Essay, by Cheryl Yenter

June 2, 2020 Cheryl Yenter Teacher, Theater Volunteer, English Country Dancer, 4- H Leader and Mom! Greetings! COVID 19 was sneaking up on me. Not being a news watcher, due to more “stuff to do” than time to watch the news, I first heard about the novel virus in January from friends. I read a few news reports online. Other people were talking about a strange and novel virus. Fast forward to March 13, 2020. That is the day that everything shut down in Illinois. I am the company manager for a high school homeschool theater-Thin Ice Ensemble www.thinicetheater.org We were mounting the production, Emma. We had made it through tech week, almost. News of shutdowns or other schools and Park Districts was swirling all around us. We had an actor pull out of the show due to virus concerns, we were getting other parents who were calling, worried and wondering about the proper course of action. The Skokie Park District where we perform was one of the last places around here (Glenview-Evanston-Morton Grove) to close their doors. We knew it was getting serious. Our director, Eileen Hand, and the Skokie Park District manager were talking but there were no hard facts as to what the official word was. Should we proceed with the final tech performance? If everything shut down it would give the kids one last chance to run the show they had worked on since January. We asked the kids, do you want to stop, or run this final rehearsal and make the best of an unknown situation? The kids, who are dedicated to their theater and good performances gave an overwhelming “yes”. They proceeded to knock out a final tech performance that was stellar. We. the director and I did not see any difference in any actor during the run. Almost ¾ the way through that run, we finally got the word. There would be no evening command performance for just parents, sitting far away from each other. The building was closing at 5 pm and staying closed until further notice. After Eileen gave notes to her actors she broke the news to the cast-no go-the virus has stopped the show. The kids were shocked and devastated. I was so sad for them. So much work goes into a show, there is so much behind the scenes work to make the production shine. All gone. Evaporated. Clear out. Go home. Stay home. I felt especially bad for our actor who played Emma. She was doing such a wonderful job of embodying Emma. And I had watched her grow as an actor since she was a young kid. And now her staring role was taken away. And she is a sensitive soul. And while Emma was being cancelled, our spring musical, Beauty and the Beast Jr. rehearsals were cancelled with a hope of resurrection. As I write this, on June 2, Illinois is in Stage 2. That means we can gather in groups of 10 with masks and maintaining a 6 ft distance. So even as we thought there was hope that rehearsals would resume, hindsight has left Thin Ice Ensemble Theater two shows short. The -D. Holmes, Age 14. May 14, 2020