A little more than two months since announcing plans for a modified schedule with a hand selected cast, Terry Spyres and Pat Allen have made the difficult decision to officially cancel the 30th season for the Ozark Mountain Players in Mansfield. The decision was made on June 17 as a letter was issues to all OMP members.
“We waited as long as we could (to make a decision),” said Pat Allen. “The way things happened in Missouri and neighboring states with the virus popping up and numbers not going down as we had hoped, we just couldn’t in all good conscience to go ahead and have the show.”
Allen said there were plans to revise the shows scheduled for just three weekends (Sep. 25-26, Oct. 2-3 and Oct. 9-10) to feature casting within families. She went on to say that while they could control the casting process, there was no controlling the audience.
“At the Wilder Home, they could make people wear a mask and be separated when they come in, but we couldn’t do that in an audience situation,” Allen added. “We, in good conscience, have to ere on the side of caution. It’s too big of a risk with anyone who has any kind of impairment.”
Allen said that organizers are now looking forward to the 2021 season, where they will have the opportunity to use their new sound system that can be run from anywhere in the park.
“It will help with a lot of the sound problems we have had in the past,” Allen said. “We’ve got wonderful families and wonderful cast members…We’re looking for next year to be amazing.”
