Theaters

“We’re trying to get creative in how to stay engaged with patrons and still provide escape to community, but also do it safely and to the level of execution that our brand dictates,” he says.

They Farmington Players is working with “patrons to make refunds and hopefully get people to donate their ticket money,” he says, noting “We sold over 50 percent of the tickets for ‘Mary Poppins.’”

Meadow Brook Theatre in Rochester Hills has decided to fulfill the 2019-2020 season “that we were in the middle of when we shut down,” says Cheryl Marshall, MBT’s managing director.

The plan is for the remaining three shows of the 20192020 season to be produced from March through June 2021 and the 2020-2021 season to be presented as the 20212022 season. The 39th annual production of “A Christmas Carol” has been canceled, but the show will return for Christmas 2021. “Mary Jane” will be staged March 10-April 4, “Little Shop of Horrors,” from April 14-May 9 and “Fancy, A New Country Musical,” from May 19-June 13. Meadow Brook also has canceled four shows in its Saturday children’s series.

“The contingency (for reopening) would be if there’s not a vaccine, a treatment and the virus has another round and the country makes us not open again,” Marshall says. “Other than that, we plan on opening. We’ll be sanitizing the theater. There will be lots of hand sanitizers around.”

The pandemic has caused special problems for nonprofits such as Meadow Brook.

“We’re trying to be creative to come up with different ways for fundraising,” Marshall says. “We’re stepping up donations and hoping people will help out. We know it’s hard times for everybody.” The planned Felix Cavalier’s Rascals fundraiser concert and cuisine event has been postponed to July 17, 2021.

The community theater troupe Avon Players, also in Rochester Hills, also has lost revenue by shutting down productions. Luckily, Avon Players was in a pretty solid position financially, says its President, John Deierlein.

“We own our own theater and we’re pretty stable. But there are always bills to pay,” Deierlein says.