Broadway Journal

‘CHICAGO,’ ‘SIX,’ ‘PHANTOM’ LIMIT PERFORMANCES ON REOPENING

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Some of the first Broadway shows to return in the fall will restart gradually.

Six , the pop concert musical that was poised to open when Broadway shut down in March 2020, is offering tickets for six performances a week after it returns on Sept. 17. Exceptions are its first full week of previews — when it’s scheduled for seven performances — and holiday weeks, when it will play seven or eight shows. Its limited performance schedule is through March, according to Ticketmaster, its primary ticket outlet.Continue Reading

PRODUCERS WEIGH REDUCING PERFORMANCE WEEK FOR RESTART

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As Broadway faces the unprecedented challenge of reopening after at least 18 dark months, producers have proposed cutting back the standard eight-performance week while demand for tickets ramps up.

“One of the ideas that’s being thrown around is instead of doing eight performances a week, doing four performances a week for a while as things get started again — and prorating everything,” said Carl Pasbjerg, the general manager of the musical Come From Away  and the upcoming Music Man,  starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.Continue Reading

GOODBYE CAR & DRIVER: EQUITY LOOSENS RULES FOR VACCINATED WORKPLACES

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Actors’ Equity Association says if everyone in a theater company has been vaccinated, a show may go on without adhering to the union’s pricey pandemic protocols.

“Vaccination will be a game changer for all of us,” Actors’ Equity Executive Director Mary McColl wrote to the membership Friday afternoon, while announcing guidelines for theaters and rehearsal spaces in which actors and stage managers are fully vaccinated. “Vaccines will not only add a significant layer of protection for each individual stage manager and actor, but also allow us to loosen some of the safety restrictions required in a pre-vaccine world.”

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WEAR A MASK, AVOID THE INTERMISSION: LESSONS FROM THE COVID THINK TANK TOWN HALL

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The rapid rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine has increased optimism about indoor theater swiftly reopening in the U.S. Infectious disease specialists Thursday afternoon said Covid 19-testing, enhanced theater ventilation and continued mask-wearing are also key to restarting the industry, which must be done gradually.

“I try to remind people, there’s not going to be one flip-the-switch moment in society,”  Andy Slavitt, White House senior advisor on the coronavirus, told an audience of about 500 streaming live.  “There will be a moving of the dial, step by step.”Continue Reading

ACTORS PAN THEIR UNION’S COVID PROTOCOLS

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Actors’ Equity Association recently announced far-reaching health protocols that producers complained would prohibitively increase the cost of presenting theater and delay the industry’s restart after a year of being sidelined by Covid-19.  This week, some 2,000 actors and stage managers signed a petition calling the procedures impractical and criticized their union’s leadership for inadequately communicating with members.

“Equity’s protocols from just over a week ago seem to be based on science from six months ago,” the actors wrote to Equity President Kate Shindle and Executive Director Mary McColl. “We are hopeful that the issue of realistic and detailed protocols to return to work can be prioritized so that funds can return to our union.”Continue Reading

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