As ”sheltering in place” and a stay-at-home culture by necessity continues, more and more initiatives are blooming to help our communities in a desperate time of need.

And as we are painfully aware, what hospital and healthcare workers are in desperate need of is masks. To respond to that need, a network of volunteers have organized a grass roots effort of at-home sewers who are hard at work making fabric masks, which are then matched with hospitals and healthcare facilities. The group began on Facebook and is  aptly named “Sew The Curve Flat.”  And Broadway folks are joining this incredible effort. Members of the Theatrical Wardrobe Union Local 764 have put a call out to their members to jump in and volunteer their skills. This is open to anyone who can and wants to help. If you have the ability, or want to learn more, go to: www.sewthecurveflat.com

The innovation and creativity of the theatre industry is always at the forefront to help out in times of crisis. A group of arts organizations have joined together to create “Play At Home”,  a fun and engaging project for people who are homebound. But the best part of this initiative is that participating organizations are actually commissioning playwrights to write the plays, and if accepted, pay the writer $500. The plays are 5-10 minutes in length and should be able to be easily performed by every day people at home who can download the plays for free. It’s a way to keep people entertained and engaged, and perhaps, more important, to provide writers with some revenue during a financial crisis. They ask the actors who download and perform the plays to self-tape and post on social media with the hashtag #playathome. To support the initiative,  download the plays,  or apply to write one, go to www.playathome.org

And since you can’t take your kids to the theatre, how about bringing the theatre to them… in the form of a book about a mouse who lives in a Broadway house?

“Lulu the Broadway Mouse” is a sweet character created by actress Jenna Gavigan. A former child performer herself, Jenna takes children behind the scenes of a theatre with this adorable character. Her 2nd book in the series,  “Lulu The Broadway Mouse,The Show Must Go On” has just been released. A great read for kids and parents while all together. Read about Jenna and her Lulu books.

For more on these topics and conversations with Jenna Gavigan, a Broadway producer, a theatre publicist and a teen entrepreneur who launched a candy line that gives back, listen to “Bagels and Broadway with Valerie Smaldone” Saturday morning at 9:05 on AM970, or on podcast at: bit.ly/bagelsandbroadwaypodcasts