For the first time in five years, the LUMA Festival will not be focusing on projection arts.

Organizers made the difficult decision to re imagine the annual event, with COVID-19 concerns still looming.

LUMA 2020 will instead be focused around "Miranda: A Steam Punk VR Experience," sponsored by Tri Cities Opera, which some believe could shape the future of Broadway.

"We have so many productions that can't go on, Broadway is closed, and LUMA's mission is really to help transform the way we tell stories through technology, the way we present art through technology, so we thought this was our year to really contribute what we can to the arts community," said LUMA co-founder Joshua Bernard.

So what is Miranda?

According to the director, it's a fully-immersive musical theater with live motion-capture.

Viewers will be transported into a real-time performance, either with a VR headset, PC or via Youtube.

"What we're creating here is an opportunity for you not just to have a front-row seat, but actively move through and control the world and I think that's really amazing," said Alison Moritz, director of Miranda: A Steam Punk VR Experience.

Live actors and actresses will wear video game technology, which will allow their characters to move freely across the screen.

"The fact that we have these live singers who are actually going to be performing live, it's much more similar to what it is to see somebody on a stage than it is to listen to a recording," said composer Kamala Sankaram.

"It's the same thing that makes live theater special. When you go to Broadway and the actors are right there, in the same room, there's something you really can't define," said Bernard.

While working on Miranda, LUMA's co founder quickly realized the impact the Binghamton performance would have worldwide.

"When the arts industry has a problem, the solution doesn't always have to come from New York City or LA. It comes from whoever kind of comes up with the idea, and so that's what this is really an effort to do which is to give back to the broader international arts community and say let's try it this way," said Bernard.

"If this turns out to be something that is a viable way of doing this art form, which I think that it is, it's a way to bring it to more people than might normally be able to enjoy it," said Sankaram.

But LUMA isn't set in stone just yet.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to raise the needed funds to go forward with the performances.