Posted: 5/13/21 at 1:55pm
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This is a big deal. I’m curious if this will mean in four months when theatres reopen, if masks will be *advised* but not required.
Updated On: 5/13/21 at 01:55 PM
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:06pm
Makes logical sense in theory, but you just know that every anti-masker is just going to say "I'm vaccinated" any time they get asked to wear a mask. Plus, businesses in NY have been dropping the ball on enforcing mask mandates for months, either because they're afraid to lose business, or they just don't care about safety. This this is just going to make them all the more apathetic.
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:08pm
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:11pm
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:12pm
I’ve said for a while that I’ll absolutely continue wearing my mask during cold/flu season. It’s been amazing not getting sick this past year!
Updated On: 5/13/21 at 02:12 PM
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:20pm
But I just purchased this mask!
https://guys-who-like-musicals.myshopify.com/collections/accessories/products/premium-face-mask
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:29pm
Honestly, I'm not hearing enough about how masks have PROVEN to work. I haven't had so much as a sniffle in a year.
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:32pm
Nothing would make me happier than sitting in a theatre seeing smiling faces. Hope Broadway makes a decision regarding vaccination proof.
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:32pm
"The new guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters" I would assume sitting shoulder to shoulder in a theater is similar to a bus or plane.
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:35pm
Theater3232 said: ""The new guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters" I would assume sitting shoulder to shoulder in a theater is similar to a bus or plane."
Very good point. Will be interesting to see what, if anything, changes in the next four months.
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:36pm
Posted: 5/13/21 at 2:53pm
Posted: 5/13/21 at 3:01pm
I too will sing everyone's praises on this new guidance... but odds are if/when I do return to the theatre, I will still be wearing a mask, even if everyone has to prove they are fully vaccinated. I have gotten used to them for a year-plus and I don't feel like giving them up. They're comfy (and warm during the winter months), they provide a great layer of protection, and they could allow me to mouth along to an entire show if I know it well enough - which nobody will hear OR see!
Posted: 5/13/21 at 3:03pm
My husband and I are fully vaccinated. Depending on the circumstances, we likely will continue to wear masks (indoors and out) for the remainder of our days. We definitely will wear a mask in close quarters such as a theater or airplane. Although we are both very healthy, we each have health issues, including past heart attacks. It's mostly not an inconvenience for us to wear a mask if doing so helps guarantee a few more years on Planet Earth. My grandfather (age 54) and uncle (age 18) died in January 1919 during that pandemic, so my family history cautions me to take extra care.
Posted: 5/13/21 at 3:05pm
Posted: 5/13/21 at 3:07pm
Jordan Catalano said: "I think masks are here to stay. I doubt we will ever see a show again where we don’t see some people wearing them."
In the audience, yes, and I really hope onstage musicians keep the masks as well. It makes them look like freakin' badasses when performing.
Posted: 5/13/21 at 3:37pm
Posted: 5/13/21 at 3:37pm
Posted: 5/13/21 at 3:51pm
President Biden will speak soon on the "Covid response, and new CDC mask guidance".
Posted: 5/13/21 at 3:59pm
I am fully vaccinated. I don't love masks, but they don't bother me. I have become a little more lax. I had mine off in the movie theater last week. I am going to use common sense when I feel I need to wear one. Which will still continue to be more often than not.
Posted: 5/13/21 at 4:15pm
To start out with, I'm a fully vaccinated trial participant. Received placebo in the study, and have since gotten both doses of the real thing.
I think this thread is a microcosm of what we're going to see in society, as a whole. People will make their choices. Me? I no longer wear my mask outside, unless I'm around first responders (example: I was on a walk on Tuesday, and I passed a group of emergency workers helping with an accident, and I put my mask on when I walked past them).
Indoors, I'm not quite ready to drop my mask yet, though that may change in the months ahead.
But again, this is what works for me. Some will decide to discontinue mask-wearing, while others will decide to continue wearing masks. There will be some variations on both. The former should not be shamed, nor should the latter be mocked.
The time is arriving for us to learn how to co-exist with this virus. What that will mean will vary between individuals. But each of us will have to figure out what works best for us.
Updated On: 5/13/21 at 04:15 PM
Posted: 5/13/21 at 5:00pm
It seems clear that New York and thus Broadway will require proof of vaccine or test result. It will not be done on the honor system. I think masks will be optional.
Now that we hear that Hamilton will require cast and crew to be vaccinated, I assume everyone will follow that lead. I note however that what Seller says about not requiring vaccines Will still require compliance with state protocols which (unless something changes dramatically) will include either vaccine or test result within 1-3 days.
Updated On: 5/13/21 at 05:00 PM
Posted: 5/13/21 at 8:13pm
I think a lot can and probably will change between now and when Broadway reopens. For one a lot more people will be vaccinated by September. Yes, I realize now the vast majority of Americans are still not fully vaccinated, but the number that is is going up every day, and if you compare the number now to what it was 4 months ago, it's obviously way higher, so look ahead to the fall...
My guess is theatres would rather play it safe with the announcements/protocols now and say they will be following whatever CDC guidelines (including mask-wearing) is needed at the time of and ongoing from reopening, and then update/adjust as needed, depending on how things progress. Meaning, it makes more sense to say now that masks will be required and then decide closer to the reopening that they won't be necessary, rather than vice versa.
Like pretty much everyone I've been wearing a mask for about a year now, and while I've gotten much more used to them than I was starting out (and am of course well aware there are far worse things) I do have sensory issues (that come with the fact that I'm on the autism spectrum) meaning it is harder for me to wear one for wear one for an extended period of time than it is for the average person. For example, I have very little problem wearing one in the grocery store, but I have made the decision to not work outside the home until they aren't required, as I don't think I could comfortably get through a shift with one on the whole time. Meaning, when they are no longer required, I don't intend to keep wearing one with few exceptions. Long before this point, my very strong desire to see live theatre significantly outweighs my adversities to mask-wearing, and I intend to attend any local/community shows as soon as possible (this summer), mask or no mask, but probably won't go to Broadway itself (which I was supposed to do last spring) until they aren't required. My hope is that will be as soon as fall. (Still waiting on Hadestown to announce dates, as that's what I'll be seeing).
Anyway, I think as to whether masks will be required vs optional when Broadway reopens is still too soon to say yet, it really could go either way. But this news from the CDC plus vaccine numbers going up every day is definitely promising - as long as people do their part to get vaccinated and be honest as to whether or not they are.
Posted: 5/14/21 at 12:52am
rkade21 said: "But I just purchased this mask!
You'll need it come fall season. Don't toss.
https://guys-who-like-musicals.myshopify.com/collections/accessories/products/premium-face-mask"
Posted: 5/14/21 at 12:55am
Wick3 said: "I think it will be optional. I know for me I’ll keep wearing my mask during flu season (Nov-Mar).
One thing I don’t hear much in the media are the number of ‘breakthrough’ cases (fully vaccinated people who test positive for covid.)"
NY Daily News announced a bunch of Yankees have caught it post vax.
