Catching up with Steve Ross
Steve shines as a mainstay on Stratford’s stages. He has more than two dozen Theatre Festival musicals and plays, spanning 14 seasons, to his credit. This year, the award-winning actor and singer was set to star in “Chicago” and “The Miser.”
Now, Steve’s been forced offstage. On Monday, April 27th, the Festival announced that the season needed to be be cancelled, citing the Covid-19 threat. Top politicians, including the mayor of Stratford, Dan Mathieson, believe that our area will suffer severe economic and social damage.
A day earlier, in an interview for my series, “From a Distance,” Steve and his husband, Randy Read, a theater professional himself, talked about their lives as creative artists. During our conversation, it became clear that they knew their industry, and our communities, faced ineluctable trouble.
I contacted Steve earlier today. Understandably, our chat was brief.
__________________________
WGF: What was it like for you to hear news of the Festival shutdown?
SR: Monday’s announcement was hard. I think we all knew it was coming, but it was pretty devastating to hear it confirmed.
WGF: What have you been doing since?
SR: I took a couple of days to really just sit in the “new normal,” to think about what it all means. Did lots of figuring, finance-wise. It was quite a quiet, introspective week.
WGF: What’s next? How do you move forward?
SR: Good question. I’m involved in a couple of online things at the moment, so i’ll continue with those. I don’t want to jump into anything out of panic, I know that. I don’t want to make any crazy decisions. It’s a big chunk of time we’re talking about. I’m confident something will present itself. In the meantime, I’ll stick to my COVID routine that I’ve been establishing.
Now, Steve’s been forced offstage. On Monday, April 27th, the Festival announced that the season needed to be be cancelled, citing the Covid-19 threat. Top politicians, including the mayor of Stratford, Dan Mathieson, believe that our area will suffer severe economic and social damage.
A day earlier, in an interview for my series, “From a Distance,” Steve and his husband, Randy Read, a theater professional himself, talked about their lives as creative artists. During our conversation, it became clear that they knew their industry, and our communities, faced ineluctable trouble.
I contacted Steve earlier today. Understandably, our chat was brief.
__________________________
WGF: What was it like for you to hear news of the Festival shutdown?
SR: Monday’s announcement was hard. I think we all knew it was coming, but it was pretty devastating to hear it confirmed.
WGF: What have you been doing since?
SR: I took a couple of days to really just sit in the “new normal,” to think about what it all means. Did lots of figuring, finance-wise. It was quite a quiet, introspective week.
WGF: What’s next? How do you move forward?
SR: Good question. I’m involved in a couple of online things at the moment, so i’ll continue with those. I don’t want to jump into anything out of panic, I know that. I don’t want to make any crazy decisions. It’s a big chunk of time we’re talking about. I’m confident something will present itself. In the meantime, I’ll stick to my COVID routine that I’ve been establishing.
