{"id":6921,"date":"2021-12-15T09:48:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T14:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6921"},"modified":"2025-08-24T12:32:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:32:19","slug":"lights-up-on-the-armorys-stage-after-a-year-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/12\/15\/lights-up-on-the-armorys-stage-after-a-year-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Lights Up on The Armory\u2019s Stage After a Year Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Early July, the lights turned on in a small black-box theater in Manhattan. The Armory finally returned to the stage after a year of virtual comedy performances. The audience was small, all masked, but excited. As the COVID-19 vaccines roll out and become more accessible, small venues such as this are returning to in-person shows. Returning is strange, but the performers are happy to be back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Melissa Canon Parker is a longtime member of The Armory who has performed on their improv comedy house teams and other resident shows. These include the fan favorite Shot4Shot, a drinking game set to a real movie that comedians–regardless of age, gender, race or size–act out. She felt awkward and uncomfortable returning to the stage, but said, \u201cI’m not even sure where I’m going. But man oh man, is it so much fun!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Melissa Caron Parker (far right) and teammates returned to The Armory stage, July 6, 2021. (Photo: The Armory Comedy)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Performing improv on Zoom wasn\u2019t easy, even for expert artists. Technical difficulties happen, sometimes making things awkward or slow. Everything has its perks, though. \u201cThere was definitely a learning curve in patience, taking turns to speak, challenges in the reliability of internet speed or technological capabilities for teammates. As a full-time mom, it was instantly easier for me to participate and attend shows,\u201d Parker said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some took every chance to perform online and others worked behind the scenes. Armory member Michelle Drozdick returned to her passion for writing. \u201cThe circumstances of the past year allowed me to write much more than I ever have before. I have a few screenplays and pilots now, along with short stories and poetry that have actually been published in small outlets that I’m really proud of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Drozdick wasn\u2019t alone. Armory founder Leah Evans gave herself a challenge. She wrote an estimated 3,000 pages of completed scripts in the last year. She shared these with the community members through online readings. Evans submitted five of the scripts to international competitions. The online format allowed her to write a scene, find people to read it aloud right away and receive feedback immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was Evans\u2019 fast action that made the last year possible. The day The Tank announced that it was closing its doors along with the rest of New York City, The Armory had their first online Shot4Shot. The momentum never died. After a few months, they started online improv teams. The Armory filled the past year with online readings and games nights.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As of now, The Armory is returning to the live stage. Some online readings, however, are still going on. People are trying to find ways to keep the global outreach that online shows have.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The COVID-19 pandemic hit artists hard. It forced performers to find new outlets with no live audience. The Armory started virtual shows less than two days after their physical theater shut down. Performers and audience members found a new respect for live comedy. As Drozdick put it, \u201cNow it’s just such a pleasure to spend time with the people I care about in whatever capacity is possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Early July, the lights turned on in a small black-box theater in Manhattan. The Armory finally returned to the stage after a year of virtual comedy performances. The audience was small, all masked, but excited. As the COVID-19 vaccines roll out and become more accessible, small venues such as this are returning to in-person shows. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":231,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6921"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8215,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6921\/revisions\/8215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}