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We all know that eventually movie theaters are going to reopen, but specifics of how it will work remains dimmer than a worn projector bulb with its 3D lens left on. However, it looks like an independent arthouse theater, the Circle in Tulsa, Oklahoma may end up as America’s canary in the cinematic coal mine.
Oklahoma has had 188 deaths and 3,121 cases as of Friday, and, according to Bloomberg News’s models, passed its projected peak on Monday. The Sooner State’s governor, Kevin Stitt, is among the nation’s more zealous to “reopen the economy,” initiating a Phase One beginning May 1st that calls for the continuance of social distancing and minimal nonessential travel, but also, somehow, gives the green light to restaurants, gyms, tattoo parlors and movie theaters.
How exactly will that work? Good question. Variety spoke with Clark Wiens, owner of Tulsa’s Circle Theater, who claims his employees are eager to get back on the job. He won’t be open on exactly May 1st, but he’s completing his plan for when he can finally open the auditorium doors and dim the house lights.
Firstly, only 50% of auditorium seats will be sold, and seating will be spaced so no one is directly in front of or behind anyone. This could get complicated if groups of varying numbers come, but I suppose this is why God gave us ten fingers and ten toes.
The Circle will provide masks and gloves to all theater employees, and has installed plexiglass screens. “We want to find all we can so you would not have to have physical contact with anything in the theater, beside setting your posterior in the seat,” Wiens said.
Additional plans get more granular, literally, with communal salt shakers at the concessions stand getting swapped out with mini-packets. The butter dispenser will be changed so patrons won’t have to touch it, either. Wiens also said that seats will be wiped down between screenings.
The Circle being an arthouse unconnected with a larger chain makes it an appropriate theater for experimentation. Then again, that type of programming tends to skew toward older audiences, the demographic for whom Covid-19 is most deadly. Wiens says he’s got a title on deck from Sony Pictures Classics for when he reopens. He describes the movie as “marginal.” Quite the showman!
Cinemas in Georgia may open as early as this Monday, though specific plans by theater operators have yet to be announced. Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp has issued some restrictions, stating that “theaters shall only seat parties of six people maximum, with all parties seated six-feet apart” and that tape must be put on floors at ticket counters and concessions to guide patrons. Additionally, video game areas and play areas must remain closed.
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