The Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, which houses several performance spaces including the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Samueli Theater, Segerstrom Hall and the Center for Dance and Innovation & Judy Morr Theater, closed in mind-March in the midst of a Broadway touring production of “A Bronx Tale.”
The venue has remained shuttered for the duration of the pandemic, but its staff remained vigilant in following any and all updates on city, county and state reopening guidelines or the protocol for gatherings. Now, Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ President Casey Reitz said, the center is ready to bring back live events within its spacious, outdoor Julianne and George Argyros Plaza.
“It feels like a dream come true,” Reitz said of being able to actually host events on the center’s campus again. “I’m just grateful that we have this outdoor space where we can do this stuff. I long for the day when we can all be back indoors, but I’ve been very proud of the staff and the board for a lot of the work we’ve been able to do virtually since the shut down. But, you know, we’re not here because we want to do things virtually, we want to do things live. That’s our passion, that’s our mission, so to be able to do anything on that level right now is just a thrill.”
The plaza will host movie nights that begin at 6:30 p.m. with titles like “Sister Act” on Nov. 21, “Elf” on Dec. 18 and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman” on Dec. 19. Tickets are $30 per pod (with up to six guests).
So far, the calendar includes performances by comedian and actor Louie Anderson, who will headline two shows at 4 and 7 p.m. Nov. 27 (tickets are $240); Broadway star Megan Hilty will be performing Broadway hits and holiday classics at 4 and 7 p.m. Dec. 11 ($450); Grammy Award-winning singer Steve Tyrell will perform at 4 and 7 p.m. Dec. 29 and 30 ($480). All tickets are sold per pod and each pod can include up to six patrons.
Holidays Around the World will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 5-6 (tickets are $15 per pod) and will be done a little differently this year, but still include the live performance, crafts and traditional snowfall.
The venue is even hosting socially distanced Wellness Classes with yoga and music for $15 per person from 4-5 p.m. Dec. 2, 9 and 16.
Tickets for all events can be purchased online at scfta.org or by calling 714-556-2787 during the limited box office hours of 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday. The box office is closed for walk-ups.
Reitz said that he and the staff looked at how outdoor dining or drive-in events around the county were being set up and what was or wasn’t working. They’ve made all ticketing touchless, with all tickets needing to be purchased in advance and scanned via mobile phones.
They’ve put up signage to help direct the flow of patrons entering and exiting the venue as well as indicate hand sanitizing stations (there are 150 of them on site) and other reminders such as wearing facial coverings, which is mandatory whenever guest are outside their pod seating area. The pods are each six feet apart with additional space left open for directional aisles.
The center will also be conducting temperature checks upon entry and all of the chairs and tables in the plaza will be sanitized in between performances.
Inside the venue, the center has installed hands-free restroom fixtures including faucets, flush valves and soap dispensers. High traffic areas such as door handles, railings, elevator buttons and the restrooms are sanitized with increased frequency and shield guards have been installed in areas where guests and concessions staff do come into contact.
The center has also tested its HVAC system for air and ventilation and installed Merv-14 air filters to optimize air quality.
For a brief time, Reitz said the center was allowed to bring back its dance studios for students as Orange County was in the red coronavirus tier. Now that the county has slipped back into the more restrictive purple tier, those classes are now back to being virtual. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s newly imposed curfew also won’t affect the events in the plaza since they will all end well before the 10 p.m. mandate.
The center has had success with virtual events and still has many on its calendar including a screening of “Christmas Vacation” with a Q&A with Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo on Nov. 28 and a concert streamed from New York’s Shubert Virtual Studios with Vanessa Williams on Dec. 5. It will continue to host those events and book talent in the plaza for the foreseeable future.
Even with a COVID-19 vaccine on the way and more testing available, Reitz said the center is ready for just about anything. It has teamed up with numerous other theaters and event centers in Southern California to come up with its own guidelines for reopening since no official guidelines have been provided. It has followed the CDC’s recommendations and worked with specialists in the fields of environmental safety and industrial disinfection
“We’re just prepared” Reitz said. “We’re prepared and we’re ready to come back when the powers that be allow it.”
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November 21, 2020 at 11:53PM
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Segerstrom Center for the Arts reopens its outdoor plaza for socially distanced entertainment - OCRegister
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