Broadway By Fall? — Page 6

HogansHero said: "If things stay on the current track, the mask requirementshould be lifted by March. But who knows?

There is no question that mask-wearing will affect the market for shows. I did not read Mark_E to be saying that he wanted to go to shows without a mask before it was deemed safe to do so."

Thank you - no absolutely not. And certainly from an international tourism point of view, if masks are still required as normal in March 2022 it will 100% affect the market for shows, as I can't see there being much international tourism (longhaul) if they are still a requirement, moreso because it would mean the health situation is far from being under control.

Aside from the question of what there is a market for, bear in mind that there will be no rehearsal until Equity signs off on it and that is unlikely to happen in a workable fashion on the timetable being imagined in the last few posts. Expressly, the protocol provides that full vaccination of the entire company is a condition precedent to even discussions about altering the current (unworkable) protocols. As I have said a bunch of time now, other than a few stunts, plan on the Fall.

Sutton Ross said: "Just because people will "be able" to get the vaccine by May 1st doesn't mean they will be able to. "

People haven't been reading closely. What officials have been saying is that there will be enough vaccines by the end of May to Vaccinate everyone. Not that everyone can or will be vaccinated by the end of May. It's logistically not possible. Because of the large supply that will be available, by May 1st there will be no logististical reason anymore to restrict recipients.

HogansHero said "the protocol provides that full vaccination of the entire company is a condition precedent to even discussions about altering the current (unworkable) protocols"

This. And there will certainly be additional requirements requested, aside from vaccinations of everyone who works in the building. Not to mention the still unknown efficacy of the vaccines with the variants, and the unknown length of the efficacy period. And with some producers expecting unions to make salary concessions, I wouldn't expect these negotiations to be fast and smooth. 

With all of these dire new warnings coming out from the CDC, do you think these reopening plans will slow down? According to the CDC, we're headed for another major wave, so how can Broadway reopen in the fall?

singerunlimited said: "With all of these dire new warnings coming out from the CDC, do you think these reopening plans will slow down? According to the CDC, we're headed for another major wave, so how can Broadway reopen in the fall?"

Even if we have another wave, we are talking about something that will open 6 months from now. There is time for a final wave before the majority of Americans are vaccinated. September seems right for reopening, which was basically confirmed by the Broadway League the other day. 

I don't think we will see significant expenditures towards reopening (not just the cheapie things like taking out ads, posting notices, and selling tickets) until July (which is not that far away) and then shows need three months. So I don't think we will see shows moving up the projected dates. I also don't think anything happening now in terms of waves etc suggests that the fall is not going to happen. As we have been saying, tourism is not going to roar back but a number of shows that can effectively market locally can expect to come back by fall. Also note that hardcore theatre-going zip codes (10024, as a not very random example) have vaccination rates over 50% already. What that tells me is that as soon as we see a passport system in place (which will be very soon in the metro area at least), a LOT of people are going to become much more willing to go to a crowded theatre. The question then is what will they be willing to pay to see.