Hold, Please: Stage Managing A Pandemic

A BROADWAY STAGE MANAGER'S PANDEMIC MEMOIR! March 12, 2020: Last night, after weeks of downplaying and ridiculing the virus, we were finally told by our President, that it is, in fact, serious... And so, it began. Broadway shut down. Instead of sitting in a darkened theatre every night watching Jersey Boys, Richard Hester, like many other people, found himself sitting on his sofa glued to the news, As the days that followed unfolded and turned into weeks and then into months, we all experienced a profound seismic shift. The virus spread, infecting millions. We lost friends and family. Our economies shut down. Our jobs either stopped or changed in radical ways. The senseless murder of George Floyd forced us to take a hard look at who we are and how we treat each other. The Presidential election, drove the country so far apart that it threatened to destroy Democracy, itself. "Hold, Please" chronicles it all from the particular point of view of a career Broadway stage manager living in Manhattan. Part journal, part blog, these essays attempted to make sense of the crisis and what it was doing to us. By the end, everything had changed. What follows is a journey through one of the most fascinating periods in both our cultural and our personal histories. Written with humor and compassion, "Hold, Please" provides a unique perspective on this time and delivers the most important lesson of all - Hope. "His lyrical writing about the natural world adds dimension to humorous stories about working-and not working-from home...Hester interweaves descriptions of living through Covid-19 with stories of his colorful theatrical career." -- Kirkus Reviews "I've watched Richard create order out of chaos for years, so it comes as no surprise when he was able to do it again with these beautiful posts. Together they create a powerful reminder of where we've been as well as a thoughtful and compassionate guide for moving ahead." -- Bernadette Peters