Dr. Phillips Center eases rules for guests
Presenters using space may still follow stricter protocols; Orlando Shakes drops mask use
Just as the busy entertainment season of holiday concerts and shows gears up, Orlando Shakes and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts have dropped their requirement that patrons show a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination.
The downtown Orlando arts center has gone a step further and dropped its mask requirement for all visitors, as well — though presenters of some touring shows might still require them. The arts center is the first professional Central Florida arts organization to step back from mask-wearing.
Like other local arts groups, Orlando Shakes will still require face masks.
“We are so pleased that our community is in a much safer place than it was just two months ago,” said Orlando Shakes managing director Douglas Love-Ramos in announcing his theater’s changes. “Our goal throughout this pandemic has been to provide the safest space possible for artists, guests and our staff. With guidance from our local health partners, state, local and federal agencies, and also the actors’ union, we look to continue this practice by implementing these current recommendations.”
The loosening of COVID-19 precautions will have a trickle-down effect in the arts community as other organizations rent space at the arts center and the Lowndes Shakespeare Center for their own productions.
The Dr. Phillips Center announcement said its decision to relax COVID-19 precautions was based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s newly released rate of transmission data and accompanying recommendation for Orange County.
The federal agency recently downgraded Orange County’s risk of COVID-19 transmission to “moderate.” With that designation, the CDC recommends unvaccinated individuals continue to wear masks in public indoor spaces. The arts-center announcement said it “strongly encouraged” the unvaccinated to continue to wear masks.
The Dr. Phillips Center also draws guests from surrounding counties, including Osceola, Lake and Seminole. As of Wednesday morning, those three counties were still listed as having “substantial” transmission rates by the CDC, which advised everyone in those locales to wear masks indoors.
Of the touring shows requiring mask use, the most prominent are part of the annual Broadway series. At all touring Broadway shows, masks will be required for all theatergoers, the center said; they may be pulled down briefly to take a bite of a snack or sip of a drink. The next Broadway show to arrive in Orlando is the musical comedy “The Prom,” which opens Dec. 7.
Masks have not been required at the arts center’s Frontyard Festival, which takes place outdoors.
In light of the legislation championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved by the Legislature at its recent special session, the arts center also has halted its internal vaccination policy, the announcement said.
“Vaccination is not currently required for employment or participation in educational programming at the arts center,” it stated, although face masks will be required for unvaccinated employees and students while indoors and strongly recommended when working or participating in crowded outdoor events.
Both the Dr. Phillips Center and Orlando Shakes shared the news with prominent placement on their websites Tuesday but as of Wednesday morning neither organization had mentioned the change on social media — where anything having to do with COVID-19 often draws angry and divisive comments.
To read more on the specifics of each policy, go to drphillipscenter.org or orlandoshakes.org.
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