GOODSPEED MOVES ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ TO 2021, LEAVING NO SHOWS AT ITS THEATERS IN 2020
Faced with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Goodspeed Musicals had previously postponed or canceled all of its shows in 2020 except one, “South Pacific.”
Now, “South Pacific” has been rescheduled to 2021, meaning Goodspeed’s stages in East Haddam and Chester will remain dark for all of this year.
Goodspeed Musicals Executive Director Michael Gennaro said in a statement explaining the “South Pacific” decision, “This decision was reached after weeks of exploring, creating and revising best practice protocols to bring the audience safely back into the theatre. And in the end, as much as we want to begin presenting musicals in our theatre again this fall, we realized that we could not overcome the obstacles under the evolving State guidelines to bring an audience safely into the Opera House.”
Goodspeed had been planning to produce three shows at its Opera House in East Haddam and to present three musicals-in-development as its Terris Theatre in Chester, the latter as part of a new Worklight Series.
In late March, Goodspeed canceled one of its Opera House productions, “Candide,” and moved “South Pacific” from spring to fall. It also moved the Worklight Series’ debut to 2021.
In early April, Goodspeed announced that it was moving the musical “Anne of Green Gables” from this summer to next year.
All this has meant the loss of millions of dollars in revenues to Goodspeed, resulting in layoffs and furloughs to the theater’s staff.
Gennaro said in his statement about “South Pacific,” “We love creating and presenting musicals. Cancelling our entire 2020 season has affected every staff member through layoffs, furloughs and reduced pay and caused severe financial hardship for the institution. However, we realize that today’s pain and sacrifice will allow us to come back in the Spring of 2021 stronger than ever.”