The Players Theatre Set to Re-Open

Once Upon a Time, on an average Saturday afternoon, a walk down MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village would reveal a parade of enthusiastic youngsters piling into the lobby of the Players Theatre to see a musical. For many of these children, it was their first experience seeing a live show onstage. For many years there was much joy in the Players Theatre kingdom until one day the evil pandemic fairy shut the doors to the theatre and the castle sat dark and silent ... waiting.

After a year of ghost lights patiently waiting to relight the footlights, The Players Theatre's fairy godmother has waved her magic wand allowing the Off-Broadway theatre to open its doors once again. Company - in - residence Literally Alive Family Theatre will open their original musical - Cinderella - on May 1st to a reduced audience size and with safety protocols in place.

"Exactly one year ago," noted producer Brenda Bell, "we had to close our production of "The Little Mermaid the Musical" which had just finished previews." It was the company's final show of the season and most of the performances were sold out. "No one had any idea of how long we would be closed, so we waited as months passed with no shows and no income" added Bell.

Wanting to stay connected to their audience during the pandemic, the theatre joined forces with Bravo's Book Nook (which resides in the theatre lobby) to present weekly virtual musical storytimes with Bravo the theatre dog. "We just presented our 40th episode" remarked Michael Sgouros who is the owner of the Players Theatre and writes original music for Storytime with Bravo. The weekly storytime streams on Facebook and the theatre plans to create a main-stage show comprising of vignettes from the virtual production.

With New York State's announcement that small venues in New York City were permitted to reopen at 33% capacity as of April 2nd, the Players Theatre is back in full production mode. "Cinderella is the perfect show for our reopening" said Bell. "It is a show about wishes coming true!" Auditions, which began virtually, are in process and the musical will open on May 1 and run through June 6 on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information and tickets visit: www.LiterallyAlive.com

The Players Theatre at 115 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village will be hosting comedy and improv on the main stage in April on Fridays and Saturdays starting April 2. Visit: www.ThePlayersTheatre.com for more info.