Blumenthal, The Bushnell Testify Before Senate Committee Urging Inclusion of Save Our Stages in COVID Relief Package

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade and Consumer Protection, spoke at a hearing today in support of the Save Our Stages Act, which would provide financial support to theater and event venues struggling as a result of the shutdown caused by the pandemic. Blumenthal invited David Fay, President of The Bushnell Center for Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut, to give testimony at the hearing and advocate for inclusion of this vital measure in the next COVID relief package.

“We are now approaching a critical point when we must save our stages and our small businesses that are hanging by a thread. For the sake of the businesses in their proximity who depend on them, whether they are places to eat or venues to shop for the sake of the employees who work there, the actors as well as the stagehands, the lighting assistants, for the sake of our cultural heritage, and the great treasures of enjoyment, for the sake of our families that come there to be together and friends and neighbors who regard them as social centers as well as artistic gems, we should pass this measure and I am very grateful to all of our witnesses for providing the intellectual ammunition that we will need to convince our colleagues to include this step in the compromise rescue package now under negotiation,” said Blumenthal.

“Our industry is built on live performance venues from the smallest club where new talent is discovered and nurtured; to the playhouses and regional theatres where local directors, actors, designers, stagehands, musicians, writers and more, learn and develop their craft; to the Broadway theatres and producers who look to these venues for new talent, and to find half of all the new shows they open each year; and to the performing arts centers, like The Bushnell and those much larger, who are a part of this delicately balanced ecosystem and who depend on it to develop the extraordinary talent and shows that grace our stages, inspire our audiences, and uplift the spirit of our communities. Without your help, this ecosystem is in grave danger of collapsing and taking with it the pulse of our city centers,” said Fay.

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