The New York Times: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says that most pandemic capacity restrictions will ease in two weeks. Mayor Bill de Blasio says he wants the city to fully reopen on July 1. But Broadway, a beacon for tourists and an engine for the economy, is not quite ready to turn on the stage lights.
5 comments:
This decision makes a lot of sense to me, but it would have been nice to see some sort of partial reopening before the fall, as much of the city is planning on reopening earlier than that. It does seem like there would be some financial concerns with opening in a partial capacity because less revenue would be coming in and the shows would not be any cheaper to produce. I am very excited to be back in a Broadway theatre. Broadway adds so much to the culture of New York City, as well as a lot to the economic development of the city. So many businesses rely on these shows every night for audience members to contribute to the city’s economy in other ways. I could see how the city would try to rush this decision for this reason, but it is reassuring to see that deBlasio and Cuomo are treading cautiously with this for safety reasons. I am very hopeful for all of the people returning to their Broadway jobs for the first time in so long.
Wow, it's crazy to think that theatre hasn't reopened from a pandemic since the time of Shakespeare. It really hits home how new, unexpected, and uncharted this territory they're trying to navigate is. I'm glad they're taking the time to wait until lifting social distancing for house sizes is realistic and considered safe. My big worry, as is the worry of many writing, reading, and being written about in these articles about the reopening of live entertainment, is that in our haste to bring ourselves back we will sacrifice personal safety. I hadn't thought about how each show individually will struggle to market itself in this post shutdown environment and it's smart that they're starting off with shows that already have large fan bases and good name recognition. If they are successful and begin to bring back business, smaller, less known shows will have a little of the legwork done for them.
Nothing is making me more happy than the switch of these articles from things closing to things reopening. I feel such a sense of hope. It is interesting to see the world re-navigate theatre, since so many of us have completely forgot the business that it entails and kinda taken a break. It's crazy to me how many theatre artists have had no time to really work. I wonder how many vocal warm ups, work outs, and practice getting back onto stage for the same quality will be for so many performers, and how many designers will have to relearn what they love and how to do things. I think that it will be really interesting to see broadway gradually reopen, what the producers have deemed as most important to go first, and how the audience demographic might be different. Tourist families might not be coming out to see theatre anymore, or maybe everyone will come in a surge. Who knows!
Wow I’m sure if I dig through my old comments I’d find something about how I can’t imagine the day that I get to read a headline about Broadway finally opening up again. This is a big step and I am so excited for it because it feels kind of like the finish line. I don’t really get why people are confused as to why Broadway is opening up in september and not in two weeks. Things and production as whole has been shut down now for over a year. You can’t just suddenly open a show again overnight. This takes so much planning and communication a lot of which has never been done before because this is a unique situation. I can’t even imagine all of the meetings that are going on right now just to ensure a safe and smooth return to Broadway. I’m interested to see how each show is going to approach this new challenge.
A year ago, when we were fighting for better unemployment, we said the theater industry was the first to close and would be the last to reopen, and unfortunately it seems like we were right. There is so much theater out there that does so much with and it so little, and it is frustrating to see that Broadway has decided not to adapt. Obviously, the goal is to return to normal with full houses, but if there was a business model that allowed for 50% capacity, theaters could reopen sooner. However, I understand why that’s not a preferred option for anyone in Broadway. The two costs listed in the article of labor and rent aren’t going away. I don’t want people getting paid less, after a year of being out of work. I also don’t see rent getting any cheaper for the theaters on Broadway. Although, the only reason Broadway is what it is is because we say it is, and we could collectively say a new cheaper area is now the pinnacle of theater in America, but that’s not happening so we are where we are and cost aren’t going down so we won’t reopen until the fall.
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