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With help from a grant, the Tybee Post Theater looks to host shows another day

Posted on August 28, 2020 by admin

Bi Lanie Peterson/DoSavannah

Helping the Tybee Post Theater survive the pandemic, the Georgia Council for the Arts has given the nonprofit a $15,000 grant, theater officials have announced.

The so-called “resiliency grant” pays for ongoing expenses by the historic theater since it closed in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic and began rescheduling dozens of concerts, movies and other entertainment for fall or next year,

It comes on top of a federal loan/grant of $24,500 that the theater received in April – also because of the pandemic. That loan which is administered U.S. Small Business Administration through its Paycheck Protection Program “is expected to be forgiven, thereby making it a grant,” said theater officials in a July 9 press release.

The Post Theater’s reopening plan

Posted on August 17, 2020 by admin

During this ongoing break, we have dedicated our time to improving and redefining the Theater experience with the health and safety of our fans, artists, and staff at the forefront of our updated policies. While live events and movies may not be fully returning just yet, we will be ready when they are! We’d like to share some of the new safety guidelines and changes you will see when we bring back the safe return of concerts and movies to the Tybee Post Theater.

Touch-free hand sanitizer stations will be available in the lobby and auditorium
Our staff and volunteers will be wearing masks and gloves
We’ll require masks for all guests when not eating or drinking
We’ll reduce capacity to allow for social distancing as long as necessary
Contactless payment options will be available at the box office and concession stand
We’ll continue to keep the Theater clean and sanitized throughout the shows

We promise we will continue to monitor the latest guidance from local health officials as well as CDC guidelines and reopen the Tybee Post Theater just as soon as we can. We hope to be back better and stronger than ever!

Post Theater rescheduling October concerts

Posted on August 5, 2020October 21, 2020 by admin

In the utmost of caution, the Tybee Post Theater is rescheduling its upcoming October live music concerts into the spring due to the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the state of Georgia has allowed movie theaters and music venues to reopen, it is currently limiting capacity in these venues to allow for social distancing. Since most of the Post Theater’s concerts feature national or regional touring bands or artists that typically play in larger venues, limited seating in the already small music hall would not be economically viable. And until the Theater can bring back a full house of enthusiastic patrons for its live music events, these shows will have to be put on hold.

However, the Theater will likely reopen for movies once the movie studios beginning issuing big new releases. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the major Hollywood studios have been forced to change their blockbuster-release schedule until movie theaters across the country could reopen. Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated action thriller, “Tenet,” was released in September, but did not draw the audience anticipated. And as a result, some Hollywood studios have pulled back their planned fall releases and are holding them until the new year.

Several theater chains, including AMC and Regal, with multiplexes in Savannah, reopened in late August or early September. But, following the dismal reaction to “Tenet,” Regal has already closed its theaters once again.

The Post Theater’s first priority is the health and safety of its patrons, performers, employees and the community. Tickets already purchased for rescheduled events will be valid for the new dates. Ticket buyers will be notified by email of the option to hold onto their tickets or seek a refund if they can’t attend on the rescheduled night. All rescheduled dates also will be announced on the Theater website and Facebook page.

Team Quarantine: Quarantine Concerts series helps musicians find home in uncertain times

Posted on June 8, 2020 by admin

By Laura Pleasants/Do Savannah
Like many of you, I am sick of hearing and reading the phrase “In these are uncertain times.” But somewhere between media–bred fear tactics and reality, the truth is there.

By now, Do Savannah readers should know about the Quarantine Concert Series happening at the Tybee Island Theater and (mainly) online. We’ve been following Michael Gaster and his team of dedicated individuals throughout the past couple of months. Do Savannah contributor Laura Pleasants caught up with Gaster recently via email to get the scoop on how they operate.

Do: How many concerts have you done to date?

Gastor: “Our first performance was with Jason Bible on March 21, (and) our 29th event (was) this last Sunday, May 24, with Nathan Sheppard.” READ MORE

Do: How many more do you plan on doing?

Post Theater targeting Sept. 1 reopening

Posted on May 11, 2020July 13, 2020 by admin

The Tybee Post Theater has made the difficult decision to postpone all live music concerts and theatrical productions through the end of August. We are working to reschedule all major events currently on our summer programming calendar; advance ticket buyers will be notified by email when new dates are set. Their tickets will be valid for the rescheduled event, or they may request a refund if they can’t make the new date.

Currently, the state of Georgia only allows concert venues to open with significant occupancy restrictions. Social distancing in sold-out concerts and stage plays in our small theater would be challenging, and at decreased capacity, even 50-75 percent, they would not be economically viable for the Theater. And even if those restrictions are lifted, we want to be responsive to the ongoing health and safety concerns of many of our patrons and our employees.

We will reopen the Theater for first-run and classic movies just as soon as we believe it is safe to do so and Hollywood is releasing new feature films for you to see. When we do open for movies, you can be sure the Theater will be super sanitized and safe with limited occupancy, new touch-free hand sanitizers, and disinfecting between every screening.

As always, we will continue evaluating operations and will make adjustments based on any new CDC guidelines or government mandates. We remain committed to doing our part to help keep everyone – our patrons, performers and staff and volunteers – safe.

We will be back – and we will return stronger and safer than ever. This is just an intermission! In the meantime, please keep in touch with us via email and on Facebook and Twitter. Stay safe, and we hope to see you very soon!

The McCartney Years brings fun of 1970s tour to Tybee

Posted on March 6, 2020 by admin

By Steven Alford/Do Savannah

There’s a band on the run headed for Tybee Island.

The McCartney Years is a live concert performance of some of Paul McCartney’s biggest hits with his post-Beatles band Wings. The group recreates sights and sounds of the band at the height of their popularity in the 1970s during their “Wings Over America” tour.

The show comes Friday, March 6 to the Tybee Post Theater and promises to transport “Macca” fans back to a bygone area of feathered hair, bell bottom jeans and high-heeled boots.

Bandleader Yuri Pool put together the concert after years in London performing in a Beatles tribute show.

“At the time I was wondering why there are thousands of Beatles tribute bands out there but why wasn’t anyone doing a Paul McCartney group?” Pool said. Read More

“Designed Women”: Drag tribute to iconic Southern sitcom coming to Tybee Post Theater

Posted on January 30, 2020 by admin

By Steven Alford/Do Savannah

Four feisty Southern belles drawn from the hit TV show “Designing Women” are bringing edgy laughs and country charm to the Tybee Post Theater in the new drag parody “Designed Women.”

Kansas City’s Late Night Theatre brings their own hysterical spin on the well-loved 1980s sitcom, which runs from Jan. 31 through Feb. 9, and follows the misadventures of the Sugarbaker sisters and co-workers at their Atlanta interior design firm.

The troupe returns to Tybee Island fresh off a sold-out run of their drag parody of another iconic 1980s sitcom “Golden Girls,” a gut-busting drag tribute to its female powerhouse TV format. Read More …

Viral YouTube sensation Andy Gross brings comedy, magic to the Tybee Post

Posted on January 8, 2020 by admin

By Steven Alford/Do Savannah

Comedian, magician, ventriloquist and all-around funny man, Andy Gross, was performing at a night club when he started receiving alerts and texts on his phone.

An iPhone video he shot with his daughter featuring the performer split in half and sneaking up on unsuspecting parkgoers was taking off on YouTube.

First, the video racked up 7,000 views, then 25,000 views, soon it was 100,000.

“My Dad called and said he was brushing his teeth and heard a familiar voice on a video playing on CNN,” Gross said from his home in Los Angeles. “I was getting so many alerts, I had to turn off my phone.”

The “Split Man” video has since been viewed nearly eight million times online, and gave a huge boost to Gross’ career, helping him book shows around the world: Dubai, Paris, Barcelona and more.

On Friday, Jan. 10, Gross brings his hilarious and mind-bending show to the Tybee Post Theater, to thrill audiences and split a few sides. Read more …

Andy Gross: Jack of all Trades

Posted on January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 by admin

Viral video sensation brings magic and more to Tybee Post

By Jim Reed/Connect Savannah

QUICK QUESTION: what’s one of the hardest occupations you can imagine?

Not from a standpoint of physical strength or endurance –although that’s certainly a consideration– but hardest in the sense of something that’s extremely, extremely difficult to master.

And, while we’re at it, an occupation that –by its very definition– essentially demands it be done in public, in front of an attentive audience – many of whom are, quite frankly, rooting for you to fail.

Okay, you got one in your head? Good. Now imagine yourself choosing four different occupations that all fit that same basic description, and then proceeding to excel at each of them. What on earth would that feel like?

One of the few people I have ever come across that might be qualified to answer that question would be Andy Gross, who makes his public debut in our area on Friday, Jan. 10 at the historic Tybee Post Theater. Read More ….

Taking the (Polar) Plunge

Posted on December 27, 2019 by admin

Annual favorite event on Tybee rings in the New Year

By Rachael Flora/ConnectSavannah

EVERY YEAR on New Year’s Day, at high noon, hundreds of shivering revelers storm into the Atlantic Ocean, all in the name of charity.

The Tybee Polar Plunge has been a tradition for quite some time. The Tybee Post Theatre took over the festivities in 2012, but Executive Director Melissa Turner estimates it had gone on for a dozen years prior.

“It was started by some guys that were with the American Legion post on Tybee, and the original one was just a probably crazy drunken dare on New Year’s Day,” laughs Turner.

Over the years, the drunken dare snowballed into a major tradition, complete with commemorative T-shirts, that benefited local Tybee charities. It became such a big deal that the original organizers decided to hand the reins to the Tybee Post.