ENTERTAINMENT
CURTAIN GOING UP
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SUNRISE THEATRE
The Sunrise Theatre put new safety measures in place to protect against COVID-19 virus, including disinfecting seats, requiring masks and social distancing.
Sunrise Theatre implements safety
measures, revamped schedule
BY SUSAN BURGESS
COVID-19 may be raging through the state but the
nearly century-old Sunrise Theatre has taken a lesson
from its past and reinvented itself once again,
this time with new virus safety measures and a
revised show calendar.
The historical downtown theater opened in 1923 as a movie
theater, closed in 1983 when demand changed and bounced
back in 2006 as a successful performing arts theater.
This time COVID-19 caused the closure. The Sunrise
abruptly shut down at the end of the Australian Bee Gees
show on March 12, prior to the governor ordering a statewide
lockdown.
“When the pandemic really hit in March we realized that
— boom — we’re going to have to shut down,” marketing
director Anne Satterlee said. At that moment she and executive
director Sharon Engle didn’t know what they faced. But
they knew they had to take action and fast. It didn’t take long
to realize they had to institute safety measures — but figuring
out which ones was a step-by-step process.
Wasting no time, Engle posted a reassuring and explanato- >>