Tuesday, January 09, 2024
Returning to Work: Reopening Broadway Post-COVID
SoundGirls.org: Broadway was dark for 18 months starting March 12, 2020. I was head sound on a musical when we shut down. When all the COVID closures were ramping up, I knew Broadway would close soon, but I didn’t know it would be that soon—nor did I think it would be for so long. Nobody did. And I did what pretty much everyone in our business did during the pandemic: Actively sought ways to not lose my freaking mind while wondering if I would have to answer the question of who I am without a gig. I stripped wallpaper and re-alphabetized my bookshelves and my spice cabinet. I shredded 20-year-old paperwork and vacuumed my attic. You know, the usual.
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Covid provided something very extraordinary thing to the entertainment industry. It provided a complete stop to an industry that is normally working at breakneck speed, always trying to get to the next show and plan the next production. That break provided an opportunity for a lot of reflecting to happen but also interrupted the normal flow of things. Great progress has been made in considering equity, pay, and how we think about people in this industry.
Starting something up can have a lot of challenges. That is why we have tech rehearsals, it takes time to figure out how everything is going to work as we start up the machine that is a production. Once that machine is up and running it can keep going very efficiently with just a little maintenance as weeks, months, and even years run on. A prime example of this is theme park shows which will run for long periods, sometimes doing many shows a day. When something like the pandemic happens, forcing a stop, it will take time for everything to get back into its natural rhythm.
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