Editorial: After two years of closure, local arts are opening again

Local arts and entertainment are vital for a community to grow. They help attach people to the place where they live

Photo by Marty Cheek
Sarah Duarte (center) as singer Sally Bowles and Billy Tindall (in bowler) as Emcee perform with Kit Kat Klub “girls” and “boys” in South Valley Civic Theatre’s musical “Cabaret.” The show opened March 11.

Editorial is the opinion of Morgan Hill Life

In early 2020, the South Valley Civic Theatre had just started rehearsals for their show “Cabaret.” Work by the cast and crew, however, quickly came to a stop as the COVID-19 virus began to spread rapidly across the globe. The pandemic hit the world hard as lock-downs and quarantines began — and live performances in the arts and entertainment field came to a quick close.

The human spirit can’t be killed. The arts are starting to rise back into South Valley culture. After two years of delay, SVCT opened “Cabaret” March 11, with the final performance Sunday, March 28. Other shows are coming out, including TheaterFun’s “Disney Descendants,” a children’s musical that opens for four days starting March 31 at the Community Playhouse and Gilroy’s Pintello Comedy Theater show “Clue: Onstage,” which opened March 11 and has sold out all its performances.

Live music summer performances at the Morgan Hill Downtown Amphitheater will start June 17 and go until Sept. 2 with the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce’s annual Friday Night Music Series. It had an abbreviated run in 2021 but brought out many in the community to enjoy some of the Bay Area’s best bands performing under the stars.

“Clue Onstage” by the Pintello Comedy Theater.

For family fun on Hecker Pass, the beautiful Gilroy Gardens will open for weekends starting April 2 and 3 (with a weeklong opening from April 9 to April 17 for the spring break). The theme park is a wonderful South Valley treasure with plenty of rides designed for younger kids as well as adults — and the ticket includes live shows on the park’s stage suitable for children.

The Poppy Jasper International Film Festival opens April 6 and runs through April 13, bringing more than 150 filmmakers from around the world to the South Valley region to celebrate cinema. Over the years, the film arts festival has grown in prestige globally as it keeps its small-town roots while putting a spotlight on some of the best independent films made in recent years.

The Morgan Hill Downtown Association will host its 12th annual Wine Art and Music Stroll the afternoon of Saturday April 30. Guests can enjoy fine wines from more than 20 local wineries while experiencing downtown shops and restaurants. Take in live music and don’t miss the festivities for Air for Paws. They’ll have a pet parade and information about this fantastic local charity.

And during the summer, some of our wonderful local wineries — such as Guglielmo Winery — will hold more intimate concerts and other fun events at their vineyards.

Local arts and entertainment are vital for a community to grow. They help attach people to the place where they live. A study conducted between 2009 and 2011 by the Knight Foundation and Gallup called “Soul of the Community” found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, social offerings and aesthetics bind people to a place and to each other even more than education or jobs.

The arts and entertainment bring people together — and that stimulates the social health of a city. Culture such as theater plays, art galleries, museums, concerts and festivals stimulate social capital and enhance a city’s character. Art brings people together by telling a community’s shared story. When men, women and children connect to each other through the arts, they find themselves inspired by the human spirit. And a reflection on that spirit empowers people to form connections that transcend differences.

In the study, the Gallup organization asked about residents’ perceptions of various community attributes. The polling group then analyzed the correlation between those perceptions and the level of community attachment. The study’s report noted that “other factors, beyond basic needs, should be included when thinking about economic growth and development. These seemingly softer needs have an even larger effect than previously thought when it comes to residents’ attachment to their communities.”

Let’s support the arts and entertainment in the South Valley as much as we can by attending shows and concerts. The arts serve as an essential way for residents to come together through shared, meaningful experiences celebrating our common humanity.