Broadway will be "mask-optional" starting July 1, 2022 — Page 4

I could see this one coming (see Tonys broadcast) and even the larger San Francisco touring houses aren't requiring masks. I foolishly got caught off guard on Sunday.

I understand the commercial imperative here so I'm not mad at anyone. The calculation is a simple one, and the push to get rid of masks has been ongoing since last fall. I just fear that everyone is just kidding themselves about living with Covid or whatever that means.

I hope this won't affect some of the smaller theaters in the SF Bay Area but assume it probably will. I am now in a hurry to see the shows I want to see before I have to think twice about whether the show I'm considering is really worth the extra risk.

I wasn't planning a NYC trip soon for unrelated reasons but am less likely to do it now. I'll just wait and see how this plays out.

bear88 said: “I just fear that everyone is just kidding themselves about living with Covid or whatever that means.”

What, then, have we been doing for months now? The hand wringing over this when it is literally the LAST place that’s requiring mask wearing to attend is absurd. If you’ve been going to the theatre, then we can assume that every other part of your life has been a lived in spaces that don’t require masks, and haven’t for months. Restaurants, grocery stores, gyms, airports, people have been acting like masks aren’t required on the subway since last year. What have y’all been doing in other places that don’t require masks, but allow you to wear them if you want? I imagine, as is your choice, you’ve been wearing a mask! Wow. It’s almost like you could do the same thing in a theater. And before 2020, I guarantee you were sitting maskless in a theater at the peak of flu seasons without a worry in the world.

peterparker1 said: "There’s a handful of posts here about not going to theatre because masks aren’t mandatory anymore. That doesn’t take away your decision to wear a mask. So explain why my not wearing a mask is troublesome to you, if you still wear a mask? Why do you care what other people are doing? Shouldn’t you worry about you and your health and safety?"

Is it possible that you truly don't know how ignorant that sounds?

Updated On: 6/22/22 at 07:38 AM

Too soon. I won't book anything now until at least October.

peterparker1 said: "There’s a handful of posts here about not going to theatre because masks aren’t mandatory anymore. That doesn’t take away your decision to wear a mask. So explain why my not wearing a mask is troublesome to you, if you still wear a mask? Why do you care what other people are doing? Shouldn’t you worry about you and your health and safety?"

As an example, I always wear a mask indoors—ALWAYS. I still caught Covid recently while in a grocery store (the only place I had been with a crowd of people in the prior 2 weeks). The cashier and bagger were NOT wearing masks. That is why not wearing a mask is troublesome to me. I don't want to catch Covid again and will not attend any shows in the near future until I see how things are going in the course of the summer. .

With a couple of exceptions where I feel relatively comfortable, I still wear a mask indoors. And while I'm sure at some point I'll be back to being comfortable with a few hundred strangers breathing down the back of my neck, for now, I'm going to continue wearing a mask.

Lisalemann said: ""Capeguy said:

As an example, I always wear a mask indoors—ALWAYS. I still caught Covid recently while in a grocery store (the only place I had been with a crowd of people in the prior 2 weeks). The cashier and bagger were NOT wearing masks. That is why not wearing a mask is troublesome to me. I don't want to catch Covid again and will not attend any shows in the near future until I see how things are going in the course of the summer. ."

If you were wearing a K95 or KN95 mask there is almost no chance you got COVID at the supermarket."

I was wearing a KN95 mask as I always do and I did catch it. The supermarket was the only place I had contact with a crowd of people. Since the pandemic began, I have never gone anywhere inside without a mask. I have not dined in a restaurant (only outdoor cafes)—I am as careful as one can be. Sitting in a theater surrounded by people who maybe be coughing etc. is just not safe, mask or no mask."

Based on my family's experience with Covid - I doubt you got it in the grocery store. I live in Louisiana - which after New York and Italy was freaking Covid Central in 2020. My husband worked at home during this time - he went nowhere except to Lowe's and my daughter's soccer games and twice a month - out to lunch with his friend. The friend and my husband caught covid at the exact same time - they were eating OUTSIDE. The only way he could have caught it was through the food. Meanwhile my daughter was playing sports - interacting with kids from all over the state and attending school every day (in a mask) and I work at a chemical plant so I am an "essential worker" and neither one of us ever got it. We were probably exposed to 100 times more people than he was - but he's the one who got sick. There is no rhyme or reason to this disease at all."

You cannot get COVID through food.

fashionguru_23 said: "At this point, you can only control yourself and what you do. If you want to wear a mask to the theatre, then do it. I still do, and will continue to.

Let me make it clear that I am vaccinated, believe in vaccinations, and whatnot. What I find a tad hypocritical are those who are claiming this removal of masks is making theatre unaccessable to those people who are immunocompramised, not comfortable, etc. You can't talk about unaccessability if you didn't make note of those who chose not to get vaccinated weren't allowed to come to the theatre previously while the mandates were in place."

People who made responsible choices are not in the same category as people who made selfish ones..

Jordan Catalano said: "Broadway has been more cautious than I’d say anywhere else (besides hospitals/nursing homes) so I’m curious what brought this decision about right now. I mean, this was always the end goal and what we wanted to eventually happen so in that way the fact that we’re here is a good thing.


I think the fact that we now know Covid is here to stay and we are able to manage it and most importantly SURVIVE it, means that like everything else, your health is your personal responsibility and if you choose to go unvaccinated then that’s on you and whatever happens happens. Not diminishing it but the disease has (for the most part) turned into a cold for the majority of (vaccinated) people and that’s an amazing thing if you think back to the makeshift morgues in the park and us leaning out our windows at 6pm clapping, everyday.

Problem is, this isn't really true: COVID has not become comparable to a cold. The acute phase of illness may feel cold-like to many, but this virus can do a number on your immune system and your organs, including the heart and brain (even if you're young, healthy, vaccinated). Long COVID is very real and concerningly common, and the potential for long-term, chronic illness post-infection should be taken seriously.

I don't really understand the big deal about wearing a mask for two hours in a theatre; we've already been doing it for more than 2 years, and it's really not a hard thing to do. If that means we can do our jobs as theatre makers more safely, why would we get rid of it? The pandemic certainly isn't over, so why act like it is when our industry has already seen such intense devastation?

Updated On: 6/22/22 at 12:22 PM

Julie Benko voiced her displeasure with this change on her twitter - and is getting some crap about it. (Nothing horrible.)

Jordan Catalano said: "Benko said the company of her show is PCR tested every day. I thought it was once or twice per week - are all shows doing PCR every single day?"

It varies from show to show.