Vaudeville Act Receives Venue Grant
By Danny Monahan
Small Business Administration Vermont District Office
Comedy, circus and music are hallmarks of a vaudeville show and for 12 years a Greensboro Vermont troupe’s act has stayed true to those entertainment roots.
Vermont Vaudeville is a variety show made up of several unrelated acts featuring everything from jugglers and magicians to dancers and singers.
“It’s for all ages and we have built quite an audience over the years. All demographics show up. It’s a really fun show,” said Maya McCoy, managing director and founder of Vermont Vaudeville.
Established in 2009 the troupe has a cast of seven members and has worked with more than 80 guest acts in more than 20 different theaters, although Vermont Vaudeville primarily performs at the Hardwick Town House, a theater built in 1860 that hosted various acts during Vaudeville’s heyday.
“We were inspired by Circus Smirkus, Bread & Puppet Theater, and other rural New England theater companies and we wanted to create something unique that would connect with our community. And it worked--over the years Vermonters have shown up again and again to support rural homegrown theater,” said McCoy. Circus Smirkus is an organization that specializes in teaching various circus skills.
In the first 10 years, Vermont Vaudeville produced and performed 22 original shows entertaining thousands of people throughout the state. However, in the spring of 2020 when they were about to perform their 23rd originally produced show, Vermont Vaudeville had to cancel it because of the pandemic.
Over the next 18 months the troupe performed some online shows and several mini family-sized physically distant curbside shows, but it did not make up for loss of sold-out shows at a venue. So when Mccoy heard about the Shuttered Venue Operator Grant she immediately applied when it opened in May.
The SVOG Program is overseen by the Small Business Administration and its purpose was to provide emergency grants to eligible live venues affected by COVID-19. More than $16.2 billion was appropriated for grants. In July Vermont Vaudeville was notified it was being awarded $17,294 through the SVOG program.
“It was awesome for us. We have never gotten a grant of that size before, so for a small organization like ours, it was amazing. We feel so supported,” said McCoy.
SVOG funds could be used for a variety of expenses including payroll, rent, mortgage, utilities, taxes, insurance, and refunding ticket holders for events canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“The SVOG funds were spent almost entirely on paying artists and performers. Last year we did small shows, but we were still paying performers, so it made our extra effort worthwhile. We were able to pay all for the time they put in,” said McCoy.
As the state opens up and people slowly return to public venues, Vermont Vaudeville is looking forward to the months ahead.
“We hope to be back inside at the historic Hardwick Town House soon to support that space and to breathe some life back into the venue. And we're looking forward to being able to partner with regional schools again to bring local theater directly to children. The federal and state support we’ve received has allowed us to think about the future,” said McCoy.