Remember this time a year ago, when we were all saying … “If we can just make it through 2020 … ” ? Crossing that finish line was somehow going to make us all feel just a bit better about things.

A year later, there is no such naivete about flipping the calendar to 2022. The news of the week was brutal. The COVID storm clouds have regathered. Things are almost certainly about to get worse. And with omicron positivity doubling in New York City over three days … probably much worse.

And yet, you can be sure that right now, leaders of area performing arts organizations everywhere actually ARE saying … “If we can just make it through 2021 … ”

That’s because the holiday season is the revenue season for most every performing arts group. For some, December programming generates up to half of their annual ticket revenue. After coming out of the shutdown historically cash poor, metro dance, theater and music groups are finally starting to replenish their barren coffers with crowd-pleasing seasonal fare like “The Nutcracker” or “A Muppet Christmas Carol” set to the music of the Colorado Symphony. Holiday shows are like bees to winter honey. The immediate goal is just make it through the month unscathed. Meaning unclosed.

But not everyone has made it through unclosed.

The Arvada Center canceled the final nine performances of its holiday money-maker “Elf” last week after three more members of its fully vaccinated cast and crew tested positive for COVID, including the actor who plays Will Ferrell’s role from the movie. This after a run of positive tests earlier in the rehearsal process left many in the company on edge over safety concerns. On Friday, the Arvada Center decided to cancel the remainder of the run, which was scheduled to close on Thursday (Dec. 23).

The cost of doing the right thing can be devastating to non-profit arts organizations. Almost every remaining seat to “Elf” was sold (and at premium holiday pricing), so the Arvada Center will now have to refund about $230,000 in lost revenue. The artists will be paid for the canceled week — which is the right thing to do, but adds to the overall loss.

In Louisville, the Coal Creek Community Theatre canceled all weekend performances of its annual festival of new plays, “An Evening of Colorado-Grown One Acts,” after a positive case within its cast. The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center canceled Friday’s performance of “Cinderella.”

In Boulder, BDT Stage has not had to cancel any performances of its holiday offering, “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.” But because of a Boulder County mandate requiring that actors not come within 12 feet of masked audience members, it has not sold the 10 tables closest to the stage. That has eliminated its 40 most popular seats for every performance, which will add up to about an $84,000 revenue hit by the time the show closes on Jan. 8, said Producing Artistic Director Seamus McDonough.

“White Christmas” is BDT’s third mainstage musical since returning to indoor programming in April, but nothing has sold like the holiday show is now. “People were hesitant to come back to live theatre before,” McDonough said. “’White Christmas’ is the first show in almost two years where we’ve really been able to get people through the doors, and we’re not able to take full advantage. But we want to make sure we’re doing everything we possibly can in terms of health and safety — or it’s not going to get any better.”

When the omicron variant arrived in the United States, experts said it would only be a matter of time before this new COVID strain, which is far more transmissible to vaccinated persons than Delta, becomes the dominant mutation. It’s turning out not to be taking much time at all.

Omicron began wreaking havoc on Broadway last week. Positive tests within fully vaccinated companies prompted responsible calls to cancel multiple performances of “Hamilton,” “Moulin Rouge!” “MJ,” “Mrs. Doubtfire, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” “Jagged Little Pill,” and at least five other shows. The Radio City Rockettes canceled its entire remaining season on Friday.

The way the numbers look now, we are unquestionably heading for a bad winter. According to the New York Times, the U.S. is now seeing 120,000 daily infections, a 40% rise in the past two weeks. Deaths are up 34%, to an average of 1,300 a day.

Fully vaccinated colleges are moving classes and exams online. The NFL postponed three games after more than 100 NFL players tested positive over just three days last week. The Colorado Avalanche’s next four hockey games have been postponed.

With no mandates or guidelines currently set by the state, the enforcement of safety guidelines has been left to cities, counties and the arts organizations themselves. No thanks to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, most indoor seated performances in Colorado are requiring vaccines and weekly COVID tests for all creative personnel; proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for audiences; and the wearing of masks throughout all performances.

That vaccination rates have stalled and positivity rates are rising even among the vaccinated population is only fueling a growing feeling of frustration and helplessness.

But it would be a mistake to equate the rise in COVID infections with the efficacy of the vaccine. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, boosted Coloradans are 47 times less likely to be hospitalized than those who are unvaccinated. And those who are boosted are 2.4 times less likely to get infected than those who are vaccinated but not boosted.

Despite all the evidence, a new Monmouth poll shows support for reinstituting mandatory face masks and social distancing guidelines has actually fallen to 55% among Americans from 63% in September. And that may be the second-scariest statistic of all.

The first? Only 42.9% of the eligible population in Colorado have received a booster dose — and that low figure puts everyone at increased risk. Moving forward, the term “fully vaccinated” can mean only one thing: Boosted.

Everyone wants to know when this all will end. But the only way back to a fully functioning society is a fully boosted public. Until then, a moral line is being drawn in the sand between what businesses must do … and the right thing to do.

And if anything, the performance cancellations mean that the safety protocols are working.

Denver Gazette contributing arts columnist John Moore is an award-winning journalist who was named one of the 10 most influential theater critics by American Theatre Magazine. He is now producing independent journalism as part of his own company, Moore Media.