Liverpool's unsung COVID heroes: how the city's arts scene became a life support network

theconversation.com: You are never far away from culture in Liverpool. The forthcoming host of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on Ukraine’s behalf has long pioneered the idea of “arts as life support” – via initiatives such as The Life Rooms, which uses a library and theatre (among other sites) to engage people in cultural activities as part of its social health model.

Study Finds COVID Concerns Still Deterring D.C. Audiences

AMERICAN THEATRE: TheatreWashington and Limelight Insights by Shugoll have released the findings of a recent online survey aimed at assessing D.C.-area theatregoers’ opinions and attitudes toward COVID-19 safety policies. The trend among the 2,755 responses from survey participants, representing theatregoers both pre-pandemic and since theatres began to reopen in the fall of 2021, is clear: Theatre attendance is down overall, and it is driven by continued concerns about COVID-19.

Leaked grosses show impact of Omicron on Broadway

Broadway News: As the Omicron variant ripped through the Broadway industry, some productions saw capacities drop into the teens, while others weathered through with strong pricing and less than a handful of performances per week.

Strangers in Strange Lands: Production Live! Recap

Pollstar: Returning to the road after the pandemic shut down live entertainment touring has been a tricky act of balancing limited human and other resources against the old adage, the show must go on.

New York Relaxes Face Mask and Vax Rules; Broadway Does Not

www.ticketnews.com: New York Governor Kathy Hochul removed the statewide mandate requiring businesses either ask customers for proof of full COVID vaccination or that a face mask be worn at all times indoors – but Broadway isn’t along for the shift. The Broadway League has decided to keep its requirements in place for all those who attend as well as cast and crew members.

Photos: See Inside a Retired Boeing 747 'Party Plane'

www.businessinsider.com: The iconic Boeing 747 jumbo jet has been an unfortunate casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many airlines speeding up its retirement over the past two years.

Hollywood's COVID Restrictions Are Not Easing Up Just Yet

Variety: The omicron wave has peaked across the country, and states including New York and California are once again easing up on their COVID restrictions. But in the entertainment industry, there is no rush to get back to “normal.” The studios and unions are largely holding firm on the set of COVID production protocols that has been in place since the summer of 2020.

These Cincinnati Arts Organizations and Venues Will Require Audience Masks and Vaccinations or Negative COVID-19 Test

Cincinnati Theatre News: In order to ensure that the show(s) can go on, Cincinnati arts organizations and venues have banded together to present uniform COVID-19 precautions going into the fall season.

Concert venues are banking on proof of vaccines or negative tests to woo back fans

Salon.com: Fans of the band Wilco could have reasonably interpreted frontman Jeff Tweedy singing "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" at an Aug. 13 concert at St. Louis Music Park as the universe explaining the past year or so.

Learning & Growing: Taking On The Challenge Of Reinforcing An Outdoor Opera Production

ProSoundWeb: Working with a young team in addressing some of the unforeseen challenges involved with taking a traditionally acoustic genre into a natural amphitheater configuration.

Kid Rock cancels shows after band members test positive for Covid

The Independent: Kid Rock on Twitter has been forced to cancel two shows in Fort Worth, Texas, because “over half the band has f****** covid”, he has said.

Magic Mike Live Australian tour cancelled

theatre people: The US producers and Australian management team of Magic Mike Live have made the extremely difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the Australian tour. The decision to close the tour was made due to the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Victorian Government and the lack of certainty surrounding the tour’s ability to perform any of its announced dates.

Go Inside Broadway’s COVID-19 Vaccination Center, Run By and For Theatre Industry Workers

Playbill: Behind transparent face shields, Broadway veterans Charl Brown, Joel Perez, Kris Coleman, and Matthew Amira approached the modulation of Kander and Ebb’s “New York, New York” in tight harmonies, their voices ringing out in Times Square April 12. The performance heralded the opening of New York City’s latest COVID-19 vaccination center, located in the heart of the theatre district and designated for performing arts workers. The site itself is also a harmonious feat, signifying a collaboration between the city government and various theatre unions, with their members taking on new but familiar roles.

As theater reopens, a need for healing

Chicago Tribune: Testing. Masks. Vaccination passports. Capacity restrictions. Social distancing. Union rules. CDC recommendations. As Chicago’s theaters and venues prepare to reopen — a few this summer, en masse come the fall — those important COVID-19 considerations are sucking up most of the energy. And for good reason. Artists need to get back to work. People deserve to feel safe.

Application process for Shuttered Venue Operators Grants will not restart this week

Broadway News: The application process for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants will not reopen by this weekend, a spokesperson for the Small Business Administration told Broadway News Thursday.

California’s New Guidelines For Performers, Crew At Indoor Live Events

Deadline: Starting Thursday, attendance at indoor concerts, sporting events, theater performances and conferences is allowed with certain capacity limits based on local Covid-19 infection rates. Those limits were announced on April 2. As venues reopen today, the State of California also issued detailed guidance for performers and crew at those events where attendees are seated.

Local small businesses emerge stronger after the lockdown

nextpittsburgh.com: Ben Peoples got an early warning. He’s a provider of theatrical and architectural lighting, with suppliers in China. He closely watched that country’s winter shutdown. When COVID-19 reached the U.S., he wasn’t shocked that Broadway — the source of much of his business — closed for the spring.

Broadway's Nail-Biting Return: The Longest Overture in Theater History

thebroadwayblog.com: It’s the longest overture in modern theater. With theaters shuttered for more than a year, culture-craving audiences are eagerly anticipating when the curtain will rise once again. Recent developments offer a cautiously optimistic outlook, while Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the labor union representing American actors and stage manager, is tired of waiting in the wings.

Where Does Immersive Theater Go From Here?

Dance Magazine: It's 9:30 pm on a Thursday night in November; my eyes close as I hear the familiar, haunting notes of the closing music for Then She Fell. Music I've heard thousands of times before. Eerie, swelling strings that have signaled the beginning of a dinner break with fellow castmates, or the end of a long night. In this particular moment, on this particular evening, my mind begins to unwittingly sift through memories like yellowed papers in an old filing cabinet, the ink smeared just barely, the pages crumbled in a perfectly satisfying and familiar way. I have been here countless times before and yet this time is remarkably different.

1 Pandemic, 2 Productions Of 'A Chorus Line,' Plenty Of Teen Resilience

NPR: A year ago, Jada-Lynn Pledger was ecstatic — then a sophomore at The Akron School for the Arts in Ohio, she was cast as Judy Turner in A Chorus Line, the big spring musical. "She was my first sort of supporting role ... I was like, oh yeah, like I'm with the big dogs, you know? ... " Pledger recalls. "And then, March 13th, Friday the 13th, is when we got the news that school was closing."