Liberty Theater announces re-opening plans

DAYTON—Columbia County is celebrating its recent approval for Phase 3 of Governor Inslee’s Safe Start plan in Washington State. The Liberty Theater is hard at work preparing to re-open their doors and welcome back their community of fans.

The theater’s current projection is to open in July, which would allow some of their Summer Children’s Enrichment Program (SCEP) to be salvaged. In the past, the Theater has run six family films in June/July. This year it will be limited to four.

When re-opened, the theater will be obligated to operate at 50 percent seating capacity to ensure proper physical distancing. And, of course, all mitigation protocols will be followed, including enhanced sanitation and food service guidelines. Opening a theater with limited capacity in a small theater like the Liberty is a bit painful, but it’s all part of the process toward progress.

“We look forward to another full house in the future,” said theater manager Michael Ferrians. 

An exciting addition to SCEP this year is an anticipated visit by Dan Luce, professional puppeteer, musician and artist extraordinaire, who has been invited to present a show in October. Luce has worked around the world and his creations are lauded. Check out his website here: https://www.sacredplayplace.com/

In addition the Liberty continues work for their live production this fall: A Christmas Carol. Their original plan was to stage The Sound of Music and they recently received permission to reschedule that show for 2021. Staging A Christmas Carol this fall gives the theater the opportunity to run the version that they wrote and performed in 2011 eliminating royalty costs! That show is scheduled to run Nov. 12 -Dec. 5.