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Friday, October 21, 2022
Covid Still Heckling Broadway With Canceled Performances And Cast Substitutions
Deadline: Covid isn’t done with New York’s theater scene just yet. At least four Broadway and major Off Broadway productions have either canceled or postponed performances or temporarily replaced principal cast members in the last week due to the virus.
No duh covid isn’t done with the New York Theatre Scene. Covid isn’t done anywhere in the USA because we as a country did not take it seriously enough and it has mutated beyond what can be contained so now we have to deal with it forever. The theatre world better continue adapting and adding understudies and swings to all levels of productions. It has become semi-normal to have understudies or swings for actors but it is often overlooked for crew and stage management teams. However, each role in a production needs to have a trained person who is capable of stepping in and taking over on any given night without the production suffering for it. I also think this is a healthier model for all productions as it gives people grace and the ability to call out if they are sick or have a personal emergency. Before it felt like you could not for any circumstance miss a performance but now it is a necessity to think of how can you miss a performance without it affecting the production.
With crowded wing space and the amount of time a company spends with each other on and off stage it is no surprise that the pandemic is not over on Broadway the same way the pandemic is not over in the rest of the United States. With the lack of masking and regulations and the fact that many regulations placed in theaters for the pandemic have stopped being enforced it is no surprise cases are skyrocketing. This phenomenon is not exclusive to New York and is happening all over the world. Over the summer in my hometown a production of Singing in the Rain was completely canceled due to covid and I am sure this is happening throughout the country. Like any other thing that could interrupt a performance or rehearsal process there needs to be a long term plan to minimize and respond to covid cases in every theater as long as living in a pandemic is part of our world.
This does not come as a shock for me because I believe that their is a lot of misconception that covid is over all of a sudden due to the lack of enforcements/regulations being in place. Though covid infection rates have been decreasing and more people are getting vaccinated it is still important to be safe and remain cautious of the well-being of those around you. Especially within the theater, people are continuously in close proximity of each other whether that may be the actors/actresses on stage, production crew working behind the scenes, and the audience members themselves. Though it is sad to see how drastically Covid is effecting the theatrical industry especially since the theater depends on in person interactions and communication in order to operate. It truly is a struggle being an individual within theater during this time and we can't keep theaters closed forever, so we still have to do our part as well as the theaters in operation to try and diminish covid from invading our spaces.
I'm not really sure why this is even newsworthy at this point. Not that this shouldn't be reported on or anything, but it isn't like this is a surprise, or at least it shouldn't be to anyone. COVID is not over, and at this point, it looks like it never will be. We didn't do what we needed to early enough on, and now we have even more strains evolving to be vaccine resistant, ensuring that this will be something we have to deal with for the long haul. This will continue to be highly volatile for theatre, where most of our work demands us to be in the same room as one another for months at a time. Sure, we can do our part in mitigating the risks, like avoiding huge parties or masking, but even then, people will likely still get sick. Hopefully, serious illness can continue to be avoided, but this will be something that production companies will have to start planning for, both in calendar footprint and in funding and investors.
This news isn't really a surprise to me, or probably to anyone, but it's still the unfortunate truth. I think that live theater is just especially vulnerable to COVID outbreaks because of the nature of the work, which makes it difficult to protect against it. Then too, I'm not entirely sure but I would guess that New York City itself is also more vulnerable to COVID outbreaks than other parts of the nation because of its population. There's still a lot of uncertainty regarding COVID in the future that I think we forget about because we've gotten used to it. I still wonder sometimes if COVID is something we'll have to live with, or if it'll be gone for the most part one day, just like plagues in the past. For the time being, though, it'll be the former. I remember how much of a disappointment it was when my high school play was cancelled in 2020 - we've definitely progressed from that, but I guess there's still some time to go.
COVID will be with us for a long while yet, the same way we still face mutations of the flu virus. In many ways, I think it's admirable that we still continue to trek on in spite of the pandemic, but at the same time, it's frustrating to consider that we could have eradicated the virus if we had, collectively, taken the spread more seriously. I wonder what precautions Broadway is taking to avoid COVID exposure? I hear from friends in the film and TV business that many sets still require making up and daily COVID testing, and the sets are closed to visitors. Is the same true of Broadway? I'm going to assume not. Last I saw, Broadway dropped the masked mandate in July, so it's no surprise that COVID cases are on the rise. I wonder if the health risk is truly worth the financial risk. I would assume that theatergoers would attend Broadway shows regardless of a mask requirement, but maybe the producers of these shows felt differently. I'm curious to see how COVID affects live entertainment long-run.
There’s no way to avoid Covid in theatre–at least in classical Broadway theatre. The tight spaces huge production number of workers and actors all muddled together in New York no less marks it a brewing pot for Covid. Ccvid never went away and so it’s a no brainer that it’s still affecting Broadway and New York at large. It’s sad to see production come to a halt, but by this point in time it should just be a considered peril of opening a show during a pandemic. With the new boosters coming out for it’s frequent mutations and winter around the corner with it’s other plethora of colds and flus I presume the issue will only get worse. I don’t think the theatre industry needs to go into shut down again, but I do think it’s just a borderline un-news worthy risk you take joining a company now. Also audiences that all crowd together bring in thousands of more ways to get production members sick and make the issue continue to persist on the viewers side of Broadway as well.
The reason I clicked on this article is because I feel like it is really important to acknowledge that Covid is still going on. Ever since 2020 it has felt like it is never going away in my opinion. It is sad that it has become almost a normal part of life. But if it will be around for a while how can we adapt without risking lives. I feel like the Broadway community reopening was risky but needed if they wanted to stay alive throughout the industry. Seeing all these shows adjust their dates for thor shows because of covid gives me a better understanding of the theater community. For the longest time I thought it was go go go anf the show must go on no matter what even if you have a cold or the flu. Now I am watching these broadway shows move dates and adjust for the health of the actors. I find it refreshing that health has been put more forward in this community.
I find this article to be really important especially when discussing the theatrical scene as a whole entity, not just broadway. A lot of people have begun to disregard COVID as a whole, and although it may seem like the virus is gone, it is still a big threat, especially more recently with more variants of the virus emerging. The theatre industry itself had to change over the course of COVID, with some people going to digital distribution of works, with others taking advantage of other online platforms to still be able to actively perform. Especially when looking at our own school, it is truly important to relay the idea that although it may seem as though we are done with COVID, we should still actively be looking to keep ourselves safe and healthy, and always make moves to ensure the good health of others as well.
It hurts to see Covid still affect our industry this far into the pandemic. It’s kind of discouraging, especially for us young people just hopping in knowing that we could be shut down, postponed, and have more of a risk of getting sick. When covid spread at the beginning of our school year in the School of Drama, it was a scary time. I wasn’t even a part of a production, but I can image the added stress that covid causes on productions. I don’t know what we have to do or what we can do as an industry to help prevent cases but also still perform. It really falls on each individual person to do their part and get vaccinated and still take this seriously. I’m very interested to see how this upcoming cold and flu season will affect the theatre industry in New York City. I’m sure we can expect cases to rise.
I knew that Covid was still affecting the industry. I have heard updates on some shows having to be canceled or postponed but I didn’t realize that there were this many shows being canceled. This pandemic is still slowly killing the theater industry and it is still happening. Companies are still losing money and people and that does not foster an environment where people can be paid more and where we can have better schedules. I hope that we can figure out a way to have a better industry. It might just need to look different than it has before. Which we already know there has been some resistance to. It also makes sense that covid cases are going up now that the cold and flu season is fully in progress. Hopefully, as the months and years go on, we will be able to move on and this pandemic will have less of an affect on our industry.
11 comments:
No duh covid isn’t done with the New York Theatre Scene. Covid isn’t done anywhere in the USA because we as a country did not take it seriously enough and it has mutated beyond what can be contained so now we have to deal with it forever. The theatre world better continue adapting and adding understudies and swings to all levels of productions. It has become semi-normal to have understudies or swings for actors but it is often overlooked for crew and stage management teams. However, each role in a production needs to have a trained person who is capable of stepping in and taking over on any given night without the production suffering for it. I also think this is a healthier model for all productions as it gives people grace and the ability to call out if they are sick or have a personal emergency. Before it felt like you could not for any circumstance miss a performance but now it is a necessity to think of how can you miss a performance without it affecting the production.
With crowded wing space and the amount of time a company spends with each other on and off stage it is no surprise that the pandemic is not over on Broadway the same way the pandemic is not over in the rest of the United States. With the lack of masking and regulations and the fact that many regulations placed in theaters for the pandemic have stopped being enforced it is no surprise cases are skyrocketing. This phenomenon is not exclusive to New York and is happening all over the world. Over the summer in my hometown a production of Singing in the Rain was completely canceled due to covid and I am sure this is happening throughout the country. Like any other thing that could interrupt a performance or rehearsal process there needs to be a long term plan to minimize and respond to covid cases in every theater as long as living in a pandemic is part of our world.
Theo
This does not come as a shock for me because I believe that their is a lot of misconception that covid is over all of a sudden due to the lack of enforcements/regulations being in place. Though covid infection rates have been decreasing and more people are getting vaccinated it is still important to be safe and remain cautious of the well-being of those around you. Especially within the theater, people are continuously in close proximity of each other whether that may be the actors/actresses on stage, production crew working behind the scenes, and the audience members themselves. Though it is sad to see how drastically Covid is effecting the theatrical industry especially since the theater depends on in person interactions and communication in order to operate. It truly is a struggle being an individual within theater during this time and we can't keep theaters closed forever, so we still have to do our part as well as the theaters in operation to try and diminish covid from invading our spaces.
I'm not really sure why this is even newsworthy at this point. Not that this shouldn't be reported on or anything, but it isn't like this is a surprise, or at least it shouldn't be to anyone. COVID is not over, and at this point, it looks like it never will be. We didn't do what we needed to early enough on, and now we have even more strains evolving to be vaccine resistant, ensuring that this will be something we have to deal with for the long haul. This will continue to be highly volatile for theatre, where most of our work demands us to be in the same room as one another for months at a time. Sure, we can do our part in mitigating the risks, like avoiding huge parties or masking, but even then, people will likely still get sick. Hopefully, serious illness can continue to be avoided, but this will be something that production companies will have to start planning for, both in calendar footprint and in funding and investors.
This news isn't really a surprise to me, or probably to anyone, but it's still the unfortunate truth. I think that live theater is just especially vulnerable to COVID outbreaks because of the nature of the work, which makes it difficult to protect against it. Then too, I'm not entirely sure but I would guess that New York City itself is also more vulnerable to COVID outbreaks than other parts of the nation because of its population. There's still a lot of uncertainty regarding COVID in the future that I think we forget about because we've gotten used to it. I still wonder sometimes if COVID is something we'll have to live with, or if it'll be gone for the most part one day, just like plagues in the past. For the time being, though, it'll be the former. I remember how much of a disappointment it was when my high school play was cancelled in 2020 - we've definitely progressed from that, but I guess there's still some time to go.
COVID will be with us for a long while yet, the same way we still face mutations of the flu virus. In many ways, I think it's admirable that we still continue to trek on in spite of the pandemic, but at the same time, it's frustrating to consider that we could have eradicated the virus if we had, collectively, taken the spread more seriously. I wonder what precautions Broadway is taking to avoid COVID exposure? I hear from friends in the film and TV business that many sets still require making up and daily COVID testing, and the sets are closed to visitors. Is the same true of Broadway? I'm going to assume not. Last I saw, Broadway dropped the masked mandate in July, so it's no surprise that COVID cases are on the rise. I wonder if the health risk is truly worth the financial risk. I would assume that theatergoers would attend Broadway shows regardless of a mask requirement, but maybe the producers of these shows felt differently. I'm curious to see how COVID affects live entertainment long-run.
There’s no way to avoid Covid in theatre–at least in classical Broadway theatre. The tight spaces huge production number of workers and actors all muddled together in New York no less marks it a brewing pot for Covid. Ccvid never went away and so it’s a no brainer that it’s still affecting Broadway and New York at large. It’s sad to see production come to a halt, but by this point in time it should just be a considered peril of opening a show during a pandemic. With the new boosters coming out for it’s frequent mutations and winter around the corner with it’s other plethora of colds and flus I presume the issue will only get worse. I don’t think the theatre industry needs to go into shut down again, but I do think it’s just a borderline un-news worthy risk you take joining a company now. Also audiences that all crowd together bring in thousands of more ways to get production members sick and make the issue continue to persist on the viewers side of Broadway as well.
The reason I clicked on this article is because I feel like it is really important to acknowledge that Covid is still going on. Ever since 2020 it has felt like it is never going away in my opinion. It is sad that it has become almost a normal part of life. But if it will be around for a while how can we adapt without risking lives. I feel like the Broadway community reopening was risky but needed if they wanted to stay alive throughout the industry. Seeing all these shows adjust their dates for thor shows because of covid gives me a better understanding of the theater community. For the longest time I thought it was go go go anf the show must go on no matter what even if you have a cold or the flu. Now I am watching these broadway shows move dates and adjust for the health of the actors. I find it refreshing that health has been put more forward in this community.
I find this article to be really important especially when discussing the theatrical scene as a whole entity, not just broadway. A lot of people have begun to disregard COVID as a whole, and although it may seem like the virus is gone, it is still a big threat, especially more recently with more variants of the virus emerging. The theatre industry itself had to change over the course of COVID, with some people going to digital distribution of works, with others taking advantage of other online platforms to still be able to actively perform. Especially when looking at our own school, it is truly important to relay the idea that although it may seem as though we are done with COVID, we should still actively be looking to keep ourselves safe and healthy, and always make moves to ensure the good health of others as well.
It hurts to see Covid still affect our industry this far into the pandemic. It’s kind of discouraging, especially for us young people just hopping in knowing that we could be shut down, postponed, and have more of a risk of getting sick. When covid spread at the beginning of our school year in the School of Drama, it was a scary time. I wasn’t even a part of a production, but I can image the added stress that covid causes on productions. I don’t know what we have to do or what we can do as an industry to help prevent cases but also still perform. It really falls on each individual person to do their part and get vaccinated and still take this seriously. I’m very interested to see how this upcoming cold and flu season will affect the theatre industry in New York City. I’m sure we can expect cases to rise.
I knew that Covid was still affecting the industry. I have heard updates on some shows having to be canceled or postponed but I didn’t realize that there were this many shows being canceled. This pandemic is still slowly killing the theater industry and it is still happening. Companies are still losing money and people and that does not foster an environment where people can be paid more and where we can have better schedules. I hope that we can figure out a way to have a better industry. It might just need to look different than it has before. Which we already know there has been some resistance to. It also makes sense that covid cases are going up now that the cold and flu season is fully in progress. Hopefully, as the months and years go on, we will be able to move on and this pandemic will have less of an affect on our industry.
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