Phase 4 Reopening ?

Phase 4, not Stage 4. This isn’t cancer. These are the phases of when non-essentials will be permitted to resume business/operations.

I imagine he's talking about Phase 4 as it applies to now in NY STATE. Will movie theaters upstate be able to open in July or Aug? No.

He's not focused on Broadway or April 2021.

Mr Roxy said: "Gov Cuomo may have thrown cold water on Bway opening sooner rather than later.Hard to believe with a solid month of protesters marching and gathering with no social distancing did not result in higher CoVid numbers

The gov now states he is worried about entertainment venues such as movie theaters and other enclosed venues that air conditioning may spread the virus around rather than killing it. Until the eggheads figure it out these venues would not be reopening when stage 4 starts. He gave no idea as to when their reopening might be.

What do you think of this development ?"

Phase 4 was never a full reopening without distancing and masks; it is a step in the controlled reopening. Also, the parameters of phase 4 were intentionally left vague until the time approached. Fundamental to the intelligent reopening process is to not get too far ahead and to adapt to both new understanding and new data. That is exactly what is going on here. Cuomo gives no idea when large indoor assembly might be possible because neither he nor anyone else knows. Finally, there is an abundance of data now on the drastic difference between indoor and outdoor assemblies, and there are lots of articles talking about this. Outdoors + masks = fairly safe, and if you add in that people are moving rather than static, that improves the odds even more. We know how to live through this; all we have to do is not be ignorant. Which is asking a lot.

Broadway61004 said: "The only thing this means is that the earliest Broadway could legally reopen right now is July 20th, if we did everything perfectly and move into the different phases only two weeks apart. And obviously we already know Broadway is not reopening July 20th no matter what happens, so this announcement really didn't change a thing regarding it."

This is not correct. There is no announcement of the parameters of phase 4 so no one can say what would be legal at that time. Moreover, it is inconceivable that phase 4 will not have social distancing requirements that preclude viability. Even if lawful to open at a percentage and with social distance, that is like saying that it is lawful to swim from New York to the Canary Islands.

No argument from me on the substance of what you said just now. My reaction was to "[t]he only thing this means is that the earliest Broadway could legally reopen right now is July 20th, if we did everything perfectly and move into the different phases only two weeks apart." That is not a correct statement of the situation but it doesn't matter since clearly you understand the situation.

What will be the biggest unanswered question in all of this ? Will people return in sufficient numbers to make Broadway viable? Cutting out half the seats is a no brainer. Prices would have to rise to make up for the lost revenue. Investors might be a little skittish with this. Another thing is how many theater regulars will not come back. We have,2_of our friends who were really avid theatergoers. They would see every show Broadway and Off. Every year they would go to London to see what was playing We marveled at how they could see so many shows in such a short space of time. When they went to Broadway and Off they would go with a group of people

Spoke to both of them and cold turkey said they were finished with Broadway .It was not a money issue but they simply got tired of going to the theater .I was shocked .The longer there is no theater the greater the prospects are that they will lose some of their hometown audience. The tourist season audience will shrink as,well.

Your thoughts

Updated On: 6/25/20 at 04:37 PM

One of my biggest concerns is the reopening of schools. (One of the main things in Phase 4). Both of my towns (where my immediate family is/where I've been the past few months, and where I went to college and live most of the year) - in upstate NY and Vermont have been doing remarkably well at managing and being safe. However they are both major college towns and (as of now) are planning on reopening the colleges (as well as K-12 schools, at least in VT) this fall. Obviously the reopening will come with guidelines/restrictions (masks, smaller class sizes, etc) but I'm already confident there will be students who blow all that off and don't take it seriously. And to expect students (and teachers) to wear a mask for an entire school day? Gosh I'm unbelievably thankful I finished college right before all this started... And especially with college students coming back to campuses from all over the country I'm afraid to see what might happen. To be honest, I really think that students being in school, in a classroom together, sharing large common spaces, etc - is at least as risky as being in a theatre, if not more so.

uncageg said: "Sutton Ross said: "It's easy for movie theaters and concert hallsto do the every other seat thing. But, I just don't see it happening on Broadway. It's a business and packing people in every night is the ideal situation. To lose 50% of the seats and charging twice the price is just not viable. I think when Broadway reopens next Spring it will be fully open with some restrictions but since social distancing is impossible for both audience members and cast/crew, it will be long after that requirement has ended."

Concert halls and movie theaters are businesses also that need to fill seats to make money. There are a few places in Japan that are doing the social distancing thing in concert halls and they are not making enough money."

Except movie theaters can be profitable without selling every seat. They can require social distancing in the auditoriums and still make money since they don't have the same overhead that live entertainment does.

It is of course true that Broadway cannot reopen in a New York bubble, both because of the lack of containment and also because of the tourist void. As long as we are quarantining arrivals from high risk places, the numbers are not going to be there for (at least) most shows. This is like a broken record, but until there is an effective way to defeat the virus, there will be no Broadway. That said, it's silly to project doom and gloom. Of course there are folks in a deep funk who have reacted by exhibiting signs of fatigue and malaise. But this will not last forever; we are just an impatient lot. And what history teaches us is that when we emerge, our interest in that of which we were deprived (which includes the theatre of course) will be robust. As I have said before, the Roaring 20s followed the Spanish Flu in short order.

Mr Roxy said: "The tourist season audience will shrink as,well.

Your thoughts"



My husband and I have made our home in beautiful Southern California for more than a quarter century. During those years, we have enjoyed our numerous cross-country visits to NYC and Broadway. But because we refuse to do anything that might jeopardize our health and lives, and given the current state of the world, we have made the decision that we likely will not return to NYC in the near term.

Updated On: 6/27/20 at 02:59 PM

Mr Roxy said: "The tourist season audience will shrink as,well.

Your thoughts"

I actually came to the opposite realization last night. I’m firmly in “middle age” now, live in Atlanta, and try to make it to NYC twice a year for shows. Whenever Broadway opens, I plan to go more often, taking more trips per year and seeing more shows while I’m there. Watching some of these streaming performances, specials, and clips that have come out during all of this, I realized how much I’ve missed over the years and don’t want to miss out anymore. So as long as I’m healthy and can afford it, I’ll be there, just taking extra precautions for the foreseeable future.