PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The historic Forrest Theatre in Center City is reopening its box office doors to audiences for the first time in two years, the last of the Kimmel Center theaters to re-open after the pandemic.
With a line of people stretching down Walnut Street, waiting to get their hands on tickets for the musical "Oklahoma," the Forrest Theatre Box Office officially opened Monday.
"We're celebrating re-lighting the marquee and bringing performances back to another theater here in Philadelphia," said Fran Egler with the Kimmel Cultural Campus.
"Oklahoma," which opens there next month, will be a different presentation than what audiences are used to from the old musical, Egler said.
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Some of the Kimmel Cultural Campus' COVID-19 protocols will make the theater experience a little different than pre-pandemic days.
"We’ve taken measures with higher grade filters for our ventilation systems," said Egler.
"You have to show proof of full vaccination, and also you have to be masked."
Egler said this is a step in the right direction for the city’s arts and culture scene.
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"This is our final theater to reopen. We’ve had performances at the Academy, at the Merriam Theater, and for the theaters not to be online, not to be lit and bring performances back here., it’s so exciting," she added.
It's been a long two years for the theater, the acting community and people who want to get out and enjoy the show.
"I used to go to concerts and plays multiple times a month was like something I just spent all of my disposable income on," said Eleni Trapp, a theater fan who stood in line Monday for tickets.
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"To have that taken away, it really felt like there was a part of my personality that was also taken away."
Trapp took advantage of the opportunity for inexpensive tickets.
"I'm really excited to be able to get back, and of course there's $7 tickets," she said. "You can't really beat that."
"Oklahoma" first played at the Forrest Theatre in 1945.
