I think the bigger surprise to me is that they wouldn’t cover enough for this to run during rain. Perhaps they won’t actually use this for the concerts at Festivals since those need to run regardless of weather due to dining packages. So I guess they’ll still use America Gardens for those and have smaller shows here.
Like others, I’m struggling to fully comprehend Communicore’s purpose. It seems rather redundant in this park. Epcot has no shortage of huge buildings.
I don't think this was ever intended to be used for large-scale entertainment like what's at the American Gardens Theatre. The audience viewing area is only about half the size, has no meaningful shade/weather covering, has no seating, and is more-or-less flat. It's not really big enough to accommodate large crowds, and even if the crowds did show up, most of them wouldn't be able to see the stage. It is especially poorly designed for any sort of reserved seating that you might get from one of the dining packages that they love to sell.
Additionally, the stage itself is poorly configured for big acts. It's fairly small, so anything more than about a half-dozen performers would be a tight fit. The sleek building design doesn't contemplate a soffit or proscenium above the stage to allow lighting and sound equipment to be hidden from view (the temporary banners are doing a lot of work at the moment). The stage is only about 2' tall, so sightlines from the audience aren't great (as
@CntrlFlPete pointed out above). The audience is exposed to full sunlight but the stage is in the shade, which makes it hard to see what's going on up there from a distance. The stage has that weird 2-sided configuration, where the backside opens up to the main walkway, with no divider from that space or clearly defined crowdflow. And of course, the performers have to cross through guest areas to get to the stage, limiting the viability for any high-demand personalities (be they Disney characters, celebrity chefs, or musicians).
All of this matches the earliest promotional images they released for this area.
Looking at the design of the space, it was never intended for anything larger than mid-level entertaingment; something along the lines of the Candlelight Processional or even Eat to the Beat-type concerts would be a poor fit for the venue. It seems like it was intended for things like cooking demonstrations (if they ever return) and the Arts acrobat troupe, or even the Encanto show they're running now; nice diversions if you're in the area, but nothing that that's going to bring you in from the other side of the park. Why the lawn space is so large for relatively modest performances is anybody's guess.
I suspect this location was built to satisfy a checklist of functions to replace with the project, and it's the replacement for the old stage on the south end of the Fountain of Nations. And unfortunately, like that stage, I imagine this one will be vacant a lot of the time because it's just not a great venue for much of anything. At best, I'd like to think we could have some decent programming in this area during non-festival periods when the American Gardens Theatre isn't being used, to give guests
something yearround. But realistically I expect both locations will be vacant a lot of the time, leaving guests to wonder what's supposed to be there. Which, in its own sad way, makes it a perfect fit for Epcot.
