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Behind the Scenes: Highlands Playhouse
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2021/01 – Winter
Thanks to a “Hey, let’s put on a show!” enthusiasm fostered by scores of MGM musicals from yesteryear, Highlands Playhouse is embracing its 2021 season with dazzling new upgrades and a relentlessly optimistic spirit.
Dalene and Greg Copeland
Behind the scenes, the Highlands Playhouse has been anything but dark and silent these past few months. Hammers pounding, saws buzzing, paint brushes slapping, sandpaper scraping away layers of rust, and spray paint swooshing, making everything old at the Playhouse new again.
The talented team behind this renovation is none other than your hard-working board of directors … masked, distancing, and demonstrating their dedication to the theater family.
The Copelands, Dalene and Greg, donated talent, time, and materials to the construction of a huge new bar, which will more than double the bartenders and efficiency of the old one.
Board member Sandie Trevathan sings its praises, “We had an old bar that was always crowded. Much of the problem was its location, in a highly-trafficked area. Slow service not only turned away theater-goers, it cut into sales.
“Thanks to the Copelands, we have an attractive, better-equipped and tended station, away from the entrance traffic jam. It’s now at the other end of the patio, closer to the parking lot. In the interest of serving quickly, we’ve replaced some cork bottles with screw-tops. With four bartenders serving, service will be steady, easy, and accommodating.”
There will also be a lovely screen behind the new bar to prevent wind and weather from dampening our spirits, as it were.
In addition to wine sales, popcorn sales will also improve. The Playhouse’s own Backrow Babes, as they like to be known, got together and replaced the old single barrel popcorn machine with a double barrel and upgraded the electric panel to accommodate the new, high-efficiency equipment. More fresh popcorn, more proceeds, more delicious fun.
Earlier in the season the board gave the greenroom and lobby a huge facelift. Because of Covid, all these improvements have yet to be inaugurated, but they look forward to popping a bottle of champagne in their honor in the not-too-distant future.
To learn more about the new goings-on, visit our other new surprise … an upgraded website, thanks to the Playhouse’s social media geniuses, Pam Carver and her daughter, Laura Breslin. Check highlandsplayhouse.org to catch the latest. And be the first in 2021 to launch the year with a generous donation!