Actor Marc Pouhé shares pandemic musings

As we peek out of the pandemic, we checked in with Marc Pouhé, a veteran Austin stage actor, about how the theater scene has been interrupted — and what he’s looking forward to next.

Details: Pouhé, who lives in Georgetown, will return to full in-person, live theater this winter, reprising his role as Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol" at the Zach Scott Theater.

Can you describe what happened when the pandemic hit?

“A lot of companies around town stopped productions immediately, and then there was a dance — projects were postponed, delayed and finally canceled.”

• Pouhé had been cast in a production of War of the Worlds, which initially got pushed to September 2020. “We were naively thinking it’d be a three-month pandemic.”

In terms of acting, was there any upside to the pandemic for you?

“I did my first one-person show, about Thurgood Marshall, for the Public Theater in San Antonio — from my home office. People around the country who never have the opportunity to see my work live, even people overseas, were able to tune in.”

What about the downside?

“A lot of people — theater technicians, costume designers — all those people were solidly out of work for a good year or year-and-a-half.”

What did you miss most, as an actor?

“You don’t have the laugh or roar of the audience to feed off of.”

Has Austin’s breakneck population growth been good or bad for theater?

“It’s good because Austin’s becoming more metropolitan, which on paper would be better for the arts. But the corollary is that real estate and rents and cost of living is pricing so many people out of Austin, especially artists of color.”

If you go: A Christmas Carol runs Nov. 20 through Dec. 29 at the Zach.