Springer theater postpones shows amid COVID spike as RiverCenter, CSU press on. Here’s why
Two weeks after canceling its January shows due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in Muscogee County, the Springer Opera House has postponed its February productions for the same reason.
The 151-year-old Springer, the historic State Theatre of Georgia in downtown Columbus, was scheduled to perform “The Color Purple” from Feb. 25-March 13 in its main series and “Look Forward: The Ruby Bridges Story” from Feb. 18-27 in its children’s series.
Now, the Tony-Award winning “The Color Purple” is scheduled to run from June 16-26, and “Look Forward: The Ruby Bridges Story,” a new play by Natalia Temesgen of Columbus, will premier during the Springer’s yet-to-be announced 2022-23 season.
“Until daily COVID case rates decline to safe levels, we’ve got to protect our artists and audiences,” Paul Pierce, the Springer’s producing artistic director, said in a news release. “This is an aggressive surge of the omicron variant, and it’s highly transmissible. Above all, our rule is safety first.”
According to the Springer’s policy for productions during the pandemic, the theater must cancel shows if the daily rate of new coronavirus cases per 100,000 population is more than 100 on the COVID Act Now dashboard. That number was 151 Jan. 19.
COVID Act Now, according to its website, is an independent nonprofit organization that compiles coronavirus data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The New York Times and state and county dashboards.
Here’s a breakdown of what the Springer’s policy calls for when the daily case rate per 100,000 population is:
- More than 75, performances are only online if possible.
- More than 65, audience limit is 25% capacity. The seating capacity of the Springer’s main theater is 680.
- More than 55, audience limit is 50% capacity.
- More than one, audience limit is 75% capacity.
- Less than one, audience may be at 100% capacity.
The Georgia Department of Public Health doesn’t use the same measurement. The DPH instead reports its COVID case rate over two-week periods. As of Jan. 18, Muscogee’s cases per 100,000 population during the past two weeks was 2,214. That’s the county’s highest COVID case rate during the pandemic.
Allie Kent, the Springer’s audience development director, told the L-E the Springer relies on COVID Act Now as its source for coronavirus data because that’s what most of the theater industry uses.
“As Equity (union) actors are approved for work in different states, they need to use a single metric that covers the entire industry,” she said.
The Springer said staff members will contact people who have tickets for the postponed shows. For more information about Springer tickets, call the box office at 706-327-3688 or visit springeroperahouse.org.
“We are so appreciative of our audiences for being understanding as the Springer attempts to navigate these fraught times,” Pierce said. “We know that all of these schedule changes are frustrating for theater patrons, but the public has been incredibly gracious and generous as our community works together to stay safe, mask up and get vaccinated.”
RiverCenter and CSU
Meanwhile, the two other venues for live theater in downtown Columbus, the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts and Columbus State University’s Riverside Theatre, are continuing performances.
Venues known as presenting theaters, such as the RiverCenter, have performances run by touring production companies, which rehearse elsewhere. The Springer and Riverside, however, are producing theaters, where the shows are staged by an in-house theater company. That means the rehearsals and production preparation are in the theater, requiring people to work in close proximity.
The RiverCenter’s main stage, the Bill Heard Theatre, has 1,990 seats. Before the pandemic, the theater’s Broadway shows typically had crowds of 1,200-1,400, RiverCenter executive director Norman Easterbrook told the Ledger-Enquirer.
A production of “The Great Gatsby” on Jan. 15 was the first public performance of 2022 in the RiverCenter. Its audience was about 300, Easterbrook said.
Attendance at “Summer: The Donna Summer Musicial” on Tuesday night was approximately 600, and roughly the same number of tickets were sold for Wednesday night’s performance, he said.
“That does indicate there’s some market hesitancy,” he said. “Some people are nervous about going out or they’ve found other channels for entertainment.”
It hasn’t been a problem for patrons to social distance while seated in the theater, Easterbrook said. If visitors come to the theater and are uncomfortable with where they are sitting, they are allowed to move to another spot as long as it’s not occupied by another patron.
“… I can’t tell you how much we appreciate every single patron that decides it’s OK to walk through our doors. We know that’s a public trust, and we ought to be good stewards of it,” he said.
At CSU’s Riverside Theatre, the children’s show “Cows Don’t Fly and Other Known Facts” still is scheduled for Jan. 27-30, theater department chairman Larry Dooley told the L-E. The next public show is “Pippin” from April 8-10.
“We are trusting that the spike is about to taper off and we can go forward as planned,” he said in an email.
The Riverside Theatre has approximately 350 seats. CSU encourages the audience to wear masks, sit with their group and socially distance, Dooley said.
“Our numbers will likely be down from past productions,” he said. “Some folks are self-selecting out of group events.”
As for theater classes, Dooley said, “We are operating pretty much as usual, except we are masked. As a state university, we can’t mandate masks, but our faculty and students are wearing them. It’s not ideal, but it is most certainly better than virtual for us.”
Staff writer Brittany McGee contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 20, 2022 at 2:49 PM.
