With Broadway gearing up to make its big return this fall, community theatres across the nation are gearing up for summer and fall productions as more of the country reopens amidst greater vaccine rollouts.
The past year has been a tumultuous time for theatres and while it may have been easy to close the doors and wait for better days, Stages Theatre Company continued full steam ahead.
"Creative young people are creative young people. They need something to do," said Sandy Boren-Barret, the Artistic Director and CEO at Stages Theatre Company. "We continued to program. We never shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic."
The theatre continued to offer classes and virtual, at-home content which allowed young actors and their families the chance to be creative. Stages Theatre also utilized COVID-19 safety measures to do a few in-person activities as well.
"We actually brought young people in and recorded them doing productions," Boren-Barrett said. "Our production of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas Out of the Box served over 800 families."
Monday marked the started of rehearsals for this summer's production of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown at Stages Theatre Company in downtown Hopkins.
The production features two separate casts and the productions will take place outdoors at City Park in Hopkins.
"In order to keep the cast sizes small, we casted two of each role," Boren-Barrett said. "A normal show at Stages would have 24 to 28 kids. We wanted to provide as much opportunity as possible. This also gives kids a chance to be socially distanced outside."
The cast will perform nearly 30 shows from July into early August. Tickets, already on sale for the performances, are going fast.
"We wanted to make sure our young people were safe performing and that our families felt comfortable, so that's why decided to take this performance outdoors."
Stages Theatre Company plans to bring performances and audiences back into their main theatre just in time for the holidays.
This year they will perform Elf the Musical Jr, live and in-person. Over 100 kids auditioned and only about 40 received callbacks. From there, the cast will be trimmed to 20.
"We are excited to be back," Boren-Barrett said. "We will have one of our most popular productions ever, back in our holiday slot. Audiences are excited to be back inside the theatre."
Younger actors, ages 0 to 5 years old, will get their chance to perform this summer as well.
Stages Theatre Company will host Down on the Farm: A Lift-the-Flap Outdoor Adventure beginning August 4.