Hylton Performing Arts Center to remain shuttered until March

The Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas had planned to reopen to the public in January. Now the center says it will remain closed spring, at least.

The Center for the Arts in Fairfax, VA and the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas, VA will delay the start of indoor, in-person performances until March 2021, at the earliest. The two performing arts venues, which are operated by George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) will continue to present digital performances and events through Mason Arts at Home and Hylton at Home, featuring a diverse lineup of renowned professional artists, community arts partners, and students and faculty of CVPA. The venues will gradually phase in a small number of in-person, indoor performances when it is considered safe to do so, in coordination with state and George Mason University officials.

This decision means that more than 20 performances originally scheduled for January into March are affected, including longstanding favorites the Virginia Opera and the American Festival Pops Orchestra, as well as some performances rescheduled from spring 2020, including the six-time Grammy Award-winning Irish ensemble The Chieftains. These performances will be canceled, reimagined as digital events, or rescheduled for future seasons.

“With patrons’ well-being at the forefront of our actions, we continue to monitor safety levels and will open our doors accordingly,” shared Director of Programming Adrienne Bryant Godwin. “This time allows us to ensure patron safety as well as that of the artists and the staff who make each performance possible. We are working with the performers who were not able to appear at our venues during this time to reschedule for future seasons.”

The venues will announce new programming updates in January 2021, which will feature a combination of both digital and in-person performances through May. For most ticketed performances, sales will be announced by email a few weeks prior to the event and on the venue’s website.