The Imperial Theatre’s marquee makes a statement about the return of live theater.
“Intermission is over!” the marquee reads.
COVID-19 caused theaters across the country to shut down for more than a year. Many in the theater industry used the intermission description as an analogy for the short-term nature of the closures. Now that the pause has ended, people are ready to resume their spots in the seats and on the stage, according to Charles Scavullo, the theater’s executive director.
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“There’s an excitement, and there’s a sense of relief,” he said. “There’s a great deal of excitement.”
The Imperial’s season typically runs from September to May, but a few private events have been held over the past month or so. Other events such as the annual Poison Peach Film Festival, usually held in January, will be in July. Ed Turner and Number 9 will also make its return to the Imperial stage in August with the theater calendar filled to the brim starting in September.
For more information, visit imperialtheatre.com.
Several groups are already looking ahead to the fall with season ticket packages available.
“We’re very excited about the main stage and junior theater shows. There are great things happening,” said Scott Seidl, the Augusta Players’ artistic and executive director.
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The 77th season is called the Laugh Out Loud season, he said. It offers nothing but pure entertainment and lots of laughter.
The season begins with “Young Frankenstein” Sept. 24-26. Other shows include “Elf: The Musical” Dec. 10-12; “Something Rotten” Feb. 25-27; and “Cinderella” May 6-8.
The Players didn’t take the 2020-2021 season off entirely, offering recorded and streamed productions with smaller casts. Earlier in June, the first live production since March 2020 was staged as the Augusta Junior Players presented “Newsies.”
Seidl said season memberships have added benefits such as discounts on special events and free admission to “One Night Only,” a February preview party for the 2022-2023 season, and other perks.
For tickets, go to augustaplayers.com.
Season tickets are also on sale for the Augusta Symphony.
Camilia Mouton, the symphony’s marketing director, said three different packages are on sale — the Symphony Series highlighting masterworks of great composers, the Pops! Series and the Family Series.
The Pops! Series will include tributes to the music of the band Chicago, The Carpenters and Earth, Wind and Fire as well as the symphony performing the score to the movie “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial.”
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Dress rehearsals were open to the public later in the 2020-2021 season and a fuller audience was allowed in for a concert in May that had been rescheduled from March 2020. Mouton said about 500 people attended.
“It was a nice stepping-stone to get back to normal,” she said.
For tickets, go to augustasymphony.com.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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