ROCHESTER, Minn. - One of the many things put on hold during the Coronavirus Pandemic is live theater. Local community theatres have been forced to cancel their shows.
The Rochester Repertory Theatre had to cut the run its March play short. They also cancelled the play that was supposed to be performing right now. And they just made the difficult decision to cancel the September musical as well.
Even though reopening guidelines have loosened up, the Rep is a uniquely small space, which is a problem.
"We have a 90 seat theatre, so 25 percent of that, we'd have only about 20 people that could attend. And we want to be able to do something that's for a larger audience," explained Mark Masbruch, President of the Rochester Repertory Theatre Board.
One plan they are moving forward with is a drive-in performance that will likely involve several different local theater groups. The details are still being worked out but we expect to learn more about that plan soon.
The Rep has announced its 2020-2021 season, and as of now, they are moving ahead with that as planned. But they are monitoring the constantly-changing Coronavirus guidelines and will be making necessary decisions to keep both theatre volunteers and patrons safe.
