At 105 years old, the Strand Theatre has survived many things. The lingering COVID-19 pandemic is proving tough to overcome, though.

While sitting idle, the theatre has undergone much-needed repairs and is now prepped and readied for a big event.

Cue up Costaki Economopoulus.

The veteran comedian (photo) will finish off a nine-night tour through Wisconsin, Iowa and Indiana with a show Saturday night at the Strand.

“I love that venue,” said Economopoulus. “It is such a great place. It’s going to be fun to work with Willie and help the Strand make some money.”

Economopoulus will be joined by comedian Willie G. (photo above), the son of Tom Griswold of the nationally-syndicated morning radio show “The Bob & Tom Show.”

“(The Strand) is such a cool space. It’s got some heart,” said Economopoulus. “I have never had anything short of a fantastic show in that space. It’s a great place to do stand up.”

Performing anywhere is a blessing, according to Economopoulus, who saw the entertainment industry, which includes the venues that host intimate shows, take a beating at the hands of COVID-19.

“This pandemic affected you so differently depending on what line of work you’re in,” he said. “When you talk to comics it was like the world had ended. They couldn’t do what they do. Restaurants, bars, the service industry, small venues were all brutalized.”

The Strand Theatre, around since 1916 in downtown Shelbyville, has survived and is ready to serve the community once again.

“It’s been more stressful trying to figure out how we are going to survive then it ever was getting started with nothing and building it,” said David Finkel, director of the Strand Theatre. “The stress is off the charts.

“We have been self supportive. We are in a model where the community has not had to support us, other than to show up. That’s pretty cool.”

Tickets are available for Saturday night’s show at https://strandpac.square.site.

The last time the Strand was alive for a large event was a hip-hop concert in February of 2020.

Economopoulus admitted he was in denial when the pandemic first took hold of the United States.

“The first couple of weeks of March I refused to accept that I would have to cancel every gig in my calendar,” he said. “It was a hard pill to swallow.”

So Economopoulus packed his family up and left Los Angeles to return to the family’s roots in the southeastern part of the country and lived a simple life. He would continue to make radio appearances and book an occasional corporate Zoom meeting.

“It was not great but it was better than nothing,” he said. “And the Zoom shows were psychologically good for me to know I was still funny. I needed those as benchmarks in my arc of getting my head together.”

Economopoulus has returned to the stage with a new act that has been refined as his rapid fire tour progresses.

“I’m doing a new hour … shaking off the rust and building a new show,” he said. “I’ve been very happy with how this week has gone. I’ve been off the road for over a year so for me, it’s nice to be back out.”

While the Strand sat empty, the stage was rebuilt to make it level from front to rear. And a new dressing room was built below it.

“As we have said, we have made lemonade out of lemons,” said Finkel of utilizing the down time to make a major change to the stage area. “We would never have been able to do that.”

With the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the state, Finkel has halted booking efforts for the remainder of 2021 and early 2022 to see what the future holds.

“It takes a lot of savvy as a theatre owner and operator to understand what moves to make,” said Finkel. “Do you book or do you not book? Do you open or do you not open? Do you error on the side of safety and health? Do you error on the side of safety financially? Do you error on the side of safety organizationally?”

Masks will not be mandatory for patrons Saturday night. Finkel stated the staff will wear masks as a safety precaution.

“We are here and we are ready,” said Finkel.