Esplanade Theatre set for first shows since March

“We haven’t had a show in here since March so I’m really excited that we’re able to put a show on in a physically-distanced environment that meets all of AHS’ requirements and still allows us to do a real live show,” says Trampas Brown, superintendent of operations and programming at the Esplanade.

He says comedy makes sense as a starting point for the Esplanade’s reopening plan for a couple of reasons.

“The current guidelines they don’t really want to see and singing happening on stage or any wind instruments so comedy’s a good kind of piece,” he said “Comedy’s also got a lot less overhead. Three comics on stage, there’s not a huge amount of set and lighting and that kind of thing so economically it makes presenting these pieces viable and at the end of the day I think we could all use a laugh right now so we wanted something that was accessible as well so the ticket pricing is $29.50 all in.”

September’s show features Sean Lecomber as the headliner, Brent Ayton to open and MC Sterling Scot.

Todd Ness will headline in October, which will feature William Hannigan to open and MC Kathleen McGee.

The last show in the theatre was Celtic Illusion in March. Anne of Green Gables – the Ballet was sold-out for March 13, but everything was shut down before then.

Brown says he does have more shows for the fall in the works, admitting the Yuk Yuk’s shows are kind of a trial balloon.

“It’s really an attempt for us to gauge what’s out there for an audience and how comfortable people are coming back,” he explains. “There’s a significant amount of work that we’ve done in the theatre and it’s all listed on the ticketing site, down to HVAC stuff and all of that. There’s a significant amount of work that’s been done to keep everybody safe so I’m confident that we’ll have a great night and everybody will walk away safe and happy.”

The seating map has been redesigned to meet the physical distance guidelines, and tickets are limited to 100. Brown says he and the staff actually took a six-foot stick around the theatre to make sure some of the seats weren’t too close together.

“It’ll look a little barren but we’re working on some tricks to make the audience feel a little more full,” he says.

Contact tracing, hand sanitizing stations and masks for staff are some of the other health and safety measures that will be in place. More information on those measures can be found on the event page.

by Chris Brown

Esplanade Theatre set for first shows since March

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