PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After being closed for more than a year, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is making plans to reopen its doors for musical performances.
The Kimmel released its lineup for the 2021-22 season, which is set to begin in October.
Like musical theater across the country, the Kimmel closed its doors in March 2020. Its workforce and revenue took a huge hit.
“We were challenged with losses into the millions. We had to cut back on our staff. We had to focus on furloughs,” said Frances Egler, senior director of programming and presentations. “Sadly our stages have been dark, but we’ve been staying active as much as we can with online offerings.”
Now with vaccines on the market and COVID-19 restrictions starting to ease, Egler said the Kimmel is setting its sights on an October reopening.
“We’ve also been working feverishly behind the scenes to bring back performances when they’re safe and when the shows are ready to come back,” she said. “We will play to capacity audiences, but we will be working with the state and city and federal guidelines that allow us to do so.”
The Broadway hit “Hamilton” will return to kick off the season for the first six weeks, followed by “Pretty Woman: The Musical,” “Hadestown,” “Oklahoma!”, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and “Dear Evan Hansen.”