J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts has announced the renewal of the touring concert series after its 2020-21 cancelation.

Director of Theater Operations Kathleen Eads said that staff members are looking forward to a new season.

“We are very excited and hopeful that the audiences will return and we’ll have a great season,” Eads said.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last touring concert season was canceled for the first time ever. Eads said when that happened, everyone became quite concerned about the future of live arts.

“The staff were in a bit of a daze,” Eads said.  “I’ve been in arts administration for almost 30 years, nothing like this ever happened so there was no precedent as to what to do.”

Scheidegger’s staff has faced many challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic while working on the touring series.

“During the closure, we lost most of our front of house staff, that being box office, marketing, and patron services,” Eads said. “The ticketing system that had been in use for 10 years went out of business last December, so we had to install a new one.”

The safety of the people always remains Lindenwood’s top priority. That is why the university installed a state-of-the-art air filtration system in the theatre. Many safety measures are being taken.

“The audience will be masked as well as all house staff and stage labor,” Eads said. “We will check the temperature at the door, and we have a no-questions-asked refund policy so that people who feel ill, even on the day of the show, can get their ticket refunded.”

Creating a program for the new season is a long process that might take up to six months of preparation. Eads said that this process involves many people, programs, and departments such as the President of the university and performing arts academic departments. They all work together on creating an interesting season for everyone to enjoy.

“I programmed the season with the intent of attracting students in particular to attend the shows,” Eads said. “ I also am looking to attract more families and diversify the audience. It is my philosophy that being a part of a university Performing Arts Center, the programming should be for the campus community and then the surrounding community.”

Tickets for the season went out on sale July 26 to previous subscribers and Aug. 3 for everyone else.

“We are offering a new option for purchasing, buy four shows and get a 10 percent off the price,” Eads said. “I restructured the overall pricing and the lowest price seat is $15 – so no excuses not to attend.”

Tickets can be purchased here.