Iconic story of first English New World colony casualty of COVID-19
Unable to gather actors or rehearse because of social distancing guidelines and uncertain about whether or not Waterside Theater would even be able to open this summer, for the second time in its history The Lost Colony has cancelled its summer season. Michelle Wagner covers the story for the Outer Banks Voice.
“With the 83rd season of Paul Green’s The Lost Colony cancelled this month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Roanoke Island Historical Association (RIHA) Board of Directors has turned its efforts in the coming months to modernizing the iconic show that has been performed nightly each summer at the Waterside Theater for more than eight decades.
As for the immediate future, uncertainty remains about whether North Carolina’s mass gathering guidelines will loosen to allow the curtain to open on an “alumni show” later this summer. And a big question revolves around The Lost Colony staff. With the show’s cancellation this summer, five of the seven full-time staff members – including its Chief Executive Officer Bill Coleman – were notified on April 7 that they were furloughed for three months and then will be terminated.”
