Broadway Rose Theatre Cancels the Rest of Its 2020 Season

Since the company has no idea when it will be allowed to take the stage again, organizers won’t even announce a full 2021 season.

IMAGE: BroadwayRoseMichael/Wiki Commons.
By Andi Prewitt

The back end of 2020 continues to look bleak for fans of live theater: Broadway Rose is the latest company to announce it is scrapping the rest of its season.

The Tigard-based company was scheduled to perform two plays at the end of the year: Loch Lomond and A Christmas Carol: The Musical. As part of Gov. Kate Brown's plan to reopen Oregon amid the pandemic, theaters can resume operations with restrictions once the counties they're located in move into Phase 2.

Washington County, where Broadway Rose is located, is still stuck in Phase 1.

And even if the county did advance into the next phase, the company says it wouldn't have enough room, based on physical distancing guidelines, to seat all of the audience members who planned to catch the shows.

"Current ticket sales for these productions are triple the New Stage's seating capacity under Phase 2 guidelines," Broadway Rose marketing director Alan Anderson stated in a press release. "Consequently, we have decided to postpone the remainder of our 2020 season until next year. In doing so, we hope that everyone who wishes to attend will be able, and that we can produce these musicals as they were intended."

Since the company has no idea when it will be allowed to take the stage again due to COVID-19, organizers won't even announce a full 2021 season. Instead, Broadway Rose will produce shows on an individual basis.

Thanks to creative minds in the local arts community, patrons shouldn't have to go without theater entirely going forward. Broadway Rose will continue to produce its weekly Midday Cabaret livestreams, a video series that reunites past casts, and it is exploring even more options to bring musicals to audiences.

Related: Broadway Rose's Dan Murphy Found a New Outlet for His Passion for Musicals: a Weekly YouTube Show

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.