CMU School of Drama


Friday, March 12, 2021

The Night New York's Theaters, Museums and Concert Halls Shut Down

The New York Times: March began with an ominous drumbeat. A packed cruise ship with a coronavirus outbreak was left floating for days off the coast of California. South by Southwest was canceled. The N.B.A. suspended its season. And then, on March 12, Broadway shut down, and with it every large gathering in New York City.

1 comment:

Dean Thordarson said...

It is so hard to believe that we have been living through Covid for over a year now. Reading these accounts from performers, curators, and all others was truly heartbreaking. I remember how everything began, so long ago it almost feels like a dream, or rather the beginning of a terribly long and ongoing nightmare. I remember hearing the first mentions of a “coronavirus” outbreak in early January of 2020, and everyone was joking that it was how the world was going to end in 2020, despite all the positive outlooks going into the new decade. Then in February, I started hearing more and more about it and it was scary, but still relatively small and not in the US. Oh wait, then it was… but it’s only a case or two and they’ve been put into isolation, right? Now there is a couple hundred cases? I remember departing for Spring break then, packing my bag for a week of no classes, flying home without a care in the world. Then came the 11th of March, 2020. The day our world turned upside down. The WHO declared Covid an official pandemic, and Farnam Jahanian sent out the fateful email, informing the student body that classes were transitioning to an online format… “indefinitely.” Los Angeles said lockdown for two weeks. Then two months. And now, a year later, things are finally beginning to calm down. I hope the downward trend continues.