COCOA, Fla. — The 96-year old Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse is letting audiences back in for the first time in about three months. We are getting exclusive access ahead of opening – er, “reopening” night:
1. “This is like starting the theater all over again,” CEO and Artistic Director, Dr. Anastacia Hawkins-Smith, told Spectrum News 13. “If we only have 5 people in the audience, that's fine.”
2. “We opened [Into The Woods] for one weekend and had a very successful weekend before the shutdown,” she said. “So this group has been waiting since March 17 to come back. It's a very emotional, emotional day for all of us.”
3. The Cocoa Village Playhouse is allowed a maximum capacity of 250 people during reopening.
4. Performer Kelli Folse said, “It's a show that — if you're in it — you're either obsessed with it, or you hate it. It's a monster.”
In the first act, audiences will recognize well-known fairy tales, from Rapunzel to Cinderella. However, toward the middle of the show, “something interesting happens,”
“Maybe the lessons of those fables aren't necessarily what you should be teaching children, like ‘love at first sight’ to a total stranger,” Folse said.
5. “Into the Woods” is Friday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 20 at 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 21 at 2 p.m. at the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse.