Venues, theaters in Galveston County face more months of closure, reduced shows | Local News | The Daily News

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January 13, 2021

Mia Mesa, director of the Premiere LUX Cinema crew in Galveston, bought a bucket of popcorn for moviegoers on Monday

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A couple watching a preview of the movie at the Premiere LUX Cinema at 8902 Seawall Blvd. Galveston on Monday

A poster reminded customers to wear masks at the Premiere LUX Cinema at 8902 Seawall Blvd. In Galveston on Monday, January 11, 2021.

Galveston Premiere LUX Cinema director Rachel Vernon (Rachel Vernon) drinks for moviegoers on Monday

Slogans and posters at Premiere LUX Cinema in Galveston remind people to wash their hands and wear masks on Monday

reporter

Galveston

Operators of theaters and other entertainment venues have been closed for months due to COVID-19 restrictions, and they hope to ease early this year. But with the increase in COVID-19 cases, they transferred those hopes to summer.

Venue and theater operators are confident in the final audience, but before that, they will face months of performances, reduced capacity and revenue.

The operator of the 2020 Postoffice St. 1894 Opera House had hoped to resume limited capacity performances by this month. However, Maureen Patton, the executive director of the popular live performance venue, has a better view of this because of the increase in COVID cases in the county.

Patton hopes to reopen the venue this summer. She said that even then, it will only sell 200 tickets out of its 1,000 seats and will require masks.

She said that in the foreseeable future there will be no major performances at all.

Parton said: "When we perform large-scale performances, Broadway shows, there are usually as many as 30 or 40 people on stage."

Premiere Cinemas vice president of operations Joel Davis (Joel Davis) said that in Texas, although movie theaters are open, they have been hit hard. Davis is also responsible for overseeing Galveston Premiere LUX 11 West Beach at 8902 Seawall Blvd.

Davis said that although business was good during the holidays, it did not compare to 2019.

Davis said: "The numbers still don't exist, and many of them are related to the way the theater operates."

He said that in order to keep people 6 feet away under the pandemic agreement, the theater cannot increase its performance capacity to 75%.

Davis said: "In the best case, our seats may have dropped by 35%."

According to data from data company Comscore, North American box office revenue plummeted in 2020 to its lowest level in 40 years, reaching 2.3 billion U.S. dollars. This is a major blow to annual revenue of more than 11 billion U.S. dollars five years later.

National Independent Venue Association spokeswoman Audrey Fix (Audrey Fix) said last year's venue was devastating.

Fix said that hundreds of sites across the country have been eliminated, and many more have to lay off staff.

Fix said these losses are bad for the industry, but also bad for the local economy. She said that visitors to entertainment venues also visited restaurants, bars and local shops.

Fix said: "These venues bring people into the area." "By helping them survive, they also help local businesses survive. If we can persist, we can become part of the economic revival of the community."

Fix said that this is good news. At the end of last year, the U.S. Congress included aid for entertainment venues in the second pandemic-related federal aid program initiated by the Association.

She said, but a lot of the money may not be distributed for several months.

He said that Joel Mora owns the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe at 20th St. 413 in downtown Galveston, and he won't expect the money anytime soon.

He said Mora has been paying rent and utility bills from the historic venue by withdrawing from fan donations and taking a part-time job during the pandemic.

He said that the old town hosted some sporadic live performances and several live concerts, but Mora made mistakes out of prudent considerations.

"To be honest, I only take it for a week at a time," Mora said.

Mora said that because of the epidemic, musicians have been very cautious about traveling performances, but some people began to contact him during performances in late spring or summer.

Mora said: "Because people are hurt for money, they kind of want to vomit."

Mora hopes to hold more performances in the summer, but he is worried about the capacity of the venue, which is known for its small and private environment.

Most venue operators agree that customers want to return to live concerts.

General Manager Adam Newell said that T-Bone Tom's in Kemah has been hosting outdoor live entertainment for several months, but with limited capacity and limited seats, it is very popular among customers.

This restaurant is located on Highway 146 on National Highway 707 in Kemah and is famous for its live music performances six days a week.

"This is what people have been looking for," Newell said. "We still think the crowd is good."

Davis believes that once the vaccine is widely distributed, cinema operations will resume. Even as streaming platforms become more and more popular during the pandemic, Davis still wants customers to return to the theater.

Davis said: "We live in a society where people really want to go out."

Keri Heath: 409-683-5241;

Or on Twitter @HeathKeri.

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