By Michael Moran
The Cultural Park Theater will reopen July 24 after being shut down by the Corona virus. Sadly, we have suffered great financial losses by having had to close our main season in March because of the pandemic.
The theater was forced to cancel the last three remaining shows in our 2019 – 2020 season along with two special fundraising show galas planned in March. That has had a huge impact on us financially, but we are far from the only theater in the country suffering.
Our theater has been blessed in that we’re very fortunate to have a lot of great donors, sponsors, members and volunteers lending us their support here in our Cape Coral community.
Our venue is large enough for us to be able to socially distance our patrons and our actors, as well. We just want to be able to keep everyone safe. So along with intense cleaning and disinfecting procedures in place and greatly limited seating, we will only be able to seat 71 of our normally 200 seat theater per performance.
We will be asking families to sit together, whoever you came with to sit together,and we will only be seating every other row in the auditorium in order to put space between patrons’ seats. We’ll be taking temperatures and asking people to wear masks, just to make sure we’re taking all of the precautions to stay safe, and follow all current CDC guidelines.
Cultural Park is thrilled to open two of the closed shows to limited performances and seating. First up will be the timeless comedy by Bill Manhoff, The Owl and the Pussycat, on stage July 24, 25 and 26. The Friday performance will be at 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday performances will be at 3 p.m.
The Owl and the Pussycat opened in New York in 1964 and was such a success that it was soon made into a film with Barbra Streisand and George Segal. The play continues to be enormously popular with audiences all over the world.
In a San Francisco loft, an aspiring author Felix focuses his binoculars on a prostitute plying her trade. He complains to the landlord, has her evicted, and finds trouble pounding on his door in the form of Doris, not a prostitute, but an aspiring “model and actress, thank you very much.” She figures he owes her a bed for the night, an arrangement that leads to hilarity. Note this comedy does contain mild adult themes.
Next up, “Elvis is back in the building,” as we welcome David Morin back on the Cultural Park stage. David Morin and his Elvis and the Legends tribute originally scheduled for March will open for limited performances on July 31, Aug. 1 and 2. Performances will be at 8 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday with limited seating.
David has won awards as one of the country’s best Elvis tribute acts and is always a popular member of Cultural Park’s concert stage. So join us for some of the best music history has to offer as David Morin takes the stage to present music from Elvis and the Legends. With only three performances and limited socially distanced seating, you will want to be sure to get your tickets before they’re gone.
Finally, we are happy to announce the opening of our 58th Broadway season. This season we indeed celebrate the best of our 58 years of fine entertainment. Season tickets go on sale July 1, but again remember following the pandemic, our seating and schedules have changed. But what has not changed is the quality entertainment and affordable prices our patrons have been able to enjoy each year at Cultural Park Theater.
As we continue to work our way through the financial losses, watch our website and social media pages for special events that will be celebrating and raising funds for Lee County’s oldest and best live theatre venue.
The Cultural Park Theater is located at 528 Cultural Park Blvd. in Cape Coral. Call the box office for more information at 239-772-5862.
Michael Moran is executive director of the Cultural Park Theatre Company.
