COVID-19 Closures: Christina Marie McCann (Catholic University)

The COVID-19 pandemic continues change the world as we know it. As closures and performance cancellations have put actors out of school and work, I’ve been reaching out to the artists affected. Here are their stories.

My story isn’t unique in this situation. I am one of twelve senior musical theatre majors at Catholic University in DC. I am one of 14 million college students in the country. As many colleges and universities continue to close due to the spread of the coronavirus, I can’t help but feel a sense of solidarity. We are not alone. We’re in this together; learning, grieving, coping, planning… We are strong as hell.

The working class--and theatre artists in particular--is taking the hit the hardest. Our shows and our many other survival jobs are closing. I myself work four jobs. All of them are closed or on the way to closing (even the one that I can work remotely since it is for school). Of course it is wise to close now. I want nothing more than to have the world heal from this global pandemic. But for my peers and I, the worst of it is impacting our paychecks and education leaving us broke, unable to pay bills and even homeless without a dorm room to stay in.

As a senior in college, I am particularly worried about graduating. As a musical theatre major, I do not understand how many of my classes will translate to online learning for the rest of the month (although I believe this crisis will last through the end of the school year).

I feel selfish to focus on a potentially cancelled chorus concert, recital, and commencement, but I have worked too hard for this degree to see it fall apart. I am in my fifth year at CUA, and before this year, I struggled to fit in and feel accepted at my university.

As a queer student on a Catholic campus that won’t officially recognize the LGBTQ+ student organization, I felt erased. I didn’t belong, and my mental, physical, and social health worsened as a result. I retreated into my dorm room convinced that I wasn’t invited to events because my class didn’t like me. I spent most of my time talking to my long-distance girlfriend at the time. I didn’t realize that I had a hand in my own downfall. In the fall of 2018--what should have been my last fall semester, as I was on track to graduate in 2019--I made the difficult decision to leave school and attend outpatient treatment for my mental health. I returned the following semester not really feeling like I was a senior or a part of the junior class that I would eventually join.

I was the super senior. It was unprecedented, and no one knew how to deal with me in my bonus semester. However, come fall 2019, I entered my final year ready as ever. I stage managed a mainstage play. I auditioned for and got cast for the final musical in my time at CUA--A Little Night Music. I was thriving.

I was thriving until a couple of weeks ago. Midterms overlapped with my tech week. I opened and closed a show while falling behind in my more academic classes. I planned on catching up over spring break.

And then there was a confirmed case in Maryland. In my county. In my town. Instead of relaxing and catching up with my schoolwork over spring break, my brain was a flurry of questions and uncertainty. Will I graduate? Will everyone get an incomplete for performance classes? Will I receive a refund for any of the tuition dollars I am losing? How will I pay for the extra materials I need to complete coursework from home?

Many of my questions are still unanswered. While the university decided to hold virtual classes through the end of March, I remained hopeful that I would still get to perform in my senior showcase. For those of you unfamiliar with showcases, many BFA and BM programs will host showcases for agents, managers, and casting directors. They are like group auditions, and they result in great connections and job offers.

On the evening of March 16th, my class and I found out that our DC and NYC showcases were cancelled through social media. I think deep down, we all knew it was coming, but it hit harder, because the school didn’t even give us the courtesy of a notification before the news was public. I found out on Twitter. I know that everyone is doing the best they can to disseminate information quickly, but I took this as a personal blow. I am trying to find the positives--going live with sing-alongs and participating in online yoga and arts streams, but I am deflated. I feel like my hard work will go unrecognized and I will not be afforded the same opportunities as the students before and after me.

And this issue is even bigger than me and my class. Many of my peers are without work. Two of my jobs are tied to arts education, and they’re closed. Imagination Stage--a premiere producer of theatre for young audiences and arts education--closed its doors, and I don’t know if it will stay afloat through this. The high school pre-professional production of Sweet Charity that I was assistant directing at Levine School of Music was supposed to open on March 20th, and I don’t know if we’ll be able to reschedule.

My heart hurts for the theatre community, especially the aspiring artists that I teach. But my hope is restored every time I open Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. We’re taking our cabarets online. We’re writing. We’re creating. We’re inspired to provide some relief from this ever-present anxiety. This quarantine may be disheartening at times, but I have never been more proud to be a part of such a strong community. Stay strong, friends. We will get through this.

Christina Marie McCann is a DC-based actor, stage manager, and teaching artist. She is in her final semester at The Catholic University of America where she is pursuing a BM in Musical Theatre. @xtnamariemccann

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