Lonnie Hanzon is a creative guy, having helped pioneer digital animation during his time at Lucasfilm and early on in immersive art installations, which he always proudly creates.

But with the masked “Nutcrackers” and proof of vaccination the new standard for vacation broadcasts, Hanzon was forced to get even more creative with his six-acre “Camp Christmas” project in Lakewood this year. year.

“We couldn’t find lumber, so we ended up contracting with a team that was working for the state of Wyoming to purchase the tops of their rough lodgepole pines,” Hanzon said last week. about the cheeky, maximalist installation, which runs through Jan 2 at Heritage Lakewood Belmar Park. “And we went to get them – 350 peaks, or the first 14 feet of what they were chopping down.”

It was his only option to finish the show on time, he said, and he had been working on it for almost a year already, having given up on the idea that Christmas camp could go back inside.

As holiday shows are back in full force for 2021, they land with heavy luggage and lots of tags. Labor shortages, soaring material costs, supply chain disruptions, and reluctant artists and audiences have pushed shows onto shaky ground, even as they are desperately needed to firm up. their business finances.

In some cases, the millions of dollars in government loans, donations and lifelines that have supported these nonprofits are drying up – and at the worst possible time. An investigation by the United States’ Advocacy Group for the Arts found that 99% of national nonprofit arts groups canceled events during the pandemic, accounting for 557 million paid admissions lost in July, a reported Kaiser Health News.

“In the arts, it’s tough enough because you try to scrimp and save wherever you can,” said Dawn Fay, president of the Denver Contemporary Ballet Company Wonderbound. “The things you took for granted are really expensive or unavailable, and you pay attention to all those details that you wouldn’t otherwise have. “

Wonderbound is one of five US dance companies to continue performing in 2020, Fay said, despite his building being robbed and being forced to move to a new home. The company organized small social-distancing shows that kept their dancers and choreographer Garrett Ammon busy.

It is encouraging to note that the two dozen performances of his new holiday show, “Winterland: A Discotheque Cabaret”, are sold out, having premiered on December 2 and through December 19.

“We usually do five performances of a production,” Fay said. “But you are talking about houses with 500 places. To put the numbers together, we’re doing 90 performances in total this season, but for only 25 to 45 people at a time.

With a high membership base of 757 subscribers, Wonderbound is experiencing waves of pent-up demand after its quiet months.

For the leaders of the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this season as one of the state’s oldest LGBTQ organizations, adjusting expectations is essential.

So far, they have sold around 1,000 tickets for performances of their new show, “Holiday Follies! Classics, Caroles and Camp ”, but it’s down almost 40% from 2019. They agree with that.

“If someone doesn’t get their kids vaccinated, they don’t come to the show,” said Michael Sattler, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Arts Association, which covers the Gay Men’s and Denver Women’s Choir. “But we did offer a live streaming option on Saturday (December 4th), so we are trying to provide alternatives for people who are not yet comfortable or who have not been vaccinated.”

Singers wore special masks – much like duckbills, said executive and artistic director James Knapp – and executives have been strict about limb testing and vaccination. This reduced the group of performers, but only a little.

“We were hoping to have 70 to 80 singers for these shows, but we’ll actually have 95 live,” Knapp said last week. “We normally sing around 105 to 110, so it’s really not that low. We made recordings every week to make adjustments because of the masks. Usually you just trust your ears.

The singers gathered with open windows and working air purifiers in their rehearsal spaces. As with other local and national stage performances, performances have been shortened to eliminate intermissions and lobbying meetings.

Researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Maryland recently indicated that “although masks reduce the flow of droplets for singers and instrumentalists, filter material quality and fit are issues. keys to effectiveness, ”according to Kaiser Health News. They recommend taking breaks every half hour if you are rehearsing or playing indoors.

Holiday shows touring Denver this season faced the same issues, but with the added complication of rescheduling shows postponed to venues with full schedules.

“Our expectations were in the basement after a year and a half,” said BenDeLaCreme, whose vacation drag queen show with veteran “RuPaul’s Drag Race” colleague Jinkx Monsoon returns to the Paramount Theater on December 14. “And the cities have been very different in terms of their reactions to our mask requirements. As a producer you are always playing with your money. But we are sold out or about to do so on all of our dates in the United States. United States, so it was worth taking the chance. ”

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