WYO cancels fundraising gala

Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the WYO Performing Arts & Education Center won’t be hosting the annual Gala Fundraiser this year.

Erin Butler, who’s the WYO executive director, said the performance of Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” originally planned as the Gala performance, will continue as scheduled, but without the elements that mark the annual Gala.

She said “Into the Woods” will instead be presented in October as this year’s WYO Theater/Civic Theatre Guild co-production. Dates planned are Oct. 16-18 and 22-25.

Traditionally, the WYO Gala is the only fundraising event the WYO hosts in a year, and Butler said the Gala committee is planning a fundraiser in November in the form of an online auction. The auction will feature products from local artisans that are geared toward holiday gift-giving.

Butler said the WYO Theater can seat slightly over 480 people, but because of COVID-19 restrictions, seating has been limited to around 120.

She said people who want to attend the performance can go online to the WYO’s website. There, she said, they can find a distance seating chart, so when people buy tickets, they can go online, see what seats are available and choose their seats from the chart.

She said those attending performances at the WYO are encouraged to wear masks, and they can remove the masks once they’re seated.