Drive-in movie theaters have been one of the better atavistic recreational activities to emerge during our long pandemic summer. And although Autumn is here and many of these drive-ins are going dark, a new one is starting up in Astoria this weekend—and it's a hybrid of live performances and outdoor movie showings.
Broadway At The Drive-In will kick things off this weekend at Radial Park on the Astoria waterfront. From September 26th through at least October 11th, they'll be showing the 2004 film The Phantom of the Opera, and two performers who have starred in the musical on stage—Derrick Davis and Ali Ewolt—will sing highlights from Andrew Lloyd Webber's score, accompanied by a live 11-piece orchestra.
And sometime in October, they will be showing Prince's classic Purple Rain with a live musical accompaniment as well. A spokesperson for Radial Park told Gothamist the details are still being worked out about the Purple Rain performers, but Time Out New York notes it will be "a nightly 11:30 p.m. screening." The spokesperson added that they plan to show other movies as well, which will be announced at a later date.
In addition to being able to drive there and watch the show from a car, you can also buy tickets for a picnic table, which seats up to four people. "Don’t have a car? No problem!," the organizers say. "Rent a picnic table and a retro boombox to hear the movie and live performances. Sing along with the show on your own karaoke microphone with Bluetooth speaker."
Snacks and beverages will be available to purchase on site. And there will be the usual safety precautions, including temperature checks when you arrive, social distancing guidelines, and masks required any time people are outside of vehicles. In addition, each picnic table or parking space will "get their own mini parking lot, that has been spaced out in accordance with the current social-distancing guidelines." People at the tables are allowed to be maskless while in their spaces.
There will also be "color-coded, glow-in-the-dark wrist bands" given to attendees in green, yellow or red to indicate your level of comfort while social distancing: "green means go, yellow means I’m being cautious and red means please don’t come near." This doesn't mean that social distancing doesn't apply to green wrist bands though: a spokesperson explained that "green would indicate comfort with the 6' distance." The idea is that if you have a yellow or red band, you might not be comfortable even with the six foot distance, although it seems unnecessary to have a yellow band with such a binary distinction.
Tickets, which cost between $75 and $150 for a vehicle lane or table, must be purchased in advance. You can get all ticket info here.
[Update, October 6th] Radial Park announced today that they will begin showing Purple Rain: A Live Drive-In Experience starting this weekend. It will have a preview showing this Saturday, October 10th at 10 p.m. Following that, performances will continue Thursday, October 15th through Sunday, October 18th and Thursday, October 22nd through Sunday, October 25th at 7 p.m. nightly.
They write that the performances will include a live 8-piece band performing with the film, as well as "select songs from the talents of American Idol semi-finalist, Aaron Marcellus (“The Kid”), Broadway’s Nick Rashad Burroughs (“Morris”) and Grammy Award nominee Lenesha 'Sister' Randolph (“Mother”)." You can get full details and ticket info here.
