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.

A Year Into the Pandemic, What Is the Future of the Corps de Ballet? Here's Why It Matters.

Pointe: Occasionally, in my dreams, I relive the entrance of the Shades from La Bayadère. From the quiet, hypnotic buildup of arabesques snaking down the stage to the prayerlike moment when the entire corps de ballet freezes in a front tendu, arms crossed and eyes turned upwards, it is where my mind goes for rest and contemplation, more so than any extraordinary variation.

‘The theater is a place for healing’

Chicago Sun-Times: For a solid year, the ghost light on the stage of the Goodman Theatre has shone in lonely silence on a classroom at the Aburi Girls’ Secondary School, the set for Jocelyn Bioh’s “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play,” nipped in the bud last spring. “Just a wonderful play,” said Robert Falls, the artistic director of the Goodman. “We were in previews, and the audience was loving it. We were three days from opening.”

Broadway’s closure exposes its sway on the economic ecosystem

PBS NewsHour: Prior to the pandemic, Broadway was booming. But curtains haven’t risen since March, with deep personal and financial impacts. By one count, Broadway is directly responsible for nearly 100,000 jobs in New York City alone and, as a leading attraction for people who travel to the city, it has an economic impact of nearly $15 billion.

Live Music Venues Are Hurting But So Are The Crews That Make It All Happen

www.forbes.com: There have been dire predictions regarding live music venues closing at an alarming rate as a result of the pandemic. Predictions run as high as 90% of venues will close by the time things return to normal, although many of the corporate-owned entities should survive thanks to the recent $15 government aid package. Almost overlooked is the fact that most of the live industry runs on independant contractors that aren’t eligible for big government aid.

Dallas theater production abruptly shuts down due to COVID-19 spread

CultureMap Dallas: The Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch has canceled the remaining performances of its musical revue Back to the '80s!, which was originally set to run October 16-25 on an outside stage at the Sound at Cypress Waters. Few theaters in Dallas-Fort Worth have attempted live, in-person productions with a full cast during the pandemic — and with good reason.

How 2020 Exposed Everything People Wanted to Ignore

www.themeparkinsider.com: I evacuated a lot of guests from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Pirates of the Caribbean over the years that I worked at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Those "in-show exits" actually inspired me to create Theme Park Insider — after I saw how happy some guests were to get an "insider's" backstage tour of the attractions as I led them out to the exit.

Tony-Winning Costume Designer Paloma Young on Loving Regional Theatre, Her Surprising Connection to Susan Hilferty, and More

Playbill: One positive thing that has come out of the Broadway shutdown is that more people than ever before understand just how big the theatrical community is. Broadway isn't just the stars and the writers—it's a whole team of designers and others, who have their own teams working for them. And Broadway isn't just Broadway: It's regional theatre and community theatre and national tours, all of which serve to inspire the next generation of theatremakers.

As shutdown continues, Broadway industry looks for an advocate

Broadway News: When the Broadway League announced theaters would be closed through May 30, 2021, industry members were not surprised by the news.

Some had already received a head’s up from their productions, while others saw the extended shutdown as inevitable given the continued spread of coronavirus and the development timeline for a vaccine.

I’m a Broadway Dancer Facing the End of Life on Broadway. Now What?

Dance Magazine: Before the theater industry vanished overnight, I was a dancer in the Broadway company of Chicago. When Broadway shuttered on March 12, I filed for unemployment and fled New York City. Today, when the Broadway League announced that Broadway would remain closed through May of 2021, I was still 2,000 miles from home, sitting in an apartment in downtown Salt Lake City, watching the sun go down in an orange blaze behind the smoke from California and Colorado that had colonized the Utah skies for weeks.

Actors' Equity Releases a Statement On the Extended Broadway Shutdown

www.broadwayworld.com: "My heart breaks for everyone who works on Broadway or depends on it to make their living. Today the Broadway League made the difficult but responsible decision to put the safety and health of their workers and audience first. This is a deeply painful time for everyone who depends on the arts for their livelihood. We are at this moment because, seven months into the pandemic, our nation still lacks a coherent national strategy for masks and testing which could help bring the virus under control,"

Arts community fuming over Quebec's decision to shut it down

Montreal Gazette: Folks in the arts community expected some bad news from Premier François Legault’s announcement on Monday afternoon, but many in the entertainment biz were shocked by how drastic the measures were for their business.

All cinemas, theatres, museums, bars and libraries are to close beginning at midnight Wednesday and for the following 28 days for the areas, including Montreal, that have been placed under the government’s red alert status.

Faces of the arts shutdown: Sean Fanning: 'A total emotional roller coaster'

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Six months after everything shut down in the arts world, Sean Fanning still cannot believe what the coronavirus has done to the industry he loves so much.

“Everything just stopped dead in its tracks,” said Fanning, a freelance scenic designer whose work has been seen in countless theatrical and live entertainment productions in San Diego County. “It’s absolutely bizarre to go from this pressurized system of collaboration and creation — which for me, had been a nonstop job for over a decade — to a complete halt.”

Faces of the arts shutdown: Brandon Boomizad: 'We need to make the best of it'

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Brandon Boomizad knows things haven’t been easy for many in the arts world. Careers were upended and wages were lost — all cloaked in uncertainty. But he’s grateful.

“In some weird way,” he said, “and I feel bad for feeling this, I kind of feel a lot better about myself as a result of all this. With a lot of time in my hands, I got to know myself a lot better.