COVID Cancellations- Page 68

[stagemag1615582571]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 8:37am

dearalanaaaa said: "quizking101 said: "all_that_jazz said: "If Doubtfire wasn't able to sustain in January I don't know how Tina and Girl from North Country can. Lookin at this up coming week both have less than 200 seats sold for each performance. Be interesting to see how many others follow suit with short term hiatus."

Tina’s pricing is downright laughable. They had maybe 15-20% of the house sold tonight and I went up to the box office to see if I could snag a cheap ticket and the cheapest one they had was $99 for the ass end of the mezzanine. Girl, what?!  Had a similar experience at Tina last week as well, asked if there was any Rush tickets and the box office lady might as well have rolled her eyes at me. Rudest (and somewhat, dumbest) staff I've ever encountered at a box office on Broadway after informing me of the same thing. Why would Tina rather have so many empty seats when they could simply sell cheaper tickets?

 Possibly tax loss write-off.  insurance as well. 

 

 

[Wick3]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 8:39am

Fosse76 said: "ACL2006 said: "Rachel Tucker, Julie Reiber, Astrid are all still out with COVID."

You can still test positive for covid after recovery, despite likely not being contagious anymore. One of the primary reasons the CDC doesn't recommend testing after recovery."

I understand if an actor or usher or crew member tests positive, they have to stop working and quarantine for X number of days. 
What happens after they recover? Do they still have to take a covid test 3x a week even though it wouldn’t make sense since it’s likely they may test positive again yet not be contagious since they recently had the virus?

 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 11:21am

stagemag1615582571 said: "dearalanaaaa said: "quizking101 said: "all_that_jazz said: "If Doubtfire wasn't able to sustain in January I don't know how Tina and Girl from North Country can. Lookin at this up coming week both have less than 200 seats sold for each performance. Be interesting to see how many others follow suit with short term hiatus."

Tina’s pricing is downright laughable. They had maybe 15-20% of the house sold tonight and I went up to the box office to see if I could snag a cheap ticket and the cheapest one they had was $99 for the ass end of the mezzanine. Girl, what?! Had a similar experience at Tina last week as well, asked if there was any Rush tickets and the box office lady might as well have rolled her eyes at me. Rudest (and somewhat, dumbest) staff I've ever encountered at a box office on Broadway after informing me of the same thing. Why would Tina rather have so many empty seats when they could simply sell cheaper tickets?

Possibly tax loss write-off. insurance as well.


There is no insurance policy that covers unsold seating inventory, nor does it have anything to do with the overused and misunderstood  term of "tax write off".

 

[pagereynolds]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 11:34am

Wick3 said: "Fosse76 said: "ACL2006 said: "Rachel Tucker, Julie Reiber, Astrid are all still out with COVID."

You can still test positive for covid after recovery, despite likely not being contagious anymore. One of the primary reasons the CDC doesn't recommend testing after recovery."

I understand if an actor or usher or crew member tests positive, they have to stop working and quarantine for X number of days.
What happens after they recover? Do they still have to take a covid test 3x a week even though it wouldn’t make sense since it’s likely they may test positive again yet not be contagious since they recently had the virus?

I'm not clear on which tests the theaters are using. If it's a rapid PCR every day, you can test positive up to 90 days later. If it's a rapid antigen test, you will only test positive within that 14 day period or so where you're infectious.

[Philly Theater Girl]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 11:46am

I wonder if all the principals in Moulin Rouge will be back together on stage before Danny Burstein departs this month. There were some performances when four of the six principal roles were played by understudies or swings. It's been a few weeks since Aaron Tveit and Natalie Mendoza performed - I don't think either had scheduled time off.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 11:56am

The “Tina” stuff reminds me of the shows that (pre-Covid) would have half full houses and refuse to sell rush seats because they’d already given out their 10 or whatever number they allotted for the day. That, or the ones that were so insistent on ONLY student rush when nobody was seeing the show. It’s ridiculous. 

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 11:57am

pagereynolds said: "I'm not clear on which tests the theaters are using. If it's a rapid PCR every day, you can test positive up to 90 days later. If it's a rapid antigen test, you will only test positive within that 14 day period or so where you're infectious."

It varies from show to show and theater to theater. As does the number of times per week everyone is tested. 

[pagereynolds]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 12:00pm

Fosse76 said: "pagereynolds said: "I'm not clear on which tests the theaters are using. If it's a rapid PCR every day, you can test positive up to 90 days later. If it's a rapid antigen test, you will only test positive within that 14 day period or so where you're infectious."

It varies from show to show and theater to theater. As does the number of times per week everyone is tested."

...right, which is a leadership issue in and of itself. If the League or AEA and the stage unions came out and said "we are rapid PCR testing everyone every day" that would do a lot for audience confidence. (As would an upgrade to the mask mandate, since multiple scientists have come out and said that cloth masks are useless and surgical masks aren't much better.)

[adotburr]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 12:06pm

Jordan Catalano said: "The “Tina” stuff reminds me of the shows that (pre-Covid) would have half full houses and refuse to sell rush seats because they’d already given out their 10 or whatever number they allotted for the day. That, or the ones that were so insistent on ONLY student rush when nobody was seeing the show. It’s ridiculous."

^ never made sense to me. 

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 12:38pm

I could be wrong of course, but I don’t believe any show relies solely on rapid antigen tests; they’re always used in addition to PCR testing, both lab and rapid. And shows have upped the frequency of testing, which would account for Little Shop finding out a cast member tested positive in between shows on a two-show day. Everyone has to be cleared for work that day or performance, including subs, so I assume there is some kind of testing or clearance every single day for every show.

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 1:32pm

Moulin Rouge 2pm Matinee is on today -

Burstein, Mendoza, Rojas, and (Holly) James are all out.

- Bobby Daye on for Zidler

- Ashley Loren on for Satine

- Travis Ward-Osborne on for Santiago

- Tasia Jungbauer on for Arabia

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 2:02pm

quizking101 said: "Moulin Rouge 2pm Matinee is on today -

Burstein, Mendoza, Rojas, and (Holly) James are all out.

- Bobby Daye on for Zidler

- Ashley Loren on for Satine

- Travis Ward-Osborne on for Santiago

- Tasia Jungbauer on for Arabia"

Three swings on too!

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 2:21pm

HeyMrMusic said: "I could be wrong of course, but I don’t believe any show relies solely on rapid antigen tests; they’re always used in addition to PCR testing, both lab and rapid. And shows have upped the frequency of testing, which would account forLittle Shopfinding out a cast member tested positive in between shows on a two-show day. Everyone has to be cleared for work that day or performance, including subs, so I assume there is some kind of testing or clearance every single day for every show."

Again, it's not consistent. It varies from show to show.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 2:28pm

Wick3 said: "I understand if an actor or usher or crew member tests positive, they have to stop working and quarantine for X number of days.
What happens after they recover? Do they still have to take a covid test 3x a week even though it wouldn’t make sense since it’s likely they may test positive again yet not be contagious since they recently had the virus?"

They must be cleared by a Healthcare provider before returning to work. But I'm not sure if that includes the requirement of a negative test result. The document I saw simply says they are following CDC guidelines.

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 2:37pm

Is Danny Burstein okay? I'm surprised he's missing performances so close to his final performance date. Hope he's doing alright.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 2:45pm

I just got word that Ted Arthur is prepping to emergency conduct Moulin Rouge!, I would assume tonight. In the span of two and a half weeks, he has literally gone from closing Diana, to emergency conducting the tour of The Prom for a week in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and now, making his MR conducting debut. Incredible.

I so wish I could be there but COVID cases right now are keeping me away from live theatre at the moment. I still haven't seen this show live yet. 

Updated On: 1/5/22 at 02:45 PM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 2:59pm

The unsung heroes aren’t just onstage. There are often more people covering actor tracks than people able to conduct a show.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 3:06pm

Philly Theater Girl said: "I wonder if all the principals in Moulin Rouge will be back together on stage before Danny Burstein departs this month. There were some performances when four of the six principal roles were played by understudies or swings. It's been a few weeks since Aaron Tveit and Natalie Mendoza performed - I don't think either had scheduled time off."

Aaron Tveit posted that he's back as Christian.

[Philly Theater Girl]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 3:23pm

poisonivy2 said: "Philly Theater Girl said: "I wonder if all the principals in Moulin Rouge will be back together on stage before Danny Burstein departs this month. There were some performances when four of the six principal roles were played by understudies or swings. It's been a few weeks since Aaron Tveit and Natalie Mendoza performed - I don't think either had scheduled time off."

Aaron Tveit posted that he's back as Christian."

I saw that he posted. This is his second bout of Covid. 

[Ceej]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 3:37pm

HADESTOWN tour just canceled tonight in Houston (second night in a row). Sad because it's my subscriber night. Here's hoping they can bring the tour back here at some point...and wishing a speedy recovery to the cast & crew so that perhaps they can at least have a few shows in our city.

Updated On: 1/5/22 at 03:37 PM

[pattilupony]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 3:39pm

quizking101 said: "Moulin Rouge 2pm Matinee is on today -

Burstein, Mendoza, Rojas, and (Holly) James are all out.

- Bobby Daye on for Zidler

- Ashley Loren on for Satine

- Travis Ward-Osborne on for Santiago

- Tasia Jungbauer on for Arabia"

Natalie Mendoza hasn't performed since before their first cancellation, December 15. She posted on Instagram last week she'd be back January 1 but still hasn't returned. Hope she's alright.

Updated On: 1/5/22 at 03:39 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 3:56pm

She is an extremely cautious person who tries to stay very, very healthy. I can totally understand why she is not working right now. Be safe, not sorry. 

Updated On: 1/5/22 at 03:56 PM

[JayElle]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 6:33pm

JSquared2 said: "stagemag1615582571 said: "dearalanaaaa said: "quizking101 said: "all_that_jazz said: "If Doubtfire wasn't able to sustain in January I don't know how Tina and Girl from North Country can. Lookin at this up coming week both have less than 200 seats sold for each performance. Be interesting to see how many others follow suit with short term hiatus."

Tina’s pricing is downright laughable. They had maybe 15-20% of the house sold tonight and I went up to the box office to see if I could snag a cheap ticket and the cheapest one they had was $99 for the ass end of the mezzanine. Girl, what?! Had a similar experience at Tina last week as well, asked if there was any Rush tickets and the box office lady might as well have rolled her eyes at me. Rudest (and somewhat, dumbest) staff I've ever encountered at a box office on Broadway after informing me of the same thing. Why would Tina rather have so many empty seats when they could simply sell cheaper tickets?
Possibly tax loss write-off. insurance as well.

There is no insurance policy that covers unsold seating inventory, nor does it have anything to do with the overused and misunderstood term of "tax write off".

********

Business losses are tax write-offs subject to IRS limitations. Insurance will cover whatever you get an underwriter to cover.  Theaters sought insurance money for initial covid shutdown. 

If you know,  tell us why production doesn't reduce the price of ticket instead of letting the seats go empty?  

Updated On: 1/5/22 at 06:33 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 9:28pm

JayElle said: "Business losses are tax write-offs. Insurance can be whatever you get an underwriter to cover."

This topic has been rehearsed here so many times that if we had a dollar for every time, we could cover the losses on all currently running shows and still have enough money for premium tickets to every show. 

So once more: 

A "tax write-off" means that a business loss reduces the taxes due. That's great when you have a loss despite your best efforts to avoid one. But it is wholly irrational to lose money on purpose to get a tax write-off. A simple example. Assume that a show that is losing money reduce revenue by $10,000 by refusing to discount. This will increase your business loss by $10,000. Your tax write-off on this loss, however, is not $10,000; it is the TAX on the additional $10,000 loss. To keep the math simple, let's call the tax rate 20%. So the tax write-off of that $10,000 loss is $2,000. No sane person would intentionally lose an extra $10k to get a $2k tax write-off. You would still be out $8k. 

Regarding the proposed unsold seat insurance policy, you'll just have to take my word for it that no one could afford the premium. Again, what would the point be?
 

 

[JayElle]

Posted: 1/5/22 at 11:18pm

JayElle said: "Business losses are tax write-offs. Insurance can be whatever you get an underwriter to cover." This topic has been rehearsed here so many times that if we had a dollar for every time, we could cover the losses on all currently running shows and still have enough money for premium tickets to every show. 

HogansHero wrote: So once more:  "tax write-off" means that a business loss reduces the taxes due. That's great when you have a loss despite your best efforts to avoid one. But it is wholly irrational to lose money on purpose to get a tax write-off. A simple example. Assume that a show that is losing money reduce revenue by $10,000 by refusing to discount. This will increase your business loss by $10,000. Your tax write-off on this loss, however, is not $10,000; it is the TAX on the additional $10,000 loss. To keep the math simple, let's call the tax rate 20%. So the tax write-off of that $10,000 loss is $2,000. No sane person would intentionally lose an extra $10k to get a $2k tax write-off. You would still be out $8k. Regarding the proposed unsold seat insurance policy, you'll just have to take my word for it that no one could afford the premium. Again, what would the point be?

Totally inaccurate analysis. Talk to a tax attorney or tax accountant. There is no tax on losses, so start there. Taxes pertain to income/revenue. 

JSquared2 stated "there is no insurance...."  You make conclusion that any such insurance would be cost prohibitive.  A statement without any supporting evidence to justify that. Production companies went after their insurance for coverage back in 2020.

So if reducing the price is not for a tax loss, then what is the reason that the production company won't?  Tell us.  Why won't they cut the price in half or give it to TDF?  I don't see anyone offering that explanation. Rather, the responses are "no it's not for a tax loss."  Then what is it?