Posted: 5/28/20 at 6:42pm
Okay, I'm largely just ranting to myself here and not necessarily expecting people are gonna read this but I'm gonna say it all anyway. If you're going to comment anything all I ask is you be nice about it. I'll start off by saying I hope everyone is healthy and doing as well as they can amidst the current circumstances. I will also say I am NOT active in the theatre industry, or the health industry, and in no way consider myself an expert. If I say any false information please (respectfully) correct me. These are just my thoughts and I hope some people may consider this perspective.
I think it's obvious that everyone knows that Broadway is shut down through the summer with the earliest possible reopening date being early September. It has also become apparent that the September date at this point is largely for the purpose of ticket refunds, and that it is quite likely the closure will be extended further, with many people hoping for/anticipating an early 2021 reopening.
Here's what's bothering me: The vast majority of people are saying things along the lines of "There is absolutely no possible way that Broadway will reopen in September" or "Shows will not reopen before January at the earliest", etc - as though those things are 100% definite. I agree - at this point, a fall reopening does seem UNLIKELY. But it is not realistic to say it is completely out of the question yet. Because that is in some ways one of the hardest things about the current situation: NO ONE knows for sure what will happen in September, or January, or any other time this far in advance. Whether you work in the theatre industry, or the healthcare industry, or the government, or you're just a random person off the street, you can't be 100% sure of anything.
Here's a brief run-down of how the past few months went to give you an idea: March 3rd I saw the Finding Neverland national tour with some family friends. That same day I had an interview for a part time job at an after school program - which I ended up getting and working at for all of 2 days before the school closed. March 8th I went to work on costumes for the community theatre production of Matilda I'd been volunteering for. (This is all in Vermont by the way). That ended up being the last time, but no one knew that then, At this point people had started talking about the possibility of Broadway and similar things closing, but I figured it was relatively unlikely... March 10th and 11th ended up being my last choir rehearsals of the semester. The remainder of the season had to be cancelled, including the concerts, with no way to wrap stuff up. My choir I've sung with every summer for the past 10 years (in upstate NY) has also been cancelled, and at this point it's questionable as to whether or not any rehearsals will resume in the fall. March 12th (as probably everyone knows) was the announcement of the Broadway shutdown - which meant my family's NYC trip to see Hadestown had to be postponed, now indefinitely. The following day I received word that Matilda was being postponed. (It was originally supposed to run the first weekend of April, then postponed til July, now tentatively/hopefully scheduled for the fall). My involvement with the show is all thanks to my teacher from the fall semester who invited me to volunteer and has become one of my biggest heroes. She has done more for me than she probably realizes, and I honestly don't think I would have graduated college this year without her. My last words to her were "See you next week" because at the time neither one of us expected anything different. But now we haven't seen each other in over 2 and a half months - and likely won't until fall. The week after all that I returned home to upstate NY where I've been with my family since, mainly just staying in my house except for occasionally going for a walk and stuff like that. My plan is to hopefully return to VT sometime in mid June. (Many things there are starting to reopen back up).
My point for saying all that, is how fast it all happened. If anyone had asked me at the beginning of March if I expected that all that stuff would get shut down/postponed/cancelled, I probably would've said no, or not likely. It has been over 2 and a half months since I've done things like go to a choir rehearsal, see a live performance, eat a meal in a restaurant, or see my best friend.
No one knows what will happen in the fall, or later. I'm not saying I necessarily disagree with people. I'm not saying I think Broadway will come back in the fall. But we're talking over three months away. If people are serious about abiding by rules throughout the summer, the sooner live theatre and similar things can come back. Believe me, I get restless spending too much time inside and not going out. But the more we do it now, the sooner we won't have to do it.
Yes, everyone should be PREPARED for the shutdown to last past September - til January or even later. No one should ASSUME that shows will come back in the fall. But for people who either depend on things like theatre/music from a financial standpoint - or from an emotional well-being/mental health standpoint (like myself) they don't need to continually hear "This is not going to happen" even though no one knows that for sure. So much of theatre is about being positive and building community and helping each other and having a good time. Over the next few months, continue to abide by whatever rules/guidelines are in place wherever you are. Do what you can to support people in the theatre/performing arts industry - financially or otherwise. Do things to bring some level of happiness into your life. Really all we can do at this point is wait and see what will happen. I really believe that it's possible for everyone to be prepared - but to still be optimistic at the same time. That's what theatre should largely be about. That is what people need to do.
