Standup comedian Ron White will be the first artist to take the stage at Desert Diamond Casino’s Diamond Entertainment Center since the pandemic began in March 2020.

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After a nearly 2½-year hiatus, Desert Diamond Casino is tiptoeing back into the live entertainment arena.

The casino. at 1100 W. Pima Mine Road off Interstate 19 in Sahuarita, will host comedian Ron White on Sept. 17.

It will be the first live event at the casino’s Diamond Center since the COVID-19 shutdown in March 2020.

“We are just so excited to be able to start up our entertainment” again, said Treena Parvello, director of government and public relations for the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise. “We know that there’s still challenges with supply chains and other things going on, but our intent is to have a full entertainment series and schedule and hopefully getting a number of acts each month.”

So far, though, White is the only act penciled into the schedule. Parvello said they are in talks with artists but no other shows have been announced.

Desert Diamond is the last venue in Tucson to relaunch its live entertainment programming. The downtown Fox Tucson and Rialto theaters, as well as the Tucson Convention Center venues and the AVA at Casino del Sol, began holding live events in spring 2021.

The Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Arizona Opera and Broadway in Tucson, as well as many of Tucson’s smaller arts organizations, returned to live performances last fall, initiating COVID protocols that included mandatory masks and proof of COVID vaccination as a safety precaution.

Parvello said the decision to keep the Diamond Center closed was based on Tohono O’odham and CDC protocols.

“I think for us, safety was our priority during the pandemic and we committed to it after the community opened up,” she explained. “We finally got to a point where we wanted to move forward. We feel like we’re ready.”

In addition to the Sahuarita casino, the Tohono O’odham operate a tiny gaming operation in Why, not far from Ajo; a casino and hotel on South Nogales Highway in Tucson; and a West Valley venue in Glendale that opened in February 2020, just weeks before the nationwide pandemic shutdown.

Tickets for White’s Sept. 17 show are $49.50 to $69.50 through ddcaz.com.

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Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch