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Sometimes Outdoor Theater And Wildfire Smoke Don’t Mix

Jenny Graham
/
Oregon Shakespeare Festival

It’s been a smoky summer in the Pacific Northwest. Wildfires have communities from Eastern Washington to Northern California gasping through days and weeks of poor air quality.

In Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the “show-must-go-on” mantra of the theater has given way to continuous air quality checks and tough show-time decisions.
 

Bonnie Milligan has a big voice.

Bonnie Milligan: “I do a lot of high what we call ‘belting’ in Head Over Heels.”

But belting and smoke don’t mix.

Bonnie Milligan: “I can feel it right now, like the back of your throat. You just need water. There’s never enough water.”

Milligan is one of the leads in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival musical Head Over Heels. She also sings in the Count of Monte Cristo. Both shows are staged at the outside Elizabethan theater, where the air quality changes constantly as wildfire smoke moves through the Rogue Valley.

Bonnie Milligan: “And it’s hard because when you sing, especially high, it takes more breath, and when you’re taking in bigger breaths you’re sucking in those particles.”

It doesn’t just affect performers’ voices, the EPA says exposure to smoke particulate can be linked to heart attacks, respiratory problems, and premature death for people who have heart and lung disease.

Mallory Pierce: “The actors are like… I think of it as like an athlete in a game or running event.”

Festival Marketing Director Mallory Pierce.

Mallory Pierce: “And we don’t put the responsibility on them to say, ‘Do I go on?’ or ‘Do I not go on?’”

Because cancelling a show is a big decision, with the potential for major financial repercussions.

In 2013, the Festival put together a “smoke team.” Pierce is a member. The team uses the good ol’ fashioned “Can we see the mountains across the valley?” trick, in addition to objective data from smoke reports, an air quality station on top of one of the theaters, and a handheld monitor that gives real-time measures backstage.

Mallory Pierce: “If a lot of patrons are walking out, if we’re hearing from actors that they’re not feeling very well, if the forecast is that it's going to continue, those are the factors that are going to play into cancelling the show.”

The Festival has cancelled three outdoor shows so far - one when the audience was already seated and another half-way through the performance.

A hot setting sun beats down on the Festival’s courtyard stage, where a group of musicians is playing traditional songs of the Renaissance.

They’re part of the Festival’s free summer performance series.Tonight, there’s a good crowd. They’re sitting on the grass, lounging in camp chairs – and breathing the cleanest air the Rogue Valley has seen in a while. For weeks though, air quality here has been some of the worst in the Northwest.

Claudia Alick: “I do think there has been an effect on turnout on the nights where it has been very smoky.”

Claudia Alick is in charge of the show.

Claudia Alick: “Sometimes my artists are hard core, and they’re like, ‘I don’t care if it’s smoky. It’s smoky in LA. We’ll perform.’ And then if, if it’s red…”

Meaning unhealthy air.

Claudia Alick: “… then I’m going to cancel the show. For the health of not only the performer, but also my staff.”

Heidi Schultz and her two sons stopped on their way from Eugene to California. But she almost didn’t come.

Heidi Schultz: “Actually we’ve reconsidered our plans a few time. Because of the smoke and really just because of the fire danger.”

This kind of hesitation is a concern to Marketing Director Pierce. The Festival draws more than 100-thousand people to Ashland each year.

Mallory Pierce: “People who come here to see shows, absolutely love to drive up to Crater Lake one afternoon or do a river trip so something. And when the activities that are outdoors are affected with the smoke, it makes people rethink whether or not this is where they want to take their vacation.”

Despite the shifting smoky conditions, cancellations are still a relatively rare occurrence. And performers like Bonnie Milligan are using tricks to keep their voices strong and lubricated in the challenging conditions.

Bonnie Milligan: “Last night if I found myself if I’m not talking, somebody else is talking and I know the song is coming up… I try to hmmmmm hmmmm. Because if you clear your throat it’s a little harder, but if you try to hum on your cords, it’s gentler. Then I bite my tongue a bit to try to salivate.”

It’s not a pretty image, but Milligan does what she needs to do to sound like this for the crowds.

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