Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was basically a lost year when it came to theater, both live and on film.

Yes, Billy Joel, we all saw the lights go out on Broadway in 2020, and they still aren’t back. Indeed, the lights went out on theaters across the country and the world.

Movie theaters, too, were locked up and many will never return, faced by the challenge of streaming services. And independent, a.k.a. film festival movies, also took a hit, with most festivals moving to a strictly virtual format not only in 2020, but also in the spring of 2021.

But two cultural institutions on Long Beach Island figured out a way to move on in the face of the pandemic.