Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor —

Like so many arts organizations, the Magik Theater followed the directive to close in mid-March to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. That must have disappointed a lot of youngsters who wanted to see the popular musical retelling of “Dragons Love Tacos” that had just opened on March 6.

But good things come to those who wait. With the loosening of gathering restrictions, the kids and their families got a second chance to find out just what kind of tacos the dragons liked or disliked. The show reopened mid-June for grateful audiences that were more than willing to obey social distancing rules, wash their hands and have their temperature taken at the door.

“We had a nice initial run for tickets, which was great,” said the theater’s artistic director Anthony Runfola. “Folks were so appreciative and so happy to be there. But most importantly, what we heard from the audience was that they felt comfortable and could enjoy the play. They appreciated the safety procedures we had put in place. It has been an overwhelmingly positive response.”

For Runfola, who arrived in San Antonio to assume the top artistic position at the Magik on October 14 of last year, the unexpected turn of events caused by the pandemic must have felt like a baptism by fire. But he didn’t mention it. Instead, he praised the company and what it had done in its 25 years of existence for young audiences in the city. Since inception, the Magik has produced more than 200 mainstage and touring shows and played to more than 2 million people from 750 schools in 85 school districts.

Back in 2018, Runfola came to San Antonio to guest-direct “Schoolhouse Rock Live” at the Magik, which gave him a chance to learn about the place and also get acquainted with our city.

“I had a great time being in the city and working with the company, so knowing that the job (of artistic director) was opening up, I decided to keep an eye on it,” he said. “I knew the Magik had a great history and a great staff. Also, the setting, being in the Hemisfair Park; I think it’s a huge asset for the company to have such a family friendly location. And I saw a good opportunity for growth.”

Back in October, he was ready to learn more about the community and the area schools since school-sponsored fieldtrips are “the bread and butter” of children’s theaters, he explained. The idea was to plan shows that support school curricula not only in fine arts but also in history or science and other disciplines.

Another thing on his mind was “the limited canon” of existing works suitable for young audiences. While playwrights have been writing plays for adults for centuries, stage works for kids were relatively few until the 1960s, noted Runfola. At present, book adaptations are still the prevalent form of entertainment on stages around the country.

“If you want to have a more diverse season of plays that speak to a wider range of people, you have to go out into the community and find that new work; you have to look at stories of our communities,” he said. The themes are many and all around us. “Things are changing fast in our society now. My children are only four years apart but how my (16-year old) daughter grew up is totally different from what my (12-year-old) son is experiencing now.”

Unfortunately, there was little time to find those promising local playwrights before the coronavirus profoundly changed the way we live and work. But due to his connections in the field, he knows playwrights who specialize in plays and musicals for youth. Thus, one of the pieces he was looking at for next season was “Selena Maria Sings,” written by Miriam Gonzales, with music by Daniel French. It tells the story of 14-year-old Selena Maria who composes music on her laptop and idolizes the late Tejano star, Selena Quintanilla. “It’s about growing up today and being your authentic self,” said Runfola. “But because of COVID-19, the development work on the musical has stopped for the time being.

During the shutdown, the Magik did what most arts organizations have done- opted for some quickly generated online programming, some of which is still going on.

“But we had to stop and ask ourselves, what is it that we truly do? It also forced me to slow down,” said Runfola. “Coming into a new organization, you do have lots of plans and goals and you want to make them yours as soon as you can, but we had to look at what’s really important about what we do and how to do it. It’s still a work in progress.”

Prior to coming to San Antonio, Runfola was the director of production for the venerable children’s theater, Childsplay, in the Phoenix-Tempe area in Arizona, where he had spent the past 20 years of his career, as production manager, ensemble member and resident director. He essentially helped build Childsplay into the nationally respected professional theater that it is today. His productions of “Schoolhouse Rock Live” and “Rock the Presidents” have toured the United States multiple times.

 In 2010, Runfola founded the Sustainable Stagecraft Initiative to research and develop sustainable practices for theatrical production and spoke about its work throughout the U.S. He was also co-director of Childsplay’s El Puente project, an outreach program aiming to build connections between theater and the Hispanic community.

He was picked to lead the Magik from among 54 people who had applied for the job.

A strong believer in the power of live theater, he feels that some “retooling of our messaging” is also in order at this point to clearly connect stage productions to education and life skills.

“It’s not just about seeing a play. There’s new research that shows that young people retain more of the story when they see it acted out on stage and that they develop a sense of empathy with the characters during a live performance. It helps them to understand the world around them. And when they take classes through our academy, they learn to collaborate, to develop imagination and critical thinking. These are skills that you need in life and that you can develop through drama.”

As a nonprofit, the Magik has survived the shutdown largely due to generous donations from foundations and companies, such as the Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts, the San Antonio Area Foundation, the Elizabeth Huth Coates Foundation, H-E-B, Union Pacific and others. Moreover, Frost Bank was instrumental in helping the theater secure a loan through the Payroll Protection Program. It also helped that the SAISD continued to use the Magik personnel to teach theater classes in nine of its schools. Still, it is projected that the company will end the year with a shortage of about $600,000.

Though planning for fall is fraught with uncertainty, the current plans call for creating flexible, smaller shows, easily adapted to circumstances. “We are trying to be ready for just about any opportunity that may present itself,” said the artistic director. “We are limiting the scripts we are looking at to a maximum of four characters. These shows will be tour-able and will fit in a cargo van.” And they will be shown both indoors and outdoors, in arts centers and other places throughout the region. In addition, all will be recorded for digital presentation. “I think that will be the way to reach schools because there may not be any fieldtrips during the next school year.”

But the goal of speaking to young people in a way that reaches them remains the same. “If the play reflects the child’s experience, especially if they are going through a rough time, that’s huge, huge for a young person,” said Runfola.
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As for the summer, a few more live shows are coming up: Jack and the Beanstalk – July; Theater for the Very Young: Everything is Round – July; and Senora Tortuga – Aug. – Sept. Exact dates will be announced later. Camp Showbiz for ages 3-17 will be online this summer. Contact the Education Department at 210-227-2751 ext. 301. For more info go to www.magiktheatre.org.