“We have been hopefully optimistic these past few months that we could be a part of your summer, but we have made the very difficult decision to cancel our 2021 season to ensure everyone’s safety,” Bill Mutimer, NCC Theatre Department Head and NCC Summer Theatre Producing Artistic Director, announced April 23.

“We are very disappointed to do this, but our primary concern is for the health and safety of our production team of cast, crew and musicians; our local audiences; and our visitors to the area,” said Mutimer.

NCC Summer Theatre presents its shows in the Lipkin Theatre on the college’s Green Pond Road, Bethlehem Township campus.

“While this past year has presented untold challenges to everyone, we were able to present a modified season for the 2020-2021 school year,” Mutimer said. “And we thank you for supporting those productions. However, there is one final difficult decision to make to get us through the final stretch of this challenging experience we are going through together.

“The projected decrease in revenue for this summer poses a substantial risk to the overall fiscal health of our program. We pride ourselves on bringing quality theater at a family-affordable price, and that is just not an option with the livestreaming and video on demand resources available at this time.

“We plan to pick up next year with our 2022 season and be ready to celebrate reopening with you for an entire summer.

“In the meantime, we want to stay in touch with you. We will be continuing our weekly Sunday evening newsletter with features about our NCC students and summer theater company members - previous performances as well as what they’re doing now - and we will also maintain our presence on social media.

“As the lights come back on in area theaters, we hope you will be there to support our local artists. And as always, we appreciate your support of our programs,” Mutimer said.