Broadway will be "mask-optional" starting July 1, 2022 — Page 8

peterparker1 said: "pagereynolds said: "kwoc91 said: "pagereynolds said: "Jordan Catalano said: "I remember when they announced no more vaccine check and people also swore they weren’t going to the theater again."

Half a dozen shows have closed since then. Chicago was down 20% two weeks ago (last week's numbers aren't up yet). POTUS, a show with huge stars, is running under 50%. Many shows are doing well, but plenty are not."

Do you honestly believe that Chicago being down 20% two weeks ago is due to people not feeling comfortable sitting among potentially unvaccinated theatergoers?"

I think theater tickets sales might be down due to the state of the economy and not so much Covid. Shows with high profile stars and higher ticket prices are doing very well which reflect that most of their audience has money to spend on entertainment and traveling.

Hairspray0901 said: "I was also at Into the Woods. My 2 friends and I had masks on. We were in the rear mezz and not many had them on. I know almost the entire row in front of and behind me in the left mezz did not have them; a girl and her boyfriend sitting directly behind one of my friends coughed the entire show, occasionally sneezing with the girl also blowing her nose. Did either of them have a mask on? OF COURSE NOT. It was quite anxiety inducing for me (got home with a knot in my back due to being so nervous) and as mentioned earlier in this thread, I don’t plan on buying any more tickets in the near future. I do have a ticket to American Buffalo for next weekend, bought specifically after they announced their mask mandate will continue."

I expected this, but it's still disappointing. The case numbers are so high. I want to use my ticket but I just don't know.

Saw a photo on twitter that showed that Tina has the first row orchestra empty

If you're wearing a mask you shouldn't worry if someone is blowing their nose- you're safe! I'm not sure if you are naïve or just a drama queen. If you don't want to wear a mask, don't wear one, if you're paranoid, then wear one. If you don't like gay marriage, don't marry a gay person! That simple. Let others live and stop judging.

muscle23ftl said: "If you're wearing a mask you shouldn't worry if someone is blowing their nose- you're safe! I'm not sure if you are naïve or just a drama queen. If you don't want to wear a mask, don't wear one, if you're paranoid, then wear one. If you don't like gay marriage, don't marry a gay person! That simple. Let others live and stop judging."

Or, if you’re sick, you should stay home - but, if you’re selfish enough to go out while sick, the least you could do is wear a mask to protect others around you from catching what you have.

Saying audience members should be free to make their own decision about masks is fine but implying that those who do wear masks are paranoid is unspeakably cruel.

pagereynolds said: "Tell the entire message board you don't know anything about the current COVID variants without saying it out loud."

And what about them? Sincerely. It's a virus, it is going to continue to mutate into new variants. The fact that there hasn't been any prevailing NEW variants since before the New Year is very telling. What's even more telling are outlets incredibly WEAK attempts to keep those COVID Engagement numbers up on their website by reporting on every single new subvariant that to a Layperson means absolutely nothing. Cases will go up and cases will go down, welcome to life. If you are concerned wear a K95 Mask or above. That's literally the only thing that is going to prevent you from getting it. People on the subway with a surgical mask on that they've been using ineffectively for 4 days that they pulled out of their pocket aren't protecting you.

BroadwayPatriot said: "The mask does zero - nothing - hundreds of peer reviewed studies prove this - as far as preventing the spread of anything- masks are worn in surgery to prevent spit from getting in an open body lol- people in a theater should know to cover their mouth if they are coughing - even yesterday in the San Francisco gate - extensive study was published comparing one country to another masks vs maskless - no difference in spread of COVID - look I won’t insult someone who wears one - they are misinformed - which is fine - most people watch a few minutes of cable or network news - or read some basic stuff - most don’t read everything out there - they are lifting them masks because it is useless - these are facts - not trolling -wear the mask all you want - it’s doing nothing but cutting off oxygen to the brain - a politician is not science - a fool like Fauci who told the world you can get AIDS by being in the same room as someone in the 80s is not science - abureaucrat who failed upward - it’s hard to come to the reality - you are lied to and misinformed every second of your life - but once you do - it’s awesome"

Please take your anti-science takes to a message board with less intelligent people.

That article and the data show that mask MANDATES do not work. It doesn't show that masks don't work for an individual in an individual situation. Mandates don't work because they do not reach far enough and there are still enough situations that don't require them or where people remove then. I've yet to see any science that shows masks aren't at least somewhat useful in reducing an individual's exposure to the virus while wearing them.

BroadwayPatriot said: "I read over 500 peer reviewed studies on the subject"

Those were comic books Einstein. And looking at the pictures doesn't count as "reading" them.

Go ahead, numbnuts. Talk sh*t about Fauci, one of the world's leading experts on infectious diseases with a 40 year track record of faithfully serving both Republican and Democratic presidents and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from a Republican no less. Of course, when he wouldn't parrot the Orange Menace's nonsense that shots of Fantastik can stop the virus, he became enemy No. 1 with you braindead robots.

And the sfgate article you're thumping your chest over is about a period of time long after the peak of the pandemic where rates are already very low, in a largely blue geography where most are vaxxed and boosted and have been for some time and are people who didn't think Bill Gates was using vaccines to mind control them. Relevancy of this extremely limited study about mask MANDATES to the effectiveness of masks to control the spread at peak case times and before vaccines were widely available? Zero. Surprised your journalism degree didn't teach you how to interpret data and apply context to articles. But learning how Google and to cut and paste are important skills too so be proud of that

It's one thing to have been brainwashed by a third rate conman and to endlessly parrot his BS. It's quite another to be as proud of it as you seem to be. Have a great 4th, "patriot".

bway1233 said: "The hospital in my town has lifted the mask mandate. It is up to each doctor to enforce the mask or not."

All we can do then is wish you good health and a full tank of gas. Or a group of doctors who have not forgotten "First, do no harm."

Saw Music Man on last Wed, right before mandate lifted, and Wicked on Friday, first day not required. I wore my K95 mask both times. On Friday, I'd say that about 20% of the people in the orchestra section around me were wearing them. I did see some people who didn't wear them for the performance put them on when exiting when bunched up with people.

While I'm sure some of the ushers wished for the mandate to continue, I bet they don't miss having to explain to people that holding a bottle of water in your hand doesn't mean your mask stays off( she had to demonstrate taking a sip and putting mask back on) or that wearing it on your chin doesn't count.

I wear my mask while in a closed area, with a group of people I don't know, not at home. I even wear my mask until I get my food in a restaurant. At home, we usually eat at off times for lower crowds, didn't do that here on vacation, but that's the choices you make.

Found it interesting that they were still mandating masks at the Natural History Museum, where you can distance more than theater. I would have worn anyway, but surprisingly people were being good about it. Coming from Texas, it was nice. I still don't see how wearing a mask, absent some health issue, got to be an infringement of your rights for some people.