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ROME, June 16-- While catering industry across Italy is busy in welcoming back their guests thanks to the latest stage of easing effective on Monday, the situation in the country's entertainment sector such as cinemas, dance clubs, and theaters is still bleak. Despite being allowed to reopen, most of such entertainment places chose to keep the shutdown. In Rome, just two of the city's 60 cinemas opened their doors on Monday, with two more planning to do so on Thursday. Across Italy, according to media reports, only a few dozen cinemas reopened Monday. Although no national statistics for dance clubs and theaters is available, the evidence shows that the story was similar. "Why open now? Who would come? Would it be worth the effort?" Massimo Romeo Piparo, artistic director of Rome's storied Sistina Theater in Rome, threw questions in a row. Piparo told Xinhua that the theater -- which over the years featured iconic singers including Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, and Barbara Streisand and shows that include "Billy Elliot" and "Mamma Mia" -- is now in a "survival mode." That means they have reduced costs to the bare minimum in order to survive until things return to normal. "We have 19 full-time employees but when there's a show that jumps to more than 200," he said. "With social distancing rules we'd be able to use one seat out of three, but we can't raise ticket prices. We'd lose money every night." | 
