Popular musical postpones entire season due to COVID-19
HOUSTON, Texas -- Houston's Theatre Under The Stars has once again decided to postpone its season until May 2021 because of COVID-19.
"The safety of our audiences, artists, staff and volunteers is our number one priority," said Dan Knechtges, TUTS Artistic Director. "While we're disappointed to once again delay our season launch, we're excited that we can retain all six musicals for the Homecoming Season. We want to deliver our supportive subscribers the shows they have been anticipating."
The musical lineup for the 2020-21 season will stay the same with only "Come From Away," while keeping its original scheduled date for May 2021.
Theatre Under The Stars originally announced it's 2020-21 season in January with a six-show series at the Hobby Center, which was supposed to start on Wednesday, Sept. 9 with the musical "1776".
In June, the first two shows were postponed due to COVID-19.
The newly dubbed "Homecoming Season" will now run through February 2022, ending with Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific."
So far, over 8,600 season ticket holders have subscribed to the upcoming season.
"We are heartened that so many Houstonians have chosen to subscribe to TUTS in the midst of this crisis," said TUTS Executive Director Hillary Hart.
Since the pandemic, TUTS has lost more than $6 million in revenue due to canceled performances and fundraising events.
Hart anticipates another $11 million will be lost over the next 12 months. The theatre had to lay off 10% of its staff and make significant programming cuts, salary reductions and reduced benefits for all of its employees.
