By Rusty Bradshaw
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The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on many aspects of people’s lives, and that was felt keenly in community theaters across the Valley.

Some theaters shut down during the COVID year and some have seen audiences slow to come back. But three years out from the health scare new COVID case numbers throughout the Valley are significantly down, with all ZIP codes under 50. With the diminished threat, people are heading back to the live community theaters.

Ghostlight Theater officials saw audience number significantly decreased when they started productions again, but they are slowly seeing people return, according to Victoria Reinhard, executive director.

“It was a drastic drop at first, but we had a couple shows sell out in the last season,” she said.

Starlight Community Theater in Phoenix has seen a drop in audience attendance, but it is selective by performance, according to Dan Ashlock, artistic director.

“We have seen some decrease in attendance at plays but musicals are pretty much staying the same post COVID,” he explained.

The trend of when people attend also saw a shift, Ashlock said.

“Pre-COVID, Saturday nights were our most popular performances,” Ashlock said. “Post-COVID, Saturday nights are our least attended performances and both Saturday and Sunday matinees have been very popular.”

Theater officials are seeing an increase, estimated at 40%, in enrollment for youth summer camps.

Ashlock believed the increase in camp registrations may be related to keeping the registration fee lower than most camps. He said there is also a lot more parents working from home so they want options for getting their children out of the house.  

Theater Works in Peoria has seen a full return of audience attendance, according to Paul Pedersen, patron development director. That could be due to an innovative approach taken by theater officials during COVID.

Although audience attendance dropped significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are starting to line up for tickets again at Ghostlight …

“We did not shut down,” he explained. “We did an immersive type of performance, in which people went through the performance 10 at a time.”

Through the different approach, which Pedersen was unique in the Valley, Theater Works gained new audience members Pedersen said there were 5,000 who attended the immersive show.

Reinhard said some people remained afraid to be in crowds. But Ghostlight officials have new safety measures in place, such as actors being required to test for COVID before performances.

Stage Left Productions in Surprise was an anomaly for attendance with the first full season.

“We had our most attendance ever in 2022,” said Cody Dull, artistic managing director. “That includes before COVID.”

However, the attendance figures appear to be returning to the normal average for the organization. Dull believed the high attendance in 2022 was because people were happy to have theater back in operation. But he added they are seeing a lot of new people attending along with a small number of the regulars.

“The new people like the light-hearted shows,” he said.

Participation by theater company staff, volunteers and on stage personnel has largely remained steady. Because Ghostlight in Sun City West has a large range of communities to draw from, there has not been a drop in theater company personnel, according to Reinhard.

“We have also been getting more donations, which allows us to make renovations to the theater,” she added.

Starlight officials are seeing more interest in nearly every area — auditions, directors, tech volunteers.

“The only area we have faced decrease at Starlight is for front of house volunteers,” Ashlock sai. “It is harder to get volunteers for ushering, selling concessions, running our raffles. We are stymied by this change.”

Theater Works officials did furlough most company participants, but said the theater is back up to about 15 staff now. After coming back to the traditional approach, Theater Works conducted just a half season with three shows. But now officials are planning for a full 6-show season starting July 1. In addition, they will conduct youth workshops.

Stage Left went from a staff of seven to now just three. Dull said he is also finding it hard to get volunteers now, although that was not the case before COVID. But he said there has not been a significant change for actors for the shows.

The Sun City Players have operated since 1962 and, according to figures provided in a Recreation Centers of Sun City Strategic Alternatives Committee have seen a drop in attendance over the years. However, Players officials disputed the numbers provided in a recent meeting, claiming they were higher. They did acknowledge group membership has dropped from about 500 prior to COVID to 125 now.

Players officials did not respond to Independent requests for clarification.

News Editor Rusty Bradshaw can be reached at rbradshaw@iniusa.org. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.