The Show can now go on
Shrek Ensemble. Credit Brian Geach
Karen Sweaney accounts for openings that lead the way in post-pandemic theatre operations
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n early May last year, when the impact of Coronavirus was only first being felt, UK-based theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh expressed a belief that venues in London’s West End and on New York’s Broadway would be closed until 2021 as a result of the pandemic, telling the BBC that theatres “are going to be the last to go back.” Sir Cameron, whose Delfont Mackintosh group owns eight London theatres and who has produced a series of global hit productions over the last five decades, went on to advise that unlike many other leisure venues, theatres cannot immediately reopen as lockdown restrictions get eased, stating that “it takes months and months to get huge shows like the kind we do up and running.” With live entertainment among the sectors worst affected by Coronavirus measures, November’s opening of the hit Broadway musical Pippin at Sydney’s Lyric became the first large scale musical theatre production to open in Australia since COVID-19 led to theatres closing down in March. Foundation Theatres and the Sydney Lyric had a detailed COVID Safety Plan for the performance which saw comprehensive hygiene measures with patrons required to wear masks and the venue initially not sold to full capacity. Advising that performances will always operate in accordance with the advice of NSW Health, Foundation Theatres Chief Executive, Graeme Kearns advised before the first performance “we have detailed measures in place to assist with flow of patrons and to protect the health and hygiene of all who visit us. 26 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 143
“Our team has been working tirelessly to ensure that theatre is as safe as it can be.” Following this, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s (QPAC) production of ‘Shrek The Musical’ was delivered, as of Saturday 9th January, as Australia’s first major musical to a 100% capacity audience without a special exemption required, since the onset of COVID-19. However, the sector has had to be agile. Short term ‘snap’ lockdowns to deal with isolated Coronavirus outbreaks caused QPAC to suspend performances of Shrek in mid-January while February’s temporary reintroduction of lockdown measures in New Zealand required Christchurch’s Court Theatre to operate under the country’s Alert Level 2. Reacting to this, the venue re-introduced safety protection screens to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus in its auditorium and contingencies to keep patrons one metre apart. Explaining how the venue coped with the restrictions, Court Theatre Chief Executive, Barbara George stated “the Court Theatre was a business of two halves that kept our patrons safe under COVID-19 alert level two. “We had literally split our building into two with separate zones that catered for up to 100 people each.” George added that with the production Winding Up with Mark Hadlow and Darien Takle having just opened “we had sold out shows with lots of people really looking forward to a night out at the theatre so it was fantastic we did not disappoint them.” George said staff had worked hard as bookings under Alert
