Curtains closed, but still
hanging: Cobb’s arts
and entertainment
venues looking for
brighter lights in 2021
ARTS &
ENTERTAINMENT A year ago, the coronavirus
FORECAST 2021 7
pandemic was a looming
force, but still just that
— looming. No one knew
that a year later, it would
be so much more than looming.
It would be real, and its
effects would be real, too.
There is perhaps no other
industry that was affected
more by the pandemic than
arts and entertainment.
After all, what do you do
when your entire business
model relies upon a large
number of people gathered
together in an enclosed
space, watching other
people perform, when those
very things are not viable
nor safe?
Thankfully, no theaters in
Cobb have closed because
of the pandemic — yet.
But they certainly have
had to use the creativity
they express every day with
or without a pandemic
to continue bringing
entertainment to the masses
who so desperately need it
and employing those who
help make it happen.
By Katy Ruth Camp
Earl and Rachel Smith
Strand Theatre General
Manager Andy Gaines
in May 2020. Gaines has
adopted the mantra on
his theater’s marquee that
“This is just intermission.”
Manda Costoulas