The adage is as old as showbiz itself - "the show must go on".
After COVID shuttered the Youngstown Playhouse, there weren't even shows to go on.
But at the 11th hour came the rescue.

"400 Ohio venues have received some $350 million to get through this crisis," said US Senator Sherrod Brown Monday. He's talking about the Shuttered Venue Operations Grant program.

The Playhouse's 100,000 dollar cut of that money helped its mere four full time employees navigate a crisis unlike any they'd ever seen.

"You need the staying power of the people who have the experience and done this in this community," Brown said. "The fed(eral government) stepped up working with local communities to keep people here."

As Playhouse board chairman Dr. John Cox gave Senator Brown a tour of the facility, the impact of that federal grant money became clear.

"After 18 months of not having anyone on our main stage, we had a sellout opening night and the entire run of our opening show is almost all sold out," said Cox.

Other local venues like Stambaugh Auditorium say they're more or less proceeding with caution amid a new surge in COVID cases.

Some smaller venues like Westside Bowl, which also got some of that SVOG money, are concerned about the uptick in cases and the Omicron variant setting them back.

As for the Playhouse, it will host holiday performances for the first time in two years, thanks in no small part to Washington making sure the show does, indeed, go on.