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Broadway Open in January??
Broadway Open in January??
briankershawjr
Understudy Joined: 2/26/17
#1Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 11:28am
Broadway league president said in an article she hopes Broadway opens this fall but she think realistically it might be January or Spring 2021
My concern is not so much the shows but the actors and workers who are not being paid or getting small sums for a little while through unemployment
On the show side majority of the shows probably will have to cancel or move to 2021. Shows like Mrs Doubtfire I dont see moving on if they have to wait so long
I wish cast could just put out a cast recording while we are all in this pandemic
I know majority of people , especially Broadway dont want to return if they have to wear mask, not see fans, hug shake their cast members/ family
Just thought I see your thoughts??
LightsOut90
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/2/14
#3Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 11:44am
so weird you are going to re-open in January, so already a hard time in the middle of a hard time?
briankershawjr
Understudy Joined: 2/26/17
#4Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 11:45amShe also adds temperatures will be checked and mask will be worn
#5Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 11:54amNobody knows what January will bring. Will we have a vaccine by then? Some Scientists seem to think we’ll have one by November. But literally nobody knows. And for everyone who says nobody will be willing to travel, we’re going to get a very good test of that come November and December for Thanksgiving and Christmas and people are already starting to think about making those flight/hotel reservations.
#6Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 12:06pm
They can't just turn the lights back on and be ready. There will need to be a lot of prep to do. These casts will have been out of practice for 9 months, or more. There'll need to be rehearsals. There'll need to be changes in best practices front of house and backstage to ensure more safety. There'll need to things installed or updated or put into place and ready to go for audiences.
This is a process that will take weeks. They could possibly begin this process in January, but I highly doubt Broadway will be welcoming audiences back for performances then.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#7Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 12:10pmAnd don’t forget pretty much 100% of these shows will need to be recast in some form or another. I can’t imagine every single person who was in a show on 3/12/20 will be available or even wanting to do it again almost a year later. Not to mention new people backstage including lighting/sound etc who will have to learn a brand new show.
hearthemsing22
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/20
#8Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 12:24pm
That seems unrealistically optimistic. There are way too many factors; as people have previously stated....rehearsals, possible recastings, making sure theaters are appropriately set up and ready for anything that may come up, making sure the crew and front of house are protected.
How anyone can think actors are going to want to stagedoor, or that people are focused on that right now absolutely blows my mind. That type of thing meet and greets, backstage visits will be the least of the productions concerns. Ridiculous.
#9Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 12:32pmThe “stage door” thing is just a silly thing to focus on considering that when Broadway does reopen, odds are a vaccine will have been introduced so it would technically be a safe thing to resume doing, for those who are comfortable doing so. It’s only a real issue if theaters reopen before that time.
Broadway61004
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/11
#10Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 12:51pm
Jordan Catalano said: "And don’t forget pretty much 100% of these shows will need to be recast in some form or another. I can’t imagine every single person who was in a show on 3/12/20 will be available or even wanting to do it again almost a year later. Not to mention new people backstage including lighting/sound etc who will have to learn a brand new show."
A lot of that stuff can be done beforehand, though. Let's just say for the sake of argument that by January we can in fact have large enough gatherings that theatres can reopen at full capacity. That almost assuredly means that smaller gatherings would have been acceptable by October or so at the latest. Which means auditions can resume, rehearsals with 10-15 people can resume, scene shops can reopen with social distancing in place, cleaning crews can come into the theatres, etc. My point being that whenever the "we're approved to have large theatre crowd gatherings again" switch is flipped, that doesn't mean that's the first moment theatre folks go back to work or shows start to be worked on again. That's the last step, so whenever that happens, be it January or March or next June or whatever, shows will be able to start up pretty quickly then.
hearthemsing22
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/20
#11Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 1:09pm
Jordan Catalano said: "The “stage door” thing is just a silly thing to focus on considering that when Broadway does reopen, odds are a vaccine will have been introduced so it would technically be a safe thing to resume doing, for those who are comfortable doing so. It’s only a real issue if theaters reopen before that time."
You're absolutely right. I only mentioned it because the OP mentioned that actors would want to meet fans....I'm sure they would. But not until it is safe to do so.
#12Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 1:47pm
is there a reason we needed a second thread on this less than an inch from the first? This subject has been well dissected and discussed in the other.
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#13Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 1:59pm
Here is the article with Charlotte St. Martin, for anyone interested.
Daily Beast
#14Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 2:16pm
I’ve made several comments regarding this over the past several weeks and truth be told I am getting really sick of saying it (that is not directed at any specific person by the way) so I’m not gonna repeat myself in detail but the truth is NO ONE KNOWS. Will Broadway reopen in the fall? Probably not. But is that out of the question? No. Unlikely, probably yes. Not impossible. January reopening? Probably significantly more likely than September. Definite? Also no. What kinds of safety precautions will need to be taken? We also don’t know that. It doesn’t matter if you’re a theatre professional or a healthcare worker or just a random person on the street, at this point no one knows what’s gonna happen in September, or January, or any other time until we’re a lot closer to said time. It’s not even June yet. We have the whole summer ahead of us before the date the shutdown is currently extended through. If people are serious about distancing and staying in and taking precautions, the sooner theatres can reopen - maybe even as soon as the fall. Yes, it’s harder as the weather gets warmer and stuff but the more we do it now, the sooner we get theatre back. Making assumptions now just doesn’t make sense.
To sum it up, I fully support people saying that September is the EARLIEST POSSIBLE reopening, and that the shutdown will most likely once again be extended. And to say that a January reopening is more realistic. To say that people should be prepared for the shutdown to last past the fall, and be prepared for safety precautions once theatres do reopen. But it’s not realistic now to make anything sound definite when it’s not. To say things now like “Broadway will definitely not reopen in September” or “Broadway will remain closed til 2021”, etc. The only definite thing we know now is that Broadway isn’t reopening before September at the soonest. Past that no one knows.
you found your heart but left a part of you behind <3
#15Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 2:31pm
Nice to see St. Martin getting her hopes up, but I could easily see a full year without the New York theatre scene. Even if a January date gets the A-OK from Cuomo et al, shows might have to potentially recast, rehearse, tech, and preview before reopening to the public. At the earliest, I'd imagine audiences taking their seats again the week of March 12 in a perfect twist of fate; either March 8 or March 15 of next year would be a nice target (they are Mondays; makes sense to start up again at the beginning of a workweek).
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#16Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 2:43pm
again, not to repeat, but if folks here would read the other thread you would know that Broadway is not, can not, open in September. This is because, unlike many other things, Broadway cannot open with safety restrictions. Because there will not be a critical mass of audience. This has nothing to do with epidemiology. I agree we have no way of knowing when Broadway will reopen, but we do know when it will NOT open.
#17Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 3:12pmThere’s still a greater possibility of shows resuming on the West End before the year is out than there is here on Broadway. With new shows already being announced for September and the new group looking for ways to reopen in some capacity “during” the crisis, it sounds like they’re going to find some way to continue performances by late summer/early Fall.
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#18Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 3:18pm
I fully support people saying that September is the EARLIEST POSSIBLE reopening,
Uh, considering that is LITERALLY the earliest possible opening.....you make no sense. If ya thought they were going to surprise everyone and open Wicked up for the 4th of July you are sorely mistaken.
You fully support people saying that?
Cool.
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#21Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 3:51pm
I was glad to see that she just openly said that social distancing was pretty much not possible in those old theaters. This has been my thought all along. I suspect some changes can be made to the theaters.
I have thought all along that if we get to a point that everything else opens except larger venues and numbers don't rise, which now seems to be a possibility, it may be hard to keep theaters closed. I would suspect there would be pressure from arena and stadium owners. I have thought it will come down to two things. Keep theaters closed until a vaccine is found or when numbers are way down, open and put the responsibility on patrons to follow rules, constantly monitor house and production staff for infection and rely on them to also follow guidelines.
Part of me thinks that this is where we may be sooner than expected if they continue to open up the state(s). It may be a chance to take but as I have said elsewhere, we have been behind the eight ball on this from the beginning and we may unfortunately have to pay a price for it in losing more lives. Hopefully not many. I know that is not what a lot of people want to hear or believe should happen but I don't see it out of the realm of possibility.
It is just a thought. I ,of course, don't want to see more people get sick or die (And it is obvious the theatre community does not either) but seeing how things are changing every week, and almost day, I would not be surprised if this happened.
Just give the world Love.
#22Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 3:57pm
What we can agree on is that Broadway won’t open in January in the dead of winter, if anything it would be the November before or March/April after, but not January.
We can also agree on that when Broadway does open it will be very gradual, only maybe a handful of shows open to test the market and watch the grosses to see if it is worth opening a few more shows. You won’t have 25 shows open at once.
#23Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 4:05pmI hope we get a BC/EFA benefit for the reopening with the biggest broadway stars imaginable all onstage “welcoming” Broadway back.
Broadway61004
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/11
#24Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 4:09pm
Phantom of London said: "What we can agree on is that Broadway won’t open in January in the dead of winter, if anything it would be the November before or March/April after, but not January.
We can also agree on that when Broadway does open it will be very gradual, only maybe a handful of shows open to test the market and watch the grosses to see if it is worth opening a few more shows. You won’t have 25shows open at once."
I actually don't agree with that at all. January seems like the perfect time, given that tourist crowds are the smallest then, but enough locals will be thrilled enough to come back to the theatre that it would still make it profitable. Rather than overwhelm the system with huge tourist crowds and all the Broadway-deprived locals at the same time.
#25Broadway Open in January??
Posted: 5/25/20 at 4:11pm
Broadway61004 said: "Phantom of London said: "What we can agree on is that Broadway won’t open in January in the dead of winter, if anything it would be the November before or March/April after, but not January.
We can also agree on that when Broadway does open it will be very gradual, only maybe a handful of shows open to test the market and watch the grosses to see if it is worth opening a few more shows. You won’t have 25shows open at once."
I actually don't agree with that at all. January seems like the perfect time, given that tourist crowds are the smallest then, but enough locals will be thrilled enough to come back to the theatre that it would still make it profitable. Rather than overwhelm the system with huge tourist crowds and all the Broadway-deprived locals at the same time."
I agree. It would kind of be like a test period and a good time to do it.
Just give the world Love.
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