SHOW STOPPER
Steel River Playhouse cancels season over COVID-19 concerns
POTTSTOWN » Steel River Playhouse, which has anchored revitalization in downtown Pottstown for 12 years, has announced the cancellation of its upcoming season due to coronavirus concerns.
“This wasn’t an easy decision to make, but it is really important to us that we keep not only our artist community safe but our whole community safe,” said Leena Devlin, the artistic director.
The decision was made only “after much research, many discussions, and in consideration of our artists and community members,” Devlin said.
“Shows of the scale and quality we produce can take an entire
year from choice of show to when it opens for our audience. We have to book the rights, hire directors and designers, build sets, create costumes, book the orchestra, audition and cast the show,” a statement from the playhouse explained.
“Then it takes weeks of work to rehearse and put the final touches on for our audience. All of those steps require lots of professional and volunteer staff to work together, mostly in person. These preparations, with all the people needed, just can’t happen safely right now,” the statement explained.
Steel River Playhouse originated in 2001 in Chester County. In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, professional and community artists, educators, and area residents began imagining how the performing arts would help heal and bring people together. In 2003, having already produced several concerts, operettas,
and musicals, the organization filed for nonprofit status as a 501(c)(3) under the name “Village Productions.” Later, Village Productions would be doing business as the Tri-County Performing Arts Center.
In 2005, Village Productions moved its operations to Pottstown and set to work developing a performing arts center that could accommodate diverse performance styles, as well as studio spaces for classes, rehearsals, private voice, acting, and instrumental lessons.
In 2008, Steel River purchased a turn-of-the-20th century abandoned J.J. Newberry’s department store and transformed it into a $2.4 million performing arts center, changing its name several years later.
The theater has served as a draw to downtown Pottstown, attracting more than 10,000 people according to estimates offered during testimony last year about the economic impact of the arts.
In addition to staging large performances, the most popular of which are its iconic Christmas shows, the center also has a smaller “black box” theater and conducts acting, stagecraft and musical classes.
It has offered shows ranging from light fare like “A Christmas Story” and musical reviews, to more topical dramas such as “Ragtime,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “A Soldier’s Story” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
During the course of a year, there are more than 20,000 visits to the building, whether for performances, classes, meetings, or community events. “By closing the building we help to keep the whole community safe,” according to the announcement.
Subscribers, ticket holders, volunteers, sponsors, advertisers, students and families will all be contacted to ensure all questions are answered.
Steel River Playhouse has been an important destination on High Street for the last 12 years, and the leadership is calling this season’s cancellation, “an intermission. We have always made it a priority to tell stories that matter,” said Devlin. “We’re taking this pause to see how we can do this even better.”