Arizona Broadway Theatre reopens with COVID-19 precautions

It will be at limited capacity, masks will be required and there will be less shows.

PEORIA, Ariz. - The show must go on at the Arizona Broadway Theatre. But, there will be some changes due to the pandemic.

Like a lot of businesses, the theatre is getting hit hard as crowds are limited to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

After 8 months after closing its doors, slowly but surely the theater in Peoria will once again open its doors.

Until it's safe to put on a grand production, the theatre will start with smaller shows to get patrons used to new rules and requirements.

Before the pandemic, the theatre held up to 450 people. Now, only 50 to 100 are people allowed. The theatre is also removing some tables and chairs to allow for social distancing. Masks, of course, will be required.

"We knew we had to change some of our programs to try and address the community need. We tried virtual performances and while that is keeping people connected to us, it really didn't replace the human interaction," said the theatre's CEO and executive producer, Kiel Klaphake said.

The theatre closed on March 15, just two days after opening the production of Chicago. While the theatre is still reeling from that, they do expect to get things back to normal.

"We're not able to reopen our full productions. Our plan is to be able to reopen Chicago after the first of the new year. We don't have a restart date yet," Klaphake said.

For now, there will be about four productions a week.

To learn more about the steps the theatre is taking, visit this link.