This past weekend was my birthday, and all I wanted to do for my birthday date was to be back in the Barlow hall at CenterPoint to see something on stage! There may have been tears when the curtain went up and the cast of The Broadway Villains concert started to sing. It felt so good to be sitting back in one of my favorite places, listening to my favorite kind of music, while I held hands with my man. Our first date night that got canceled back when this 2020 chaos started, was to CenterPoint to see The Music Man. And although we were able to attend a few Concerts in the Park(-ing) Lot, it just didn’t feel the same. I’m so glad that CenterPoint has been able to adjust and create some events we can safely attend and support live community theater for date night.

One of the main things you need to know if you’re planning to return to CenterPoint Legacy Theatre for an upcoming date night is that shows look a little different. For the foreseeable future, they won’t have any of their regular shows running. They’re currently running a three week Broadway Villains concert, with a cast of 13. During group numbers, each cast member is wearing a face shield. And when just two or three are performing together, you’ll notice they’re social distancing, including dancing together without touching. The set is minimal, but with their costumes, props, and acting skills, you have a really good vision of what is being portrayed and the setting where it’s all taking place.

Current safety measures include only allowing people to sit in every other row, and putting two empty seats between each party. So audience numbers are limited, but that didn’t make it any less fun! No physical tickets are distributed, so you’ll want to have your confirmation email out to be scanned by ushers. I noticed staff taking great care to protect the patrons, from the minute we walked up to the theater and had doors opened for us until we sat in our seats and saw ushers directing people to the safest socially distanced routes to their seats possible. You’ll see signs with reminders to stay six feet apart, avoid hugging or touching others in the theater, always wear a mask, and to use kindness and patience when interacting with others. You’ll want to pay attention to the screens on either side of the stage because they display cast and show information as well as directions for accessing the virtual playbill since no physical ones are provided.

The next big show that CenterPoint plans to produce will be The Music Man, which was canceled right before opening night earlier this year. Dates for the show are still to be determined, but I’m guessing it will be sometime in the spring. With the rest of the planned 2020 season postponed to similar dates in the coming year.

Support our community arts and attend a few of the shows that CenterPoint has in the works, if you feel safe doing so! The precautions they take and the way they run their shows feels safer than a lot of other things that we’ve been doing recently, even something a regular as grocery shopping. Use hashtag #daviscountydates on social media so we can see if you attend and the fun you had!