Wednesday, October 06, 2021
Saving New York Independent Theater: An Update
New York Theater: If you think that reopening has solved the problems of New York’s theaters and theater artists, listen up:
“We’re talking about life and death: The life and death of our neighborhoods; the life and death of our culture,” Olympia Kazi, of NYC Artist Coalition.
“Without a doubt, the community of working artists in New York is at a tipping point,” Jenny Dubnau, of the Artist Studio Affordability Project.
“The small theater industry faces increasing challenges from rising operation costs,” Guy Yedwab, of the League of Independent Theater, .
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2 comments:
I just read an interesting article the other day about the streaming services of hollywood monopolizing the film and television industry of the west coast, and I think many of the points made in that article are applicable to the state of independent theater in New York, which is emblematic of theater across America as it is our nation’s hub. The reopening has focused mostly on broadway shows with huge budgets and wealthy producers that can afford to operate under the new mandates that will inevitably raise the operating costs of any theater’s day to day during the run of a show. So now, the biggest, richest theaters are back in swing while the independents are left in flux like the independent filmmakers who weren’t chosen to work for the big studios. I think the continuation of this practice could result in a long term issue for the theatrical community in which small theaters are slowly shut down or assimilated until a few companies and a few producers rule New York’s theater industry.
This isn’t a new issue presented to the theatre community. Smaller theatres always face the threat of instability due to underfunding and insane rent prices, but I think that the pandemic has further exacerbated these circumstances. Still, I had never thought about all the legality that went into the process of helping these theatres. This article was well organized as it showed the different levels of government and what policies they were currently working on to improve the community of smaller theatres in New York City. One that I found very interesting was the Open Culture Program. It's interesting to think about if this would have been thought of if the pandemic wasn’t a contributing factor. Theatre has taken place outside for a very long time, but it is great the NYC City council cemented the outdoors as an optional venue. I’ve seen a few outdoor shows, and while they have their pros and cons, it’s an excellent temporary solution as we continue to navigate COVID.
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