Vernonites can fill the seats at this live performance venue, sort of.

Borrowing a page from the sports world, the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre (VDPAC) is inviting residents and businesses to take a seat with its Audience Cut-Outs promotion.

鈥淚鈥檓 a huge baseball fan,鈥� VDPAC鈥檚 executive director Jim Harding said. 鈥淚 saw what the Blue Jays and other pro sports teams did last summer and thought: why couldn鈥檛 we do that?鈥�

Centre staff looked at the idea last fall but the promotion was put on hold as COVID-19 regulations continued to change rapidly.

Harding said the with the province鈥檚 four-step Restart Plan, full stage shows and concerts could return by late-fall, so it was the right time to revisit this idea. At least until full-capacity shows can make a comeback.

Now, patrons of VDPAC can get their life-size, full-colour photo 鈥� from the waist up 鈥� printed on a coroplast cutout seated right in the theatre.

Sponsors can also have their logo added as another visual show of community support.

These cutouts also have a practical function, VDPAC said. As venues remain at half-capacity, cutouts will be used to keep the real audience members appropriately socially distanced.

鈥淲e took a photo from our stage of our sample cut-outs seated in the house, 鈥� says Harding. 鈥淭hey look real, so for performers, with a successful campaign, artists won鈥檛 have to face a half-empty house when they perform, which is also a great show of support for them as well.鈥�

For more information and to order, patrons and sponsors can head to and click on 鈥渏oin our crowd.鈥�

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