Off Broadway reopening question

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 3/8/21 at 10:45am

I feel that a lot of the conversation on here about theatres reopening have been about Broadway. However, I was just wondering, what are the odds that off Broadway theatres will be able to reopen before Broadway theatres can?

Updated On: 3/8/21 at 10:45 AM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 3/8/21 at 10:57am

good, I think. First, there are venues with more flexible seating. Second, some do not have the same economic pressures as Broadway so less lead time is needed. And finally, most do not rely on tourists. I think we may see a few things over the summer. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/8/21 at 11:18am

Good question. It has been discussed a bit here and there, but you're right that the conversation has mostly been dominated by Broadway. 

As Hogan said, the likelihood of Off-Broadway theatres opening sooner is much higher than Broadway re-opening. Partly for the reasons Hogan said. 

But it definitely definitely depends on each individual theatre. The Off-Broadway commercial houses may still struggle to make a profit with reduced capacity. Can a 200 seat house make money with only 60-or-so people in the audience? It would be difficult, but easier than Broadway. And some shows like Perfect Crime seemed perfectly content to scrape by for decades with tiny audiences, partly because of the situation with the theatre manager. But most of their audiences consisted of (unsuspecting) tourists, which brings it back to Hogan's point. 

Non-profit Off-Broadway houses are a totally different question: they have more local audiences. Plus their model is already designed in such a way that they don't absolutely have to make a profit with every show they do. They have donors, sponsors, subscribers, etc. However, that doesn't mean they're in the clear. Who knows what kind of financial situation they may be in after this past year. Each theatre will be different, depending on whether they've managed to maintain loyalty in their subscriber base, whether they've been able to secure enough donations to keep them afloat, and what kind of expenses they've had to continue paying throughout the pandemic (are they still paying rent on their facilities? Are they still paying to maintain them? How many staff members are they still paying?) So after all that, the question is - will they be able to mount productions, and run them with only 60 people per audience? As Hogan said, we may see a few here and there, but it's not as simple as "will Off-Broadway re-open or not?" 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 3/8/21 at 11:28am

just to add a couple of things based on JBroadway's post, my thoughts were mostly about non-profits because honestly there is not that much commercial off-B that is also actually what I would call theatre, as well as the fact that a lot of commercial venues rent to non-profits. The other point is that some non-profits may be able to open on a subsidized basis if they can secure donations to get up and running. Having said that, obviously we shall see.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/8/21 at 11:31am

If I ran the Public, I would be looking at all the ways to utilize the Delacorte as soon as the weather is consistently warm. It is without a doubt the space best suited in NYC for programming right now.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 3/8/21 at 11:49am

I thought the same thing, which is why I emailed them about a month ago. This was their response:

Thanks for your email. Nothing official has been announced regarding a return to Free Shakespeare in the Park this summer, but it is The Public's ultimate goal in the months to come. We continue to work with the city, parks department, and state in planning for a return to in-person programming. Please continue to monitor our emails for any official announcement to come this Spring.

So, here's hoping!

[HogansHero]

Posted: 3/8/21 at 12:10pm

Delacorte seems like a no brainer, whether full-on programming or not. I think the short term issue (almost surely to be addressed so long as things don't head south) is the 200 outdoor max. I can't imagine that won't be increased. 500 makes the impulse to program more compelling, and I would much prefer to be in the Delacorte with 500 than in, say, the Newman with 100. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/8/21 at 12:25pm

Isn't there some rule that they legally can't SELL tickets at the Delacorte because of some law with the Parks service? All the tickets have to be free? I'm sure I have some detail wrong there, but I thought I remember hearing something like that once. 

If that's the case, it seems like the capacity wouldn't even come into question, because regardless of how many audience members are let in, they're still grossing $0. The question is whether they have their usual sponsors and donors lined up to help fund it. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 3/8/21 at 12:35pm

That may technically be true although they "provide" tickets to "summer supporters" which is essentially the same thing. The bottom line, I think, is that all NFP theatre companies will need substantial additional donor support to get reopened with (significantly) reduced capacity, but that's quite achievable for the Public among others.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/8/21 at 7:59pm

I mean, how long did The Fantasticks run with only having 20-30 people in the audience most nights?