Nearly two years after closing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gravenhurst Opera House is ready to reopen.
It was closed in March 2020, but the box office will reopen on Feb. 10, with the first show set for March 26.
“The closure was actually a great opportunity to do some projects in the queue,” Shawna Patterson, the Town of Gravenhurst’s Interim Director of Recreation, says. She explains the floors have been replaced, the damage to the roof and stage has been repaired, the chairs have been refurbished and new lighting has been installed.
“It’s going to look like a whole transformed space,” Patterson boasts.
The opera house has been around since 1901, so Patterson says keeping that heritage was important. “It will look the same, but it looks a little brighter and fresher,” she says.
The first show back will be Boreal. The opera houses’ website describes the show as “the amalgamation of three, individually successful singer/songwriters, Tannis Slimmon, Katherine Wheatley, and Angie Nussey, who simply love to play music together.” The show will feature songs that “celebrate the awakening of spring.”
The box office will be open from 10 AM to 3 PM every Friday starting Feb. 10, or at 10 AM to showtime on performance days. The house’s trillium court is now open for rentals, but Ontario’s current capacity restrictions will be enforced.
Anyone wanting to book the court for an event needs to call 705-687-5550, extension 2023.