The Gaslight Theatre is saying goodbye to its outdoor stage. It helped them stay afloat during the pandemic, but now, the cast is excited to perform for an audience in a more traditional setting.
"I think that Tucson really needs us to come back. We're the perfect escape from real life," said The Gaslight Theatre General Manager, Heather Stricker.
The Gaslight Theatre has been home to live concerts and melodramas in Tucson since 1977. Their performances came to a halt in March 2020 and the business was struggling.
"There were a couple of weeks that we weren't sure that we were going to get through this," said Stricker.
Jacob Brown has been with the theatre for more than ten years and had to look for work elsewhere during the shutdown.
"To have that taken away after so many years all of the sudden...it felt like we didn't exist," said Brown.
Brown and others will finally return to the indoor stage on June 10. He said he is looking forward to reconnecting with the audience.
"Everything is so spread out outside. We can't really tell if the audience is enjoying themselves because we rely on the energy of people responding," said Brown.
Stricker said the theatre still has a long way to go to fully recover from the last year, but they are happy to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
"To be able to have an audience back inside, even though we won't be quite at full capacity, means that this company has made it through the most difficult year we will ever see, hopefully," said Stricker.
The Gaslight Theatre's first show back indoors is called "Space Wars." To learn more, click here.
