Posted: 2/10/22 at 8:02am
I think the numbers at the end of April will be the most telling on what the Broadway League is going to do. Broadway is suffering, and it needs to do whatever it can to get audience members back in seats. That being said, the question is whether the demographic of people who are buying tickets would prefer to sit with other people in masks or not. The industry is going to have to be strategic because there is going to be a period of time (and no one is going to know how long it will last) where a certain group of people are not going to buy tickets if they know they may be sitting next to someone not in a mask. I'm not saying whether I agree with this or not, but it's the reality whether people like it or not.
The League is going to have to decide when the number of people comfortable buying tickets exceeds the number of people who are not.
I am curious the effect the pandemic (coupled with the future volatility of the industry) is going to have on prospective investors. From an investing standpoint, the industry was always a risky investment with only 20% (I think?) of shows recouping their investments. I can imagine fundraising will not be an easy task for producers if certain investors start putting their money in what they deem safer investments.
Updated On: 2/10/22 at 08:02 AM