Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope on Thursday announced it will cancel its 2020 Summer Season.
Playhouse management said its decision to cancel the summer productions comes after weeks of deliberation and extensive revisions to their budgets and schedules.
“Our top priority is keeping our staff, our artists, and our audiences, safe and out of harm’s way,” said Executive Producer Robyn Goodman. “We don’t want anyone to feel pressure to come to the Playhouse before it feels comfortable for them.”
The Playhouse shut down on March 13, just after the dress rehearsal for the world-premiere musical “Other World.” With no revenue in sight, the Playhouse staff was temporarily furloughed, and the senior team is preparing a fundraising strategy to provide for the continuation of healthcare benefits for the staff as well as to ensure the long-term financial viability of the Playhouse, they said.
“We know that smaller venues like ours may not be the first to re-open, and it is clear that before we can go back into production we will have to be assured we can keep actors safe during rehearsals and onstage, as well as follow recommended protocols for protecting our audiences,” noted producer Josh Fiedler.
Playhouse management said 2020 subscribers will be “moved” to the 2021 season, which will include “Auntie Mame,” “Kinky Boots,” “Dames at Sea” and “Evita.”
“While it can seem bleak some days, thinking of all that we’ve lost and knowing there are still hard times to come, the one thing I know is that we will come back,” said Goodman. “The theater has lasted 3000 years, through many pandemics and floods and even a pestilence or two, and we know the Playhouse will survive and be right back where we belong before you know it.”
Maybe ask the actors and employees if they really want to be “protected”, or in other words,…unemployed, before you make this decision on their behalf?
What a surprise! “Show people” towing the liberal line. Just busting chops (kind of). Seriously though, do you have to cancel the whole summer? We’ll know a whole lot more a month from now.