” This will have all of the currently-running shows, as well as any that have announced a tour in the future (i.e Beetlejuice). In the event that you may have bookmarked a particular show’s page from the 18/19, 19/20, or 20/21 seasons, I have created redirections for all of them so that the old URL address will take you to their current location in the Shows menu. You may also want to update your bookmarks to reflect the current layout.
Starting in the 20/21 season, I began including the previous seasons’ stops for each returning show on their individual page. So the switch over to one page was fairly flawless. I will continue to use this particular template for future seasons. At the beginning of each new announcement season (around January), if a show will be around for a future season, I will swap from the current season’s tab to the new season as the active tab that will be visible when you visit the show’s page. I will also then change over to the new season’s map, but may try to find a way to put a map in the current season’s tab.
So what happened to the shows that aren’t playing anymore? Well, I have taken those shows and added them to a new page in the Archives called “Past Shows.” This page will have an alphabetical listing of all of the shows from past seasons. The layout may change as time moves on, but the overall purpose will stay the same.
I have also reconstructed the Past Seasons section of the Archive from a submenu to a page that will have links to the past seasons’ All Shows and All Shows (by venue) pages. It looks a little skimpy now (I’ve only been active since the 2018/2019 season!), but it will grow over time.
Although I have moved away from separating things by season, I have kept intact the ability to view an active season’s show listing by show and venue. These are now located in the menu under the Seasons tab. Then, after the end of each season, these pages will be transferred over to the Archive.
At the moment, all of the other menu items will remain the same. The page related to the changes made due to COVID-19 will also remain until things return to normal.
Speaking of the virus, the scheduling changes have brought up some questions as to whether a show can still be classified as being from the 19/20 season if it takes place in 2021. As a rule of thumb, I have been using a few indicators to make this determination. Note: if your venue still classifies the show as being part of the 19/20 subscription series, that only affects things from a ticketing perspective. However, for this site, I am using the following as a general way to figure out how and where to put information:
- When does the show take place?
- If a show takes place after the time when the new season usually begins (around August), then it will be considered a show in the new season. For example, in Jacksonville, their engagement of Hamilton was rescheduled to August-September 2021. To me, although your tickets may be good for the rescheduled engagement, this show cannot be considered in the 19/20 season due to its placement in the calendar.
- If a rescheduled show takes place at a venue prior to that venue’s current 20/21 season, then it will be classified into the 19/20 season.
- Likewise, if a rescheduled show takes place after a venue’s 20/21 season has started, it will still be classified as a 19/20 season show. This will lessen the chance that there will be any overlap between seasons.
- A great example of this can be seen with Anastasia. The Kentucky Center in Louisville, KY has rescheduled the show to play between August 4-9, 2020, which I might have considered being part of the 20/21 season due to it being around the time when the new season begins. However, from their 20/21 season announcement, their next season does not start until November 2020. So, unless the presenter indicates a change to the new season, or reclassified the show itself, I will still classify their engagement of Anastasia as being in the 19/20 season.
- If a show has cancelled performances until the fall (or later), then the rescheduled engagements will be reassigned to the respective new season. This is what has happened to Cats recently. As they have closed their 19/20 tour, any rescheduled performance is now reclassified into the respective new season.
- So, taking the Anastasia example again, if the show closes until the fall, then Louisville’s engagement will then be reclassified into the 20/21 season.
Although there may be more exceptions and other ways that can be used to figure out how to present information, these are a few ways that I am using so that you can understand my methods and reasoning behind them.
Some other minor updates to the site that will be rolled out over the next while include the addition of more show details on the individual show pages. I will be including a duration, intermission information, an age recommendation, and a show description. Although there won’t be any major spoilers, this last part will be placed in a closed tab in case you don’t want to know anything about the show. You can see a sample of how this will look on the Come From Away show page.
I am also putting the updates on hold for the Venues page in the Archives until after we get through all of this season’s season announcements. New venue pages will be created as they announce their 20/21 seasons, but I won’t be updating this particular page at the same time.
Unfortunately, because of the virus, very few venues have an actual season announcement date set. Most of the venues that typically announce in March, April and May have indicated to me that they will be shooting for June announcements, but it will most likely depend on how long the lockdowns remain in place in their area. I’ll be doing my best to keep things as updated as I can by putting season announcement dates in the Calendar and also on the Log.
I really appreciate your patronage during this time of so much uncertainty. Thank you for your continuing support and I look forward to providing you with more updates soon!