2021 Summer Announcement: A Message to Our Community

While there is more hope today than ever before with vaccination rates improving daily, BC continues to fight the battle against COVID-19. During the May 3rd press conference, BC’s provincial health officer Dr. Henry confirmed for us what we have been expecting for some time. Large gatherings, including outdoors, such as TUTS are not to take place this summer.

After taking into consideration countless evaluations of internal and external conditions, the Theatre Under the Stars Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to not proceed with a 2021 season at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. We know that many of you will feel understandable disappointment at this news, but we are confident it is the right decision in order to keep our community safe and our operations sustainable.

Most importantly, our decision has been highly influenced by the need to prioritize the safety not only of our audiences, but also of our staff, casts, crews and orchestras. Social distancing in our dressing rooms and backstage space would be challenging even for a small to medium-sized production.

Also, as a not-for-profit organization, TUTS has a fiscal responsibility to ensure its operations are sustainable so that we may continue to serve our community. At this time, without knowing the size of audience we might be allowed to accommodate – if any – mounting a 2021 season would be an untenable risk.

But it is not all sad news. As Broadway’s starry-eyed heroes and plucky heroines have taught us: “Even when the dark comes crashing through”, “the sun will come out tomorrow” and we will collectively say “look, a new day has begun”.

We have already begun planning and, and soon –  in a lot less than “five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes” – we will be ready to announce a pair of blockbuster musicals to fill the Malkin Bowl stage for a collective celebration in 2022. This news will be followed by an open call for Directors, Choreographers and Music Directors for both shows – a change in our creative team selection process that will be informed by a larger ongoing initiative addressing diversity, equity and inclusion at TUTS. Stay tuned for updates on this as details and process will be made clear for accepting applications after our 2022 reveal!

Our decisions today enable us to sustain our organization so audiences can come back safely in the future, and, most importantly, so we can continue to provide opportunities for young people and artists of all ages to create musical theatre again.

We extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our supporters, and to our theatre colleagues: together we will rise from the ashes of the past two years and our voices will ring out again.

Please stay in touch via info@tuts.ca or through TUTS’ social media channels:
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Stay well and be safe,

Theatre Under the Stars Board of Directors