Rock Island’s Circa ’21 Petitioning Illinois to Reclassify It As Restaurant To Help It Stay In Business
Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse was denied by the state of Illinois to be re-classified as a restaurant, and the 43-year-old local institution will petition the state a second time, to help it stay in business.
On Monday, because of new dining restrictions put into place by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Circa is being forced to close its doors Saturday after the final performance of “Savannah Sipping Society,” and will stay closed until January.
Brett Hitchcock
“It was such a difficult decision,” Brett Hitchcock, director of audience development, said Monday night. “You pour your heart and soul and life savings into a business…We definitely believe we will open in January. We’re definitely going to be open again. This is what is traditionally our busiest time of the year. This will be the first time since 1977 that we’ve been dark during the holiday season.”
The Rock Island theater’s planned productions of “Winter Wonderland” and “Seussical” will be moved to the end of the 2021 season instead, and both subscribers and ticket-holders can exchange for the same seats next year. Though the indoor dining ban in Illinois is due to start Wednesday, Circa received special permission from Springfield to remain open until this Saturday to finish the current run of “The Savannah Sipping Society.”
State leaders were not as forgiving when this summer Circa asked that it be reclassified as a restaurant, to be able to operate at 50-percent capacity, rather than a 50-patron maximum, Hitchcock said. That request was denied, but they will appeal, he said.
On June 26, Gov. Pritzker announced the Phase 4 reopening guidelines for indoor theaters would allow for reopening at a 50-percent capacity, or 50 guests, whichever is lesser.
“In working with several state officials over the previous weeks, we had been very optimistic that the Phase 4 guidelines for the state of Illinois would put our dinner theatre in the same classification as restaurants and casinos, which would have allowed us to bring you most of the shows remaining in our 43rd season,” Circa owner/producer Denny Hitchcock posted on Facebook on July 1, the same day Jumer’s Casino in Rock Island reopened.
Denny Hitchcock, owner and founder of Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse in Rock Island
Casinos were allowed to reopen at 50-percent capacity, with tables at least six feet apart. Seating is reduced at gaming tables and there will be fewer slot machines under the new regulations. Face coverings and health screenings are required for all employees and guests.
“Despite the fact the seating of our theater is clearly that of a restaurant, rather than traditional theatre seating, unfortunately, we were informed all theaters would be treated the same,” Denny Hitchcock said. “We cannot tell you how devastated we are that we are unable to open under these current guidelines for Phase 4.
“We are so disappointed that casinos, restaurants, riverboats and fitness centers have all been allowed to reopen with social distancing, but we are not given the same opportunity,” he said. Circa has about 5,000 square feet of patron space to seat 334 guests, separated by tables, “so there is plenty of room for social distancing,” Hitchcock said.
Circa got letters of support from many local and state elected officials of both political parties, to help the theater get re-classified as a restaurant.
“The fact that we did not get re-classified does not mean we’re going to stop trying to get re-classified,” Brett (who’s Denny’s son) said. “It really is an unfair situation for us.”
Circa hoped to reopen July 7, with a comprehensive plan in place they worked on for months – to protect the actors, guests and staff.
“We were set to go; we had everything situated with the food,” Brett said of offering plated table service, and no more buffets. “We had gone beyond what the CDC wanted and the state wanted, feeling really good that we were gonna be able to reopen. We got a big slap in the face Friday morning (June 26), when we got a call that you’ve been denied and the governor’s office said they’re going to keep all theaters in the state the same, which is not fair at all.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker
“We’re not the same, with the food aspect of that, we’re completely different,” he said. In 1977, when Circa opened, the state treasurer said that half of the ticket price would be taxed at rates for food and beverage, and half from the show. “We’ve been taxed that way for 43 years, but we’re not being classified as a restaurant.”
Though the governor just announced that the new bar and restaurant closure will be effective at least two weeks, Circa couldn’t take the chance that it would get to reopen after that, since the region must have Covid positivity rates under 8 percent for three straight days, Brett said.
“Without having any idea when the governor will be reopening Rock Island County, we felt this was the only choice we had,” he said. “It breaks our hearts to not be able to present ‘Winter Wonderland’ and ‘Seussical’ this year. With moving our holiday shows to next November and December, hopefully, Covid-19 will be talked about in the past tense.”
The historic dinner theater at 1828 3rd Ave. had been closed to mainstage productions from mid-March until Sept. 9, when it opened “Savannah Sipping Society,” with a four-woman cast.
Due to state rules, the capacity for each performance is limited to only 50 people in the 334-seat venue. Plated dinners are served in lieu of the traditional buffet. For the safety of guests and staff members, temperatures will be taken when patrons arrive and face masks must be worn to enter the theater, when interacting with the staff and whenever guests are away from their tables.
Circa ’21 also will be temporarily closing The Speakeasy next door, after this Friday.
‘Savannah Sipping Society’ is the last show Circa ’21 has slated before a scheduled shutdown through the end of 2020.
Circa plans to reopen in mid-January with the comedy “The Play That Goes Wrong.” Reservations for that show, or any other show in the theater’s 2021 season, are still confirmed. There is no need to call or email, Hitchcock said.
Circa ’21’s phone lines (309-786-7733, ext. 2) will be open until Nov. 13, and gift certificates and season tickets are still available to purchase as holiday gifts. They may be purchased online at circa21.com or email dlaake@circa21.com.
For patrons who had individual (not season) tickets for the November or December dates, Circa is requesting that instead of a refund, the patron seek an equal credit for a show with no expiration date, Brett said, since they’ll have no income coming in for the second time this year.
If they reopened in late November, they would not be able to replace an actor who got sick, unlike a restaurant that could more easily replace a waiter, Brett said.
“Servers are fairly easy to replace; actors aren’t,” he said. “That’s where we’re different — there’s no one like us in the state. That’s the bigger issue, you can’t replace actors, who knows lines, the music, has costume requirements. You don’t replace somebody like that.
“Instead of potentially opening and closing, we’re better off, hopefully things are better off at that point in January,” Brett said. “Our hope is, if it calms down in January, potentially at that point, we could reopen in January with 50 percent capacity, which would be great.”
The smaller existing Circa staff (which has much reduced Bootleggers wait staff and kitchen staff) will be kept on until mid-November, when they can get back on unemployment, he said.
After this weekend, staff will do more deep cleaning and sanitizing, in preparation to re-open in January, Brett said.
The 44th season, which was due to start with “Winter Wonderland” Nov. 11, is to include:
- “The Play That Goes Wrong”(Jan. 13 – March 13). Welcome to Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s newest production: “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous — and outrageously hilarious.
- The Church Basement Ladiesin “You Smell Barn!” (March 17 – May 15). The latest in the popular series, that began with Circa doing the original in 2007. With plenty of crazy antics, loads of fresh laughs and spanking new original songs, “You Smell Barn” celebrates rural life in the 1950s.
- “Beehive”(May 19 – July 10). This musical revue is a fun, frothy flashback to the fabulous females of ’60s pop music. “Beehive” matches big voices with big hairdos, paying tribute to the ladies who unmistakably left their mark, such as Connie Francis, The Supremes, Annette Funicello, Janis Joplin, Tina Turner and Aretha Franklin.
- “Saturday Night Fever”(July 14 – Sept. 11). A year and a half after it was originally scheduled, Circa’s plan is stayin’ alive, with the stage musical based on the 1977 movie phenomenon that launched the disco era and made John Travolta and The Bee Gees household names.
- “Disenchanted!”(Sept. 15 – Nov. 6). In an adult parody of fairy tales, Snow White and her disenchanted princesses shine in a hilarious, naughty hit musical for grown-ups that’s anything but Grimm. These royal renegades tossed off their tiaras to set the record straight in this outrageous, not-for-the-kids musical.
