By Elizabeth MacKinnon
The Musquodoboit Valley Bicentennial Theatre (MVBT) in Middle Musquodoboit recently
opened its doors for a grand reopening concert after being closed since March of 2020.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the beloved community center and theatre was closed by
HRM due to the risk of community spread. However, even with its doors officially closed, the
theater stayed active and supported the community. Built in 1928, the theatre has functioned
within the Musquodoboit Valley as both an event venue and a community center. In a recent
interview with the Cooperator, MVBT board member Erin Taylor discussed the theater before,
during, and after the pandemic.
The MVBT is supported under HRM Recreation, with the building owned and maintained by the
Halifax Municipality, Taylor explained. Having that financial stability allowed the theater to
provide free events, and to explore different platforms for events through the pandemic. “We
are happy that we've been able to wait as long as we have, and been able to play it safe,”
Taylor said.
The theater hosted a series of virtual events, virtual pub nights, and A Very Merry
Musquodoboit Christmas Special, with a few in-person events over this summer, like a day
camp and a paint night. “The events allowed us to have a little something to sort of keep the
community going to keep the connection with us going and bring people the opportunity to
enjoy the local talent we have here,” Taylor said.
Now that the theater has the green light to host in-person events again, they kicked off their
show season with a grand re-opening concert and a lineup of several shows and events over the
next month.
“In terms of an arts and culture facility, we are just very happy to be hosting arts and culture,”
Taylor said. “Our goals are just to get as many of our community out as possible to enjoy the
shows and the talent we have lined up for them. We've got a really nice offering of different
stuff, we've got different styles of music happening across the season, and we've got some live
theater…We’re very happy to have some live theater coming.”
Looking beyond the fall, Taylor said they were looking forward to doing “some of the stuff we
weren't able to do, like our Robbie Burns Night. And we’re going to support the high school
again. We’re partnering with the school to produce a musical. Our goal is to present a
wonderful, beautiful, sold-out musical again.”