Profile for Theater'sBestFriend

Andy51 said: "I think the "perverse incentive" kdogg36 is likelyreferring to is the potential incentive one might have to become infected so that one becomes immune and gets access to things one otherwise would not. This concern has been raised in the context of "immunity passports" for going back to work. Of course, the incentive to achieve immunity this wayis much greater when one's livelihood is at stake than when one is seekingaccess to aesthetic pleasures.”This is the Swedish approach - ...

kdogg36 said: "Theater'sBestFriend said: 'Now imagine everyone with antibodies was found to be immune and had a green code on their phone saying they're immune, like in China. Imagine that was required to attend the theater....' Under this scenario, would those who have never contracted the virus - perhaps because they’d followed all safety guidelines - have less freedom to live normal lives than those who had been infected and recovered? That would seem weird, and could potentially create so...

The NY Times on testing to manage coronavirus in NYC: NYT Editorial: To Manage Coronavirus in NYC, Testing.Pending the vaccine, get testing right and Broadway is back. Demand it!

Theater3232 said: "CNBC reports tonight that the W.H.O. says there's no evidence antibody tests work or show someone can't become reinfected."Clarification:Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests (the point of care tests that show acute infection) can have a high false negative rate when the chain of handling is compromised by poor availability of proper swabs, training of test administration, refrigeration of samples, timely delivery to labs etc. That is a logistical problem that could and wou...

OK Broadway lovers - now do a mental experiment: Imagine this interview in a USA with a "war president" who actually used the War Powers Act to get the million tests per day public health experts say we need, instead of playing politics with our lives and livelihood, dragging his feet for that on months, saying it's up to the states (when they can't do without a centralized federal response), allowing a disorganized private sector response with

Love live theater? Want it to come back? Demand Trump use the Defense Production Act to start making widespread Covid-19 testing available. He has refused to do so. That would allow public health measures to permit a controlled end of general economic shutdown in cities, pending development of therapeutics and vaccine.

Love live theater? Want it to come back? Demand Trump use the Defense Production Act to start making widespread Covid-19 testing available. He has refused to do so. That would allow public health measures to permit a controlled end of general economic shutdown in cities, pending development of therapeutics and vaccine.

Jarethan said: "I think the DVR analogy is too narrow."It depends what you're analogizing. The point was whether Covid-19 will make people feel live streaming on their personal devices at home is preferable to live theater. VCRs made pretty clear they won't. Better analogies to whether fear of illness will end a human need for live theater would be to historical epidemics in Athens, Rome, Constantinople and 13th C Europe. They were all vastly worse than Covid-19. None of those ended theater. ...

Jordan Catalano said: "That’s a great article, thanks for sharing. But to be fair it is talking about movie theaters not live theater venues."Actually the article talks about the building having a stage for multiple uses, and addresses people congregating in public venues for a variety of shared ceremonial and performance experiences. The quote makes the point that a personal screen doesn't replace it. Someone else in this thread also made the point, They are 100% right.Since you're intereste...

I'm delighted to know you studied that time period, and to answer your question. I myself lived in it and remember it clearly. Believe me, everyone said VCRs would end both live theater and going out to the movies.Here's just one example I found from a 1987 NY Times article (NY Times 1987 "Movie Theater is Back in Mainstream"). From the article (this was absolutely typical of the time): ''We have lots of room for a stage,'' he said. ''The senior citizen's group has a theater organization, the...

Jordan Catalano said: "To be fair, I don’t believe anyone ever said the VCR would end live theatre."Oh yes they did! They also said it would going to movie theaters.

I remember when VCRs came out. Everyone said: "Live theater is dead!" It turns out VCRs are dead.

Since the plague of Athens didn't end theater in that city where it was invented 2,300 years ago (see Thucydides), I don't see why it would now. It wasn't just a leisure pastime; it was a religious experience, a divine gift that bound people to one another. That's a fundamental human need. Plague in medieval Europe was followed by the Renaissance. I don't see the human need for live arts changing.However, one thing that could damage the return to theatergoing in New York would be mismanagemen...

PS The Broadway League, theater owners, labor groups including Actors' Equity, musicians' unions, artists representatives and others have all been working together with public health leaders, the mayor, the governor, and members of congress non-stop since this thing began.These community members have have been in overdrive protecting public health as a top priority and the future of the industry when this is over. They've risen to their best for Broadway and theatergoers in a time of crisis, ...

Baloney. At a time of public health emergency and societal crisis, I asked about an accusation that someone else had made of possible criminality affecting public health in theaters.It had nothing to do with producers; it was about a theater owner. The charge, if true, was serious. It could damage public confidence in Broadway and the future of the industry.I wanted to know if there was evidence. I got none. I asked for calm, reason and truthfulness. I don’t know why someone would be bothered...

UncleCharlie said: "You have no actual evidence any false accusations have been made... Nothing said on this board threatens the public health or the future of theater."On another thread, someone who said they work at an organization accused it of behavior endangering public health. They characterized it as “absolutely irresponsible, if not criminal.” They seemed upset, and to be describing their perception, but gave no evidence to support their important claim. So I asked: “What is your proo...

FindingNamo said: "there are plenty of queer and ally AIDS activists from the '80s and '90sstill alive to tell you how things went.... I recommend letting people say what they feel they have to say..."I know – I am one of those activists, and I’m here to tell you what went down from the front lines. Some of the things being said anonymously about members of the theatrical community on this board remind me of the scapegoating of gays in the early days of HIV/AIDS by the conservative right. In ...

Islander_fan said: "...most of the house managers I know and have worked with were pissed with their supervisors"Any person who has evidence of possible administrative shortcomings affecting public health and safety can and should do the right thing and:Use established institutional and/or governmental whistleblowing procedures to report their evidence of a chain of command problem, taking advantage of pertinent whistleblower protections;Approach the NY Times and provide their evidence on the...

Fosse76 said: "I had only heard that Disney was considering shuttering Aladdin. No other show wasconsidering shutting down."You heard wrong. You might want to check facts before amplifying rumors on the internet during a pandemic. Doing so might have tremendous negative ramifications for both public health and the future of live theater.At a time when congress is looking into the role of Facebook, Twitter, etc. in spreading misinformation that could interfere with our national elections, Sena...

FindingNamo said: ""This is not what the horrible Donald Rumsfeld would have called a "known known." It's an unknown known."Words of wisdom! On every front, government, healthcare, and civic institutions -- including the theatrical community -- are figuring this out in an evolving way. Protocols and procedures are being updated daily if not hourly by public health, governmental, healthcare, academic and other institutional leadership, including within the theatrical community.I think the way ...