Broadway will be "mask-optional" starting July 1, 2022 — Page 5

ColorTheHours048 said: "As others have noted, NYC theaters have been some of the last to require masks. I continue to wear mine indoors because it makes me feel comfortable, but I have felt it’s more of a security blanket than an actual precaution at this point considering almost no one in the city wears a mask indoors anymore unless it’s a strict requirement. Even subways and buses are about 50/50.

The fact is that this virus is here to stay. If you want to continue to live in absolute fear of infection, I wish you well. You can either learn to live with it and make your own risk assessment when chancing exposure, or you can pretend it’ll be eradicated and live as a shut-in forever."

If you look at the poll in this very thread, 70% of people will either continue to wear a mask or won't go. I'm pretty sure we are the consensus, not you.

Let’s wait and see what the audiences look like come July 1st. I have a feeling it’s going to lean heavily “non mask”. I have no idea what I’ll do yet and honestly will probably decide when I sit down and see who’ around me.

dramamama611 said: "Julie Benko voiced her displeasure with this change on her twitter - and is getting some crap about it. (Nothing horrible.)"

Yeah, and Ramin posted this:

Jordan Catalano said: "That’s fair that actors still want audiences to stay masked. Part of me does, as well. But it has to end at some time, it just does. It’s a big experiment (whether it happens now or a year from now) as to what will happen next, but this was always going to be the next step eventually."

We could do this experiment when we're not in a surge of one of the most contagious variants yet, with NYC reporting 8-9% test positivity.

You say these things as if myself or anyone else on here is in charge of it. I’m writing my posts from the viewpoint this is a reality that will be happening and no amount of complaining or wishing will make it not so. Again, I’m not taking a side either way on it, but this IS the reality of the situation, moving forward.

Jordan Catalano said: "That’s fair that actors still want audiences to stay masked. Part of me does, as well. But it has to end at some time, it just does. It’s a big experiment (whether it happens now or a year from now) as to what will happen next, but this was always going to be the next step eventually."

"It has to end at some time, it just does?" But why? What do we lose from wearing a simple mask while faced with a virus that has fundamentally changed the world and how we view public health?

Sure, it'd be nice for it to end at some point; but not while we're still mid-pandemic. There will be a time that removing masks in indoor public settings will make scientific sense; that time is not now.

Jordan Catalano said: "That’s fair that actors still want audiences to stay masked. Part of me does, as well. But it has to end at some time, it just does. It’s a big experiment (whether it happens now or a year from now) as to what will happen next, but this was always going to be the next step eventually."

It was never going to be the right time for the folks still living their lives like it's March 2020. For some reason it's not computing that everyone's daily lives have been lived in <50% masked environments for the better part of 6 months now if they've left their house.

I also find it fair, but largely disingenuous for actors to be saying they weren't "consulted" on this. Well, no, they're part of a union that represents them, the very union that has to give the ok to things like this along with several others. It's quite literally the purpose of having a union. I'm sorry, but the entirety of Broadway isn't going to make decisions based on Julie Benko and Bebe Neuwirth's opinion on the subject. If enough AEA members working on Broadway are upset about this, there is action they can take and they should. They're the most tested people in the entire city. Actors' biggest risk is with those they share a stage with and sing in the faces of everyday. Not to mention the throngs of Broadway performers you can see out at many a Hell's Kitchen bar post-show on most evenings...

I just don't know what to say to the doomsdayers anymore. It's getting so old and no level of reason cuts through. The biggest piece of reasoning being that those who wish to do so can still wear as many masks as they want. Top to bottom, scientists and medical experts say we have the tools necessary, vaccines and therapeutics are available. And, no, the long COVID argument doesn't carry water. If it did, we'd be required to mask everywhere still. And that's not the case.

The long covid argument holds the Atlantic Ocean to the 20% plus of those who contracted covid and are still debilitated from it years later.

OhHiii said: "Michael Kras said: "Hard disagree on Long COVID. This is an extremely complex post-infection issue that can manifest in literally hundreds of different symptoms, some of which result in loss of quality of life or even disability. It's not easy to diagnose, classify, or track, and because of that it's easy to ignore or dismiss.Sometimes, the effects of Long COVID don't show up for weeks or months after the acute infection.

The fact that mask requirements aren't still in place everywhere doesn't mean Long COVID isn't an issue; it means that our leaders have decided to act like it isn't one."

I'm not saying it doesn't exist as an issue. I'm saying that as an after effect that, by your own admission, doesn't have any sort of trend behind it, hundreds ofpossiblesymptoms, no distinct window for diagnosis, it is understandably not a factor in decision-making. We can't expect leaders to have a crystal ball, nor can we expect that every single solution is going to be palatable for every single person. Nor--as we've seen with the complete and utter chaos of the supply chain, economy, etc that's ALSO completely desecrated quality of life for MANY--can the whole of society remain in a lurch until everyone is 100% comfortable with being in public spaces without a mask. It's not how any aspect of life works. And it's wild that people think that stamping their feet at the slightest update to protocol is actually going to produce a different result.

You don't like that masks are optional in Broadway theaters? Don't go. It's simple.

"

A LOT of people aren't going to go. The equation for producers will be to find out just how many. For older, subscription audiences, I suspect the mask mandate will be back by September.

A lot of people who don't believe in masking (or vaccines for that matter) will now come to Broadway with their families and spend money. This is very deliberate for Summer Broadway sales.

OhHiii said: "With the lifting of mask requirements, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some improvement in getting tourists back into shows. The requirement has been abarrierfor many rather than an attraction. Again, because literallyevery otherfacet of daily life doesn't require a mask, but allows you to wear them if you feel more comfortable."

Not quite. Late at night this past weekend, I went to the Emergency Room for a mouse bite on my hand (happy to say, both the mouse and I survived). For the two hours I was in the waiting room before seeing a doctor, literally every person who came through the door was required to wear a mask. If they didn't have one, the door guard gave them one. If anyone removed their mask, they were told to put it back on. All medical staff members wore a mask. The cleaning crew wore a mask. The Police Officers who came in and out wore a mask.

I will place my faith in the medical community, not the Broadway community, and continue to wear my mask.

To be clear, many of the people in this thread who aren't as critical of this decision as others, myself included, aren't people who "don't believe in masking (or vaccines for that matter)" and it's a bit presumptuous to lump everyone who would be more comfortable seeing a show without having to wear a mask for the entirety as "not believing in masking" either."

Shockingly my statement had zero to do with you. In fact, nothing on this thread has anything to with you. It was a general statement for one of the reasons sales will improve, vastly, in July.

pagereynolds said: "OhHiii said: "Michael Kras said: "Hard disagree on Long COVID. This is an extremely complex post-infection issue that can manifest in literally hundreds of different symptoms, some of which result in loss of quality of life or even disability. It's not easy to diagnose, classify, or track, and because of that it's easy to ignore or dismiss.Sometimes, the effects of Long COVID don't show up for weeks or months after the acute infection.

The fact that mask requirements aren't still in place everywhere doesn't mean Long COVID isn't an issue; it means that our leaders have decided to act like it isn't one."

I'm not saying it doesn't exist as an issue. I'm saying that as an after effect that, by your own admission, doesn't have any sort of trend behind it, hundreds ofpossiblesymptoms, no distinct window for diagnosis, it is understandably not a factor in decision-making. We can't expect leaders to have a crystal ball, nor can we expect that every single solution is going to be palatable for every single person. Nor--as we've seen with the complete and utter chaos of the supply chain, economy, etc that's ALSO completely desecrated quality of life for MANY--can the whole of society remain in a lurch until everyone is 100% comfortable with being in public spaces without a mask. It's not how any aspect of life works. And it's wild that people think that stamping their feet at the slightest update to protocol is actually going to produce a different result.

You don't like that masks are optional in Broadway theaters? Don't go. It's simple.

"

A LOT of people aren't going to go. The equation for producers will be to find out just how many. For older, subscription audiences, I suspect the mask mandate will be back by September.

"

0% chance that happens. The genie is not getting put back in the bottle. It's done. I suspect we'll see more masks in Broadway theaters than some other crowded places, but it'll still be well under 50%