STILL HOPEFUL

PIMLICO Presents is one of many schoolbased events that have been suspended but there’s still hope the show will go on.

More than 100 groups of students recently spent a nervous week auditioning for Pimlico State High School’s highly anticipated annual production.

After 2019’s show was unable to go forward due to the closure of the Townsville Civic Theatre, the stakes were even higher.

Twenty-eight groups were ultimately successful in landing a spot in what is still shaping up as a stellar line-up.

Tickets were selling fast with more than a quarter already sold but executive principal Joel Buchholz said that due to the ongoing government response to COVID-19, Pimlico Presents would not go ahead in May as planned.

“At this stage, we have rescheduled the show to Tuesday, July 14, and Wednesday, July 15, 2020,” he said.

“This is the first week of school in term three. If government responses to manage COVID-19 continue to disrupt theatre scheduling for these revised dates, we are already in discussions with Townsville City Council for further rescheduling options.”

Mr Buchholz said the health and safety of staff and students was the school’s highest priority. “Upcoming rehearsals for this term have been cancelled, including opening item rehearsals,” he said.

“When we have more information about when the Civic Theatre is likely to re-open, a new rehearsal schedule will be released next term.

“We will release information about ticketing refunds or transfers in the coming week. When tickets for the revised dates go on sale, we will certainly be letting everybody know.”

Mr Buchholz thanked students and teachers for their commitment so far.

“We were thrilled with how Pimlico Presents was shaping up,” he said.

“We are looking forward to going ahead with the show later in the year.”