Back-and-forth over Senator Theatre’s reopening puts Maryland’s patchwork approach to COVID-19 on display

Talia Richman and Mary Carole McCauley, The Baltimore Sun
·1 min read

After Gov. Larry Hogan announced he would allow entertainment venues to reopen, the Senator Theatre in North Baltimore quickly updated its website: It would host a Friday night showing of “Tenet” for a limited audience.

A day after Hogan issued his order, Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young held a press conference in which he said the city would take a slower approach to lifting coronavirus-related restrictions. Nothing would change here, he said, even when new state rules went into effect Friday at 5 p.m.

The Senator deleted the showtimes from its website. But in a later Facebook post, the theater declared it would, in fact, resume operations. “We’re looking forward to seeing you at the movies!” the owners wrote, alongside a link explaining the safety precautions they are taking.

The mayor’s administration balked at first, threatening enforcement should the Senator open in defiance. Finally, around 10 p.m. Wednesday, Young decided that theaters could reopen after all — albeit at a more limited capacity than Hogan would allow.