After several months shuttered, a nomadic Halloween and a temporary new home downtown that effectively saved their Christmas, the Renaissance Theatre Co. is very close to returning to its familiar digs in Ivanhoe Village.
In an email shared by Ren founder and creative director Donald Rupe to the Theatre’s subscriber lists, he broke the good news this week.
“Last week, after weeks of back-and-forth to nail down the details, our permit application was approved through the City of Orlando … essentially we’ve officially changed the use of the building to that of a theater, which raised the occupant load in our space to 499 people (way more than we’ve ever had in the building before), and then that requires us to upgrade our fire alarm system to one that has a voice instead of an alarm; the fire alarm upgrade is the only major change we need to make, and the building itself is safe,” wrote Rupe in the email. “We’re hopeful the improvements to the building will be completed quickly, and we hope our next update will be that we’re going home.”
With the aforementioned upgraded fire alarm set to be installed and now this new permit in hand and final inspections on the immediate horizon, Renaissance Theatre Co. hopes to reopen at some point in February. “As soon as we pass our inspection, we’ll let you know and that’ll come with some more special announcements,” Rupe added.
Speaking to the Orlando Sentinel, Rupe teased that a few of those announcement just might include a homecoming party and “a new show that combines party-like elements from previous favorites like Boots and 54.”
And while Ren staff await said inspection, performances of Mean Girls and the Off the Record Wednesday drag shows continue at the Ren’s temporary home on Church Street.
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