Broadway By Fall? — Page 5

Theater3232 said: "I imagine the Excelsior Pass would be helpful in most cases, but what if someone tested negative 72 hours ago and picked it up on the subway on the way to the venue? https://pix11.com/news/coronavirus/vaccine-passport-app-for-large-stadiums-arenas-tested-in-new-york I think most New Yorkers would be okay with using it, but would that hurt shows dependent on tourists who may not want to use it?"

That pass or some analog of it will morph into a vaccine pass. Broadway will not meaningfully reopen before there is widespread vaccination and there will not be a relaxation of social distancing until then. As I have written previously, we are trying to answer questions that will not present themselves in a matter of months, one way or another.

Tourists will take time. Like 2024 time. Folks don't seem inclined to wrap their heads around that. Vaccine holdouts will eventually become their own problem, not ours. 

I'm a little surprised (and also not) that a mask mandate would be a hang-up for some. If I have to wear a mask in exchange for sitting in a full theater and watching a Broadway show sooner, I will gladly do it. 

Theater3232 said: "I would think the same CDC standard would apply to both audience and performers (if masks are still recommended by a certain date). Otherwise I fear audience members may not be at ease if performers aren't masked although CDC recommended, are spitting while projecting at high volume, etc."

I think you are operating on a big "if." If the guidance at the end of the summer is the same as today, there will be no shows. I think everyone expects that, by then, casts and crews and perhaps audiences will have been fully vaccinated and that there will be new protocols. (These likely will include continued masking of audiences, but not performers. Remember that the issue is not so much spread but superspreading. Hence the small gathering rules now.) It is also important to recognize that whatever CDC says, AEA is not going to allow its members to perform in unsafe conditions and the present protocols explicitly state that full immunization of cast is a sine qua non of any discussion of relaxation of the extant rules. As I said earlier, you are asking questions that cannot be answered presently. 

I think that’s probably what will happen.

Theater3232 said: "I would think the same CDC standard would apply to both audience and performers (if masks are still recommended by a certain date). Otherwise I fear audience members may not be at ease if performers aren't masked although CDC recommended, are spitting while projecting at high volume, etc."

I don't agree with that. I think performers will be tested regularly and are generally further away (although I know not true for the closest seats). Spectators at sporting events have to wear masks while athletes don't all the time. The entire crew on a TV or movie set wears masks but the actors don't unless doing a COVID-era storyline.

Chance of Broadway coming back with on-stage masks*: 0%

Chance of Broadway coming back before all cast members are vaccinated: 0% 

* Not counting shows about the pandemic. And please Jesus don't make us watch any of those for a decade or more.

Updated On: 3/13/21 at 03:16 PM

Even though it won't be mandated for that long by any means, I imagine we'll see more people in theaters wearing masks for years and years to come, if not forever

I watched a HS show on Live Stream last night.  The kids we're wearing shields, not full ones but mostly the mouth and nose.  It worked.

 

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Don't agree on vaccine if it's open and available to all in May.

"I can’t imagine ever riding the subway again without wearing one. And like Kad said above, I haven’t gotten a cold..."

Sadly, I know folks working in theater (non-performers) who still believe covid is a hoax, that it's really the flu being mis-reported, and that masks are meaningless but they wear them against their will.

I always add surgical gloves to that subway ride. With all the crime there lately especially throwing folks on tracks, pepper spray or body guards may be next!

 

 

I think how feelings on things like masks going forward in certain situations evolve (and there is no reason they need to be uniform) is, like so much, TBD. That said, I am not inconvenienced by wearing a mask and may well wear one situationally (especially, for instance, in cold and flu season in crowded places).

We (collectively) don't care what people around us do or don't do once there is something approaching herd immunity, and individually we don't care once we are immunized. The main differences between the US and Australia is that we have this weird "independent" thing in certain quarters (ditto in Europe) and we have substantially free travel. Unless they are dumb like the UK, islands are easier. Also, however, bear in mind that we can have live performances here with masks and social distancing and other protocols, but this does not help Broadway, because it is not economically viable.

Mark_E said: "I normally do a holiday to New York each year, I'm planning on a trip in March 2022 for a hopeful week of theatre going, but I will postpone if masks are mandatory in theatres. I saw a few shows in the UK with a mask and whilst it's ok for a once in a while, it's not something I want to do on my holiday.

Might see the odd show on any ad hoc trips if I can (Im crew for an airline), where a mask won't be an issue for a one off, but not for a weeks worth of shows."

Postpone your trip to see theatre if wearing a mask is required?? GOOD. Postpone it. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.

unclevictor said: "Mark_E said: "I normally do a holiday to New York each year, I'm planning on a trip in March 2022 for a hopeful week of theatre going, but I will postpone if masks are mandatory in theatres. I saw a few shows in the UK with a mask and whilst it's ok for a once in a while, it's not something I want to do on my holiday.

Might see the odd show on any ad hoc trips if I can (Im crew for an airline), where a mask won't be an issue for a one off, but not for a weeks worth of shows."

Postpone your trip to see theatre if wearing a mask is required?? GOOD. Postpone it. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot."

I'm guessing you haven't actually sat in an enclosed theatre with a facemask on to see a show? Its not great... I don't mind it for a one off visit as I said, and have done in London, but it's not a way to spend a week on holiday. I wear a mask at work for hours and hours on end and for a holiday I would like some relief from that - I don't think that quite warrants your aggressive comments.