COVID-19 Closures: Annabelle Fox & Douglas Waterbury Tieman (“Johnny and the Devil’s Box”)

The COVID-19 crisis has caused a devastatingly massive wave of performance cancellations across the country, leaving actors out of work. Broadway, regional theatre, national tours, and more were forced to close much earlier than expected. I’ve been reaching out to the artists affected. Here are their stories.

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Annabelle Fox

By Annabelle Fox

Douglas started writing Johnny and the Devil’s Box in 2014. It is a refreshing folk musical that magnifies the importance of music and how it unifies communities. It has been in development with The Johnny Mercer Writer’s Colony at Goodspeed, The Drama League, Rockwood Music Hall Concerts in 2017 and 2018, Belmont University, Studio Tenn, The Village Theatre, A.D. Players, New York Theatre Barn, and Show Shepherd. He generously wrote the fiery, spunky role, Abigail King for me. He plays the lead, Johnny Baker, who claims to be the best fiddler there’s ever been. Trust me, he IS. The two of us play opposites in the show. You might call it a dream come true. Everything was lining up beautifully with a workshop reading in part with the Metzler New Works Festival at A.D. Players in April and Work Light Series at Goodspeed Musicals in May. 

Douglas Waterbury Tieman

We had known about our confirmed slot at Goodspeed since November. We were elated since it was the place the piece was really first developed at Johnny Mercer. It felt full circle. When the news broke about Broadway shutting down, shows closing all around us, and contracts on pause, we were not completely blindsided when we learned the entire Work Light Series was postponed, with hopes to bring it in 2021. We were and are devastated. We had been looking forward to this endeavor and artistic milestone. While we know it is not cancelled and just postponed and there is a big difference between the two, it felt like our lives had come to a roaring hault. But I guess all of us are feeling that way, right? 

We are all grieving something. We’re grieving loved ones, community, opportunities, occasions, milestones, friends, our homes, our city, freedom, performing, going out, live theatre, roles, auditions, jobs, our favorite cafe, vacations, trips, birthday parties, holidays....

When we received the news I grieved Abigail King. I grieved for my husband, Douglas, who has spent years writing and editing and finessing and working towards this moment. I grieved for Goodspeed Musicals; so excited to embark on this new work series.

The thing that gives me hope through this is that we are ALL going through it together. It’s hard to comprehend how something so heinous can unify a world. We’ve all lost something... but when it’s over we will have gained a greater sense of unity. For now let’s imagine how beautiful our world will look after all of this; hungry for theatre and new stories that we will get to tell. 

Join us on Friday for an at-home concert hosted by Show Shepherd for a little taste of joy and imagine with us, what JOHNNY & the DEVIL’S BOX will be on the other side. ❤️

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Johnny and the Devil’s Box

Annabelle and Douglas are New York based artists (currently hunkered down in CT with Annabelle's family), specializing in Musical Theatre. They have performed  individually at theatres ranging from Roundabout, North Shore Music Theatre, Flatrock Playhouse, The Hangar Theatre, Old Globe, White Heron, the Engeman, Summer Theatre of New Canaan, Mill Mountain, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Theater for the New City. Together they were lucky enough to share a stage at Studio Tenn and the Alhambra. They are currently developing the new folk musical Johnny and the Devil's Box. Most recently Douglas performed in Sunset Boulevard at The Engeman and Annabelle performed in the Off Broadway revival of No Strings. They are so grateful for opportunities to bring joy through performance. To follow their journey check them out on Instagram! @annabellefoxtieman, @jdwtieman, and @thefiddlinproject.