Acting returns to Pittsburg with production of Xanadu

PITTSBURG, Ks. — Many plans, of course, were put on hold last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With things opening up, many events, celebrations and performances are getting a second chance.

In Pittsburg, acting is taking center stage once again.

“I’m not going to lie, it was definitely a little breaking,” said actor Gabriel Anderson. “You love doing this so much, and then you get told you can’t do it. For all I knew, we were never going to be able to do this again.”

Last year left the Pittsburg Community Theater with a lot of questions.

They had been working to put the final touches on their production of Xanadu when the pandemic hit.

“We were having all of our rehearsals and then we were just getting ready for costumes and putting everything together, and then we got shut down,” said MJ Harper, Xanadu director. “Things paused for a really long time.”

When cases began to die down and the community began to open up again, the production was given a second shot.

“Things start to open up and we got the green light,” Harper said. “It was unbelievable, I was very excited to hear that news. We’d been holding our breath, crossing our fingers.”

The theatre group didn’t waste any time.

“We had about a week to notify people that we were having auditions, and had a very truncated schedule with rehearsals,” Harper said.

Cast and crew were organized once again, and on Friday, Xanadu was given new life at Memorial Auditorium.

“It’s crazy,” Anderson said. “Seeing how it’s evolved to now and how we actually get to put on the show again.”

While the performance may look different, the production is doing its part to show the arts are still alive in Pittsburg.

“We’re putting ourselves out there to entertain,” Anderson said. “Theater is a big part of the community and it can be. You can tell that people enjoy it and people come here all the time to buy and see shows and fantastic performers.”

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