NASHVILLE, Ind. — You'll laugh.
You'll cry.
You'll feel uplifted.
That's what producers are saying about a new theatrical production about to open Friday in Brown County that's all about COVID-19.
From losing loved ones to missing out on sports to the toilet paper shortage, "2020: COVID the Musical" covers it all and also celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.
In downtown Nashville, the poster outside the Brown County Playhouse is certainly getting some quizzical looks. Its upcoming performance is about the pandemic - our most challenging year - set to song.
"COVID the Musical?" one tourist said, eyeing the marquee.
"I don't know about that," added tourist Marilyn Dyer, laughing. "Not more COVID!"
"Well, just as well laugh about it. Lot of people cried about it," said her husband, Steve Dyer. "Hopefully it's well-written!"
"2020: COVID the Musical" will have a two-weekend run in Brown County. It's a commissioned piece by award-winning playwright Ashton Wolf.
During the two-hour show, there are 21 songs, eight actors (yes, they're in masks), along with a live band. Song genres range from country to rap to traditional musical theater ballads.
The musical is a medley about the coronavirus and its challenging impact on our lives.
"It's about hope. It's about community. It's about coming together and, yeah, there's some tragedy that we've all experienced," said Brown County Playhouse Executive Director Amanda Webb.
"It really captures some of the shared experiences that we all went through in the pandemic and continue to go through," added the show's executive producer, Lisa Hall.
Hall, who recently produced "Addict's Wake," a film about addiction that won accolades at the Heartland Film Festival, created the COVID concept when she couldn't see her newborn grandchildren in 2020.
She said she thought, "Someone's gotta write about this."
"Somebody's going do it and why not it be us? Why not it be the Brown County Playhouse? It's to really help people get in touch with their emotions, get in touch with how to process this really, really crazy time," Hall explained. "I know one playwright, I called him and said, 'I think we need to script a show for the Brown County Playhouse about COVID.' And he said, 'How do you feel about a musical?' And I said, 'That's much better.'"
But there has been community pushback, as well as questions: Too soon? Why on earth would I want to go see a play about the pandemic that we're all tired of being in?
"We've heard that," Hall said.
"And we have had to answer it so many times," Webb added. "I took a really hard look at the program and I said, 'This isn't what they think it is.' We need to take an extra step and educate the community. Some were making assumptions that we were going to take a very South Park comedy view of a really tragic situation, which is not what this is at all."
"We can't do this show and not acknowledge there's been loss," Hall said. "And so it's not a comedy. It's just poignant moments about the pandemic. There are some humorous moments, like whoever thought we'd be short of toilet paper in this country? So we have 'The Toilet Paper Blues.'"
Some of the other songs talk about disinformation, missing out on sports, loneliness, and the pain of losing loved ones.
The arts have long tackled all kinds of tough topics and social commentary of the day, so perhaps it's not that unusual or unexpected that COVID is the musical of the moment.
Producers believe this show will resonate, especially with the resilience of the human spirit. Audiences, they say, will leave with hope.
"I think they're going to feel inspired. I think they're going to feel excited. I think they're going feel more connected," Webb said. "They're going to feel like they can go pay it forward somewhere else."
Tickets for "2020: COVID the Musical" are $25. You must wear a mask in the theater unless you're eating or drinking.
They've also set aside one performance on Nov. 19, where proof of vaccination will be required.
Click here to learn more about the show.