/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/3WBOMZWIJEI6TGNIIBWI6S7HAY.jpg "Kelly Plescia, left, Alison Burns and Becca McCoy play Donna and the Dynamos in \"Mamma Mia\" at American Stage in the Park in 2019. The next park production, \"Footloose,\" has been postponed until October.")
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After last week’s announcement that American Stage would suspend its production of The People Downstairs and all of its classes due to the coronavirus pandemic, the St. Petersburg theater’s artistic director Stephanie Gularte issued another programming update in a news release today.
American Stage in the Park, which typically happens in April at St. Petersburg’s Demens Landing, has been moved to October. The planned production of Footloose will still happen, just later, opening with the Gala Under the Stars, the company’s largest fundraiser of the year.
The company plans to resume its mainstage season May 27 with Admissions, followed by Next to Normal in July. The People Downstairs, which was developed by the playwright Natalie Symons while in residency at American Stage, will premiere in September.
Theater education programs are scheduled to resume in June with American Stage Summer Camp, held at Admiral Farragut Academy.
Gularte said that postponing months of programming will create hardships for the theater’s staff and artists. The nonprofit organization relies heavily on ticket sales, class enrollment and donations.
“We ask for your consideration and continued support of powerful stories, boldly told, as we weather this challenging time together.”
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