New York has higher vaccination rates than Australia, and does not employ the contact tracing practices that initially disrupted performances in Britain, so Broadway officials are hopeful shows will be able to run. In London, many theaters canceled performances over the summer because of positive coronavirus tests and contact tracing alerts prompting people to go into isolation guidance has since eased and productions are now running. In Australia, where strict lockdowns and border closures initially thwarted the spread of the virus, theaters successfully reopened last winter but are now closed as rising infections prompt tighter restrictions. Whether the safety measures are sufficient remains to be seen. The theater owners were slightly ahead of government officials - days later, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a vaccine mandate for a variety of indoor spaces, including performing arts venues. “It was just the right thing to do,” said Robert Wankel, chief executive of the Shubert Organization, which owns and operates 17 Broadway houses. To get there, the industry had to overcome initial reluctance from producers worried mandates could inhibit potential ticketbuyers and imperil family shows.īut many producers came to believe that strict safety protocols comfort more potential ticketbuyers than they alienate, and at a video meeting, a consensus emerged. The theater owners, competitors who have become more collaborative as the pandemic has upended their industry, announced those requirements in July, as the danger of the Delta variant became clear. The biggest safety measure Broadway has taken is to require that everyone 12 and over - audiences as well as employees - be vaccinated (children can get in with a negative coronavirus test) and that everyone except performers wear a mask. “There’s an extraordinary new layer of logistics that every show and every theater has learned, adopted, and implemented,” said Jordan Roth, the president of Jujamcyn Theaters, which runs five of the Broadway houses. Disney’s theatrical division has six, overseeing 500 tests daily at the company’s four American productions.Īnd, at least for a while, fans can forget about backstage tours and stage door selfies. There is a whole new job category: the Covid-19 safety officer. There are upgraded air filtration systems, digital tickets, ubiquitous disinfectant and frequent testing. Producing during a pandemic is going to be complicated. What to do? Theater artists are nothing if not resourceful, so another cast member placed a FaceTime call to McCleskey, and then, holding the phone aloft, donned the robe, ran the laps, and visited the dressing rooms with a virtual McCleskey along for the ride.Īnd, oh yes, the show went on, with an understudy in McCleskey’s place. The robe recipient, Anastacia McCleskey, was not present: she had tested positive for the coronavirus, though vaccinated, and was isolating at home. The “Waitress” legacy robe ceremony was even odder than usual. 2, and the company of “Waitress,” led by Sara Bareilles, had gathered onstage at the Ethel Barrymore Theater for one of those kooky theater rituals - an opening night ceremony at which the chorus member with the most Broadway credits runs three circular laps in a quilted robe, inviting other actors to touch it before visiting each dressing room to bestow a blessing. It was a half-hour before curtain on the night of Sept. The task now: making sure everything, and everyone, is ready for showtime. None has yet missed a performance.īy the end of the year, if all goes as planned, 39 shows will have begun runs on Broadway.Īs casts and crew come back to work, much has changed: There have been deaths (the virus claimed the lives of the playwright Terrence McNally and the actor Nick Cordero) and births (the writer and director of “Hadestown” were among the many who had babies), an uprising (over racism, prompting promises of change) and a downfall (of the powerful producer Scott Rudin, over chronically tyrannical behavior). Four trailblazing productions - the concert show “ Springsteen on Broadway,” the new play “ Pass Over,” and the musicals “Waitress” and “Hadestown” - started performances this summer, serving as laboratories for the industry’s safety protocols. And Broadway is, even during boom times, a high-risk business in which most shows flop now producers face even more daunting odds.īut there are also reasons for hope. There are reasons for concern: The resumption of theater in Australia and Britain has been bumpy. With Broadway reopening, recovery seems possible. With Broadway closed, New York appears to be ailing.
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