BOOTH USHER w/ VIRUS — Page 2

Theater'sBestFriend said: "Fosse76 said: "The Shubert Organization was made aware at approximately 12:30pm on Wednesday that an usher who had worked atthe Booth Theatre in the last week had tested positive. At that moment, they should have cancelled both performances and request the staffto self quarantine. Scrubbing down the theatre between shows does nothing if the staffwho arein the building are infected."

What is your proof?"

I work there. I don't need to provide proof to you.

**EDIT

CORRECTION: The staff were notified before the Wednesday matinee. The Shuberts learned on TUESDAY NIGHT that the usher had been infected and wad symptomatic. This USA article quotes the official statement.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/03/11/broadway-usher-tests-positive-coronavirus-shows-still-happening/5026608002/

Updated On: 3/14/20 at 05:25 PM

"Also, many experts say that most of us will get this eventually, and nearly 90% of cases will be very mild and pass without any need of intervention..."

This is not what the horrible Donald Rumsfeld would have called a "known known." It's an unknown known.

I'm going to say odds are that not a lot of people had intimate enough contact with the usher that droplets from his nose or mouth entered your nostrils, mouths or eyes. That's the level of intimacy that most think is required for a transmission to happen. Believe me, not impossible, given that sometimes we lose control of our own saliva when communicating.

But also, less important than the 90% of patients who experience only mild symptoms are the vulnerable people around them, and that's a pretty large group, especially humans who are 60 years and older, people with compromised immune systems and diabetes, etc. All of this is to say, instead of looking for ways in which we are not like the people who get terribly sick and those who don't survive, let's instead look at where we are in the chain of infection possibilities and do our best to disrupt it.

I didn't want a world in which there were not enough representatives of the gay male generation before mine. None of us wants to live in a world without enough surviving parents and grandparents.

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 folks have been coordinating this in New York is amazing, especially given the vacuum of good federal leadership (no widespread testing = no appropriate quarantining = mass social distancing, including Broadway closure). Thank you Pres. Trump for closing the White House Pandemic Office in 2018 and telling us you like low disease incidence numbers (you thought that would be good for the stock market and your re-election? think again). When Yamiche Alcindor of PBS asked him about this at a recent news conference, all he could do is call it a "nasty question" and deny it was his decision. A far cry from Harry Truman who had a sign on the Resolute desk saying "The Buck Stops Here."

Especially in this context, a good decision by a local leader at 3 o'clock on Thursday might not have been prudent at 12:30 on Tuesday. Just look at the agonizing decision the mayor is facing regarding whether or not to close schools - they remain open, despite concerns, based on a risk-benefit analysis of the possible public health ramifications of a million kids out of school, wandering the streets and spreading infection, needing daycare from parents including first responders and healthcare workers, etc. etc.

it's understandable people are scared and not sure whom to trust. But anonymous accusations of possible criminality harming the public health without proof do nothing but feed hysteria and lack of trust in sound leadership just when it is needed to flatten the curve of the pandemic. How will people come back to the theater when doing so is safe? Whom will they believe to tell them it is? That needs to be considered carefully in judging these stories, particularly possibly hearsay on an anonymous chat board.

Islander_fan said: "ETA that Aladdin wasn’t the only show that was going to shut down regardless of what the Broadway league had to say, Moulin Rouge canceled performances before the mass closing"

Moulin Rouge’s cancelled matinee was cancelled for two reasons - an actor with a fever, and the League decision to suspend performances had already been made, but discussion over the length of suspension was still ongoing. Their producer left mid-meeting to cancel the matinee.

Not to make light of the situation, but the usher must have felt like they were wearing the scartet letter when the story hit the N.Y. Times. I have a friend that works the front of the house at a theatre and he had been dreading going to work two weeks prior to the shut down. He was happy when they shut the theaters even though it will be a financial burden for him.

This is the first time I have heard about the gender of the usher.

I hope the actor at Moulin Rouge is feeling better now. From what I recall of the Moulin Rouge cast, majority are super fit and young so obviously this virus can infect anyone.

I hope those of you who watched Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in its first preview week are feeling ok. Today marks 14 days since the booth usher who tested COVID-19 positive last worked there (March 6th) so hopefully no one got infected despite the potential exposure.

Wick3 said: "I hope the actor at Moulin Rouge is feeling betternow. From what I recall of the Moulin Rouge cast, majority are super fit and young so obviously this virus can infect anyone.

I hope those of you who watched Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfin its first preview week are feeling ok. Today marks 14 days since the booth usher who tested COVID-19 positive last worked there (March 6th) so hopefully no one got infected despite the potential exposure.

"

His wife posted on her Instagram story that he is home from the hospital and is relaxing while they both recover.

mailhandler777 said: "His wife posted on her Instagram story that he is home from the hospital and is relaxingwhile they both recover."

Great to hear he's ok! I hope Marjorie (the other mezzanine usher) didn't get infected and hope she is ok too.