The Alabama Theatre is reopening. What the entertainment venue has planned
One will be back on the fifth.
The Alabama Theatre is reopening on Sept. 5 after being closed for more than five months because of the coronavirus pandemic and will feature its longstanding production “One The Show.”
The show generally goes through changes annually. “It’ll be basically the show we opened in February because we only ran it for about five or six weeks,” said 27-year Alabama Theatre president Bob Wood.
A traditional annual holiday show is also planned for November and December.
Aside from its own show productions, the theater at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach has canceled numerous concerts and shows because of the unfeasibility of hosting them during the pandemic.
Most acts have rescheduled in 2021 including The Drifters, The Platters and Cornell Gunter’s Coasters; The Oak Ridge Boys; Josh Turner; Forever Motown; 1964 The Tribute to the Beatles; comedian Jeanne Robinson; Home Free; Little River Band; The Righteous Brothers; The Temptations and the Four Tops; and others.
Several other entertainment venues have or will soon reopen on the Grand Strand.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster announced last month sports stadiums, theaters, concert venues and other places that generally have large gatherings could reopen in South Carolina starting Aug. 3. However, the venues will have their occupancy slashed amid COVID-19.
Under the executive order, McMaster is limiting those places to 250 people or 50 percent of the posted occupancy, whichever is less, unless the venue applies for and is granted a special exemption, which Wood said the theater has received.
He expects to fill no more than 20 to 25 percent of the seating capacity per show.
The theater will be running a reopening buy-one, get-one-free ticket special for a limited time.
“It’s been a real experience,” Wood said. “I’ve never been through anything like this; I don’t think anybody has in our lifetime. When we first closed down we were thinking more about weeks than months.
“Theaters in general I think got hit so much harder than other businesses.”
To promote social distancing, Alabama Theatre will have designated rows for entering and exiting, seats and rows between parties, hand sanitizer throughout the venue, and nightly disinfecting.
Patrons will be asked to wear masks as they enter the theater, at least until they are seated and when they are roaming the venue, Wood said.
“We have a great plan for social distancing and keeping everything clean and all that. We will be following all the CDC regulations,” Wood said.
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 12:11 AM.
