After months of inactivity due to COVID-19, Liverpool’s Astor Theatre is once again opening to the public.

The Astor had cancelled or rescheduled every performance this spring and summer because of the lockdown and precautions against spreading the coronavirus.

Chairman of the Astor Theatre Society John Simmonds says as those restrictions have started to ease, he’s hearing from the community they want to see live shows again.

“The desire is certainly there. From what I’ve been able to ascertain, in myself and our other board members and people in the community that we interact with, the desire is certainly there,” said Simmonds. “What may not be there is the comfort level. So, it’s going to have to happen slowly.”

Chairman John Simmonds sits in the balcony of the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. Photo Credit: Ed Halverson

Simmonds says the Astor is following all the safety protocols set out by the health department, including: hand sanitizing stations, social distancing, mandatory wearing of masks, directing the flow of people and limiting the number of patrons who can attend events.

The Region of Queens mayoral candidates debate being held Sunday at 3 p.m. is the first function to be held under the new protocols. The first run of 80 tickets sold out in less than a day and more had to be added. In all, the event will have a capacity of 128, a far cry from the 348 the Astor could hold.

Simmonds says the debate will be a good opportunity to test new ways of presenting entertainment.

“We’re going to be considering some live-streaming as we’re going to be doing with the debate, and perhaps other events, maybe get into a few movies now and then and just see how it goes. It’s a learning proposition. None of us have ever been in this before, so we’re learning as we go and we think we’re going to be okay. The main goal, of course, is to keep the theatre operations viable,” said Simmonds.

The theatre let their two staffers go once their contracts expired during the COVID-19 shut down. Simmonds says spending less on those salaries and other day-to-day expenses while still being able to access funding from various levels of government has put the Astor in a good financial position.

“We’ve been able to maintain those grants, so right now, we’re in as good a financial position as we’ve ever been which allows us the luxury of going slowly and carefully as we reopen.”

The Astor Theatre society is also diversifying what they have to offer and will be providing more than entertainment to Liverpool going forward.

The group reached an agreement with the Region of Queens last year to manage the adjoining meeting spaces and art gallery. Simmonds would like to see community make use of the additional space.

“We will do what we need to do to try and promote the different rooms and the different activities. I have a meeting here tomorrow night with my dog park association. I want to start a chess clubs and teach kids chess. Those kinds of things, just to bring a wide variety of activities.”

Simmonds is hopeful the province’s COVID-19 numbers remain low so the Astor will be allowed to resume their usual programming later in the fall.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson