Curtains won’t all be rising yet at S.A. theaters

As soon as Gov. Greg Abbott issued reopening guidelines that included performing arts centers, Aaron Zimmerman, vice president of programming for the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, started making calls.

“He was on the phone all night with agents and producers,” said Mike Fresher, president and CEO of the Tobin Center. “The response we've gotten is, ‘No kidding! You guys are going to reopen? Let's go.'”

Phase 3 of Abbott's plan to reopen the state's economy says businesses, including performing arts spaces, can open at 50 percent capacity as long as safety protocols are in place.

Opening the doors to the Tobin Center and other performing arts venues is an important step toward getting things back to normal after nearly three months of shut-down orders designed to try to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said.

“I think it is more important than a movie theater (reopening) in terms of allowing our artists to perform and get back and make a little bit of a living, too, out of it,” Wolff said.

But being permitted to reopen and actually being able to open right away are two different things.

Because of the limit on crowd sizes, social distancing measures and the dearth of national tours, which were postponed or canceled once venues started closing, it is likely that most of the city's theaters will remain shuttered for at least a while longer.

The Majestic Theatre and the neighboring Char

line McCombs Empire Theatre mostly present touring acts, including musicians, comedians and Broadway shows. While so many of those tours are dormant, the spaces are likely to remain dark.

“We are working diligently with our partners and tours to navigate the timing and feasibility of upcoming performances and adjust as necessary,” General Manager Emily Smith said in a statement. “Our efforts intend to present a full schedule of live entertainment, and we look forward to providing more news as soon as we can confidently do so.”

The Public Theater of San Antonio, too, won’t be restarting its production slate for a while, though plans are being formulated for new programming to bring some energy into the building.

George Green, CEO and artistic director of the Public, said he hopes to be able to make an announcement on reopening plans by the end of the month or early July. Right now, though, he feels that there are more pressing matters deserving of immediate attention.

“I think it is wonderful that there’s finally guidance from the governor’s office about reopening procedures, based on social distancing needs,” Green said. “Performing arts venues will still have several challenges to maneuver through — at least, we will.

“However, at this time, our priority is supporting the black artists in our community, and we will shift to reopening discussions in the next few days while keeping our attention on the priorities of equality, diversity and representation.”

Classic Theatre also probably is a ways away from reopening. The company operates in an intimate space that seats just 99 people, some of them within touching distance of the actors. There is just one entrance and exit. The lobby and backstage areas are tight squeezes, too. All of that makes social distancing extremely difficult to achieve, so the theater will stay dark for now.

The size of the theater isn’t the only issue.

“Additionally, we recognize that many of our patrons are above the age of 65 and are classified as a vulnerable group. Even with Phase 3 opening plans, it is still recommended that vulnerable groups remain at home if possible,” Kelly Hilliard Roush, Classic’s executive and artistic director, said via email.

Improv workshops at the Overtime Theater, one of the city’s smallest performance spaces, will start next week, and all COVID-19 safety measures will be in place. The board is meeting Monday to discuss when and how to start producing plays again. And the Woodlawn Theatre, too, is working on a plan to reopen soon.

The Woodlawn and The Public had to lay off some staff early in the pandemic, but both were able to hire people back after receiving loans from the federal Payroll Protection Program.

Christopher Rodriguez, executive and artistic director of the Woodlawn, said that money will run out in about a month, so he is eager to reopen the space and start generating revenue.

Getting back onstage

The state released a four-page checklist with minimum guidelines for the reopening of fine arts spaces. They include remote ticketing to more easily manage capacity limitations; hand sanitizing stations at the front entrance; and staggering arrival times for patrons to limit crowds.

Lingering in the lobby, either on the way into a show or on the way out, is to be discouraged. And paper programs and tickets “should be minimized as much as possible,” the guidelines state.

In terms of seating, the checklist recommends at least two empty seats between groups, as well as leaving every other row empty.

Magik Theatre, the Harlequin, the newly renamed Roxie Saloon (formerly the Roxie Theatre) and the Tobin Center — the first performing arts spaces in town to announce reopening plans — all have made adjustments to make sure they are in compliance with the state’s guidelines.

Magik Theatre jumped the gun a bit, putting out a news release two weeks ago detailing plans to reopen, then retracting the announcement after learning it wasn’t allowed to do that yet.

Those plans have been shifted to Thursday, the day after a private run-through designed to make all of the safety measures put in place work correctly, Chief Executive Officer Frank Villiani said.

“That gives us one day to say, ‘We need to put more sanitizer here, the way we’re doing the seating, we thought it was great but it doesn’t work, we had this little glitch and is this the best way to do it,’” Villani said.

Safety measures include temperature checks for everyone who comes into the building and a requirement that everyone over age 2 wear masks.

The theater will be relaunching “Dragons Love Tacos.” The show had just opened when the shutdown orders were issued.

Shawn Kjos, operations manager for the Harlequin, planned to start rehearsals for a new show Thursday night. He’s been working on it during the shutdown, creating costumes and leaving them on actress’ doorsteps so they could try them on without coming to the theater. “Jukebox Junkie,” which will open July 10, is an original revue blending music of the 1980s and the 1950s.

It’s a five-person cast, much smaller than those he usually works with — “Rock and Roll Heaven,” which closed after just two weekends in March because of the pandemic, had a cast of about 20 — because Kjos wants to be sure everyone is safe. The actors will be singing a little farther apart than they have been in the past, too.

Patrons’ temperatures will be taken when they arrive, and hand sanitizer will be available. Masks will be required any time patrons are away from their tables. And they won’t be able to hang out at the bar before the show or at intermission.

The Roxie Theater is slated to reopen Monday with a new name and a new approach. It has been redubbed the Roxie Saloon and will have shows, game nights, drag competitions and open mike nights throughout the week.

There will be hand sanitizer on all the tables, owner Jonathan Pennington said, and masks will be required. In keeping with the saloon theme, servers and other staff will wear bandanas as face coverings.

Tobin strategy

Fresher and the staff at the Tobin Center made a decision early in the shutdown they hoped would get them back on their feet quickly once the governor gave the OK. Rather than scrapping big swaths of programming, they operated on a rolling calendar, postponing instead of canceling whenever possible. That’s why they have a small slate of events already in place throughout June.

First up will be a free screening Friday of the Tom Hanks movie “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” in which the actor plays Mr. Rogers.

Beyond that, five other events have been booked through the end of the month, including a concert by the Agarita Chamber Players, fitness events and a recital by the Earl Cobb Dance Studio.

Everyone who attends will be required to wear a mask, everyone will have to have their temperature taken and groups will be asked to stay at least 6 feet away from others.

All of those first events will be free, a gambit aimed both at helping people get comfortable with going to events again and to test out new procedures, Fresher said.

Social distancing requirements may be easier to maintain inside the H-E-B Performance Hall than in other venues because of its state-of-the-art flooring system. It was designed so the space could swiftly be adapted for a range of events — in a matter of minutes, it can shift from a flat floor for a meeting to raked seating for a concert.

Fresher asked his operations team to figure out whether the system also could be programmed to eliminate individual seats and rows.

It can.

“It’s not a piece of tape across a row or a sign that says the seat can’t be used,” Fresher said. “The seat is gone.”

There will be far fewer available seats. Although the governor’s orders allow for 50 percent capacity, for a little while, the Tobin Center will be under that. Half capacity would be about 850 people, Fresher said. Instead, they’re capping things at 350.

“We’ll see how it goes as far as our comfort level and the community’s comfort level,” he said. “We’ll modify that number as we go along. As you start modifying to a number where you can start making the cost justified in bringing a bigger show in, we’ll do that.

“We’re not here to do shows to lose money, but right now we want to get people back and comfortable in our facility.”

Staff file photo The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts reopens Friday with a free screening of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”