The Gouge Preforming Arts Center has announced that they will be reopening this April with live in-person performances presented at the city of Auburn Lawn & Porch. The plan was announced in a press release on April 1st.
Artists featured in the Gogue Center’s Spring 2021 performance lineup include:
Zakir Hussain & Masters of Percussion Sunday, April 18; 7:30 p.m.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Septet
with Wynton Marsalis
Wednesday, April 21 and Thursday, April 22; 7:30 p.m.
Dover Quartet and Bridget Kibbey Friday, May 7; 7:30 p.m.
The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra Directed by Scotty Barnhart
Thursday, May 13; 7:30 p.m.
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Monday, June 7; 7:30 p.m.
The Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center at Auburn University will reopen in April 2021 with outdoor concerts at its Amphitheater at the City of Auburn Lawn and Porch, following a 13-month hiatus in live, in-person performances. The center, adhering to strict safety guidelines, including the use of physically distanced seating, will present a series of six sold-out performances from its inaugural and second seasons that had been postponed due to public health concerns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like performing arts centers across the country, the Gogue Center’s approach to reopening has been incremental. The decision to welcome patrons back for live, in-person performances was made once artists resumed touring and the necessary health and safety protocols could be put in place. The center’s current outdoor performance operating protocols call for all Spring 2021 performances to be presented outdoors in the amphitheatre at a reduced capacity. The plan has been reviewed and approved by Auburn University.
“Last March, not even a full year into our inaugural 2019–20 season, we made the difficult but necessary decision to postpone performances and programs due to the escalating COVID-19 crisis,” said Christopher Heacox, executive director of the Gogue Center. “After months of careful deliberation and planning, we are confident we have set in place the most effective protocols necessary to ensure the safety of our artists, patrons, staff, volunteers and vendors.
With its expansive, open-air design, the amphitheatre is the ideal venue for the center’s return to presenting live, in- person performances. In a recent town hall meeting of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP), of which the Gogue Center is a member organization, Dr. Anthony Fauci, leading immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that events held outdoors are “much, much safer than indoors.”
For all Spring 2021 performances, patron seating will be organized on the amphitheatre lawn in adequately spaced two- and four-person seating areas, or pods, akin to outdoor theatre boxes, and will allow patrons from the same household or party to enjoy performances together while remaining physically distanced from other groups.
