Theatres, concert venues cautiously optimistic about reopening scenarios

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This article was published 18/03/2021 (2048 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

News that the province is considering allowing indoor theatres and concert halls to limited capacity within the next three weeks came as music to the ears of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s executive director.

“These days, a little bit of good news goes a long way,” Trudy Schroeder said Thursday, a few hours after the province announced it was seeking public feedback on the potential change, along with a host of other loosenings of public health restrictions.

Royal Winnipeg Ballet artistic director Andre Lewis called the potential move, “A step in the right direction.”

For performance organizations like the RWB or WSO, it’s an indication performances, which have been limited to digital productions since the province went into code red in the fall, might soon feature one element Schroeder says is sorely missed: an audience.

The last time any number of spectators watched a symphony performance in person was Oct. 2, 2020.

After several months of restrictions and closures, the symphony finally got the green light for a live show, and 427 people sat in the 2,300-seat Centennial Concert Hall to listen to standards of Bach and Beethoven with enhanced sanitation and distancing practices in place.

It felt great to be back for Bach, Schroeder said, but the elation was short-lived: with COVID-19 case numbers rising, the province soon restricted live performance once again — a hiatus still in force six months later.

Should indoor concert halls and theatres be able to open to limited capacity, Schroeder said, some number-crunching will be required to ensure a concert is feasible not only from a safety and staffing perspective but from a financial one.

Ultimately, whether shows occur will be determined in large part by whether venues are interested in operating without any assurance it will result in profit, she said.

The chief executive officer of the Manitoba Centennial Centre Corp., which owns and operates the Winnipeg concert hall, said it’s a concession that will have to be made if consumer confidence is to be restored.

“For us, this means we can start to build assurance with live audiences that they can return safely,” said Robert Olson, who said of the venue’s 2,300 seats, only 250 would likely be available for viewers.

Operating at that level would require significant costs, including staffing and maintenance, but Olson said it’d be worth it as the performance world builds itself up again. “We’re looking at a cost incurred to build confidence down the road.”

A spokesperson for True North Sports and Entertainment Ltd., which owns and operates Bell MTS Place and Burton Cummings Theatre, told the Free Press the organization has “the ability, experience, and resources to open the arena and (theatre) when it is safe to do so, but no timeline has been discussed.”

Olson said there are still matters to figure out, assuming the province soon gives theatres and concert halls a green light for limited capacities. However, should that be the case, the venue will make do with the situation as it plays out.

“It’s really up to the entertainers,” he said. “The concert hall will be available as soon as entertainers are ready.”

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca