VIRGINIA CITY — The Virginia City Players have made several changes since the pandemic shut down their operations in 2020.
Director Bill Koch says they added a UV filtration system in the opera house.
"We put in a UV filtration system into our heating and air conditioning system to help burn off 99.9% of all contaminants," said Koch.
Koch says they started their 2020 season, but it only lasted for three and a half weeks because of the lack of ticket sales.
"We were lucky that we were able to hold on. We almost lost the business because of lack of revenue coming in. This summer we were able to fill the audience up and the energy’s back in here and it’s a lot different," said Koch.
Ticket purchases will also be moving fully online soon. They’ve also introduced a donation placard in the front where theater goers can sponsor a seat. Prices range from $100 to $1,500.
Until August 1, the Virginia City Players will be performing "The Seven Keys to Baldpate" by George M. Cohan. It's a classic melodrama that performed on Broadway and ran for 320 performances, it remains as one of Cohan’s most popular plays.
"It’s a comedy, it’s a farce, it’s got gangsters and there’s murder in it and there’s trick endings to the show, it’s a lot of fun." said Koch.
Following the run of "The Seven Keys to Baldpate" is "The Invisible Man" which starts its run August 3.
Errol Koch is the playwright reworking the story for the Virginia City Players. He is pulling ideas from the classic movie starring Claude Rains and from the novel written by H.G. Wells.
"We’re also adding in some elements of illusion and practical magic too. . . it’s gonna be a tight little show, but we’re pulling every stop from it all of the cool illusions are gonna be in it." said Errol Koch.
Overall, Bill Koch said it’s been a great season so far and he looks forward to seeing new faces enter the theater.
"It’s great seeing new people coming in because then they want to come back and see the next show," said Koch.
