By Elisabeth Vincentelli

The Seacoast Repertory Theater revival of “The Marvelous Wonderettes” that opened on May 16 looked like fully produced live theater, because it was. The costumed cast of four was acting and singing up a storm in real time and on real sets, backed by an actual four-piece band. The retro, pastel-colored jukebox musical popped. But there was no audience in the house — the ticket-holders, kept home in the age of Covid-19, were all streaming.

“I was flabbergasted, watching our friends around the country, other regional houses big and small, just closing their doors, going home and saying ‘See you in 2021,’” Brandon James, the co-artistic director, said on the phone. “People in the industry thought ‘no live audience means no live theater.’ We thought we just had to change our delivery system.”

As most American theaters have pared down their offerings to a mix of Zoom readings, artist conversations, and archival streams, Seacoast Rep, in Portsmouth, N.H., has been web-casting new productions since mid-May and has them planned for every weekend until at least July 5. (The next, the “Marvelous Wonderettes” sequel “Caps and Gowns,” starts Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person — the theater relies on the honor system when it comes to how many members of a household are watching.)

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