Bruce Springsteen’s summer engagement at the St. James Theatre will likely break Broadway records — but we may never know for sure.Continue Reading
SBA TARGETS JULY 4 FOR MOST SHUTTERED VENUE GRANT DECISIONS
The U.S. Small Business Administration plans to notify 10,000 Shuttered Venue Operators Grant applicants, or 70 percent of the total, about awards by Independence Day, Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin wrote to members.Continue Reading
SPOTCO DROPS ‘LEHMAN TRILOGY’ FROM LAWSUIT AGAINST RUDIN, CLEARING PATH TO OPENING
EXCLUSIVE: The company producing The Lehman Trilogy on Broadway has been removed from a lawsuit by the advertising agency SpotCo, simplifying the show’s return to New York after the Covid-related industry shutdown.Continue Reading
LUPONE-LED ‘COMPANY’ TO OPEN ON JAN. 9, 2022; ‘DOUBTFIRE,’ ‘COME FROM AWAY’ ALSO ANNOUNCE RETURN DATES
In comes Company — again. Marianne Elliott’s revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s revered 1970 musical will resume previews on Dec. 20 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre ahead of a Jan. 9, 2022 opening night, its producers announced today. Continue Reading
SHUTTERED-VENUE PROGRAM IS FLUSH AFTER WEEK ONE (EXCLUSIVE)
In a hopeful sign for performing arts organizations, music venues and theater producers seeking help to resume live, in-person programming, the federal government’s shuttered-venue subsidy program had $6 billion remaining after its first week accepting applications.Continue Reading
‘CHICAGO,’ ‘SIX,’ ‘PHANTOM’ LIMIT PERFORMANCES ON REOPENING
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
CUOMO SAYS BROADWAY CAN REOPEN AT FULL CAPACITY SEPT. 14; RECOMMENDS INDUSTRY REQUIRE VACCINATION FOR ENTRY
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today that Broadway can resume performances at 100 percent capacity on Sept. 14 and recommends that Broadway require Covid-19 vaccinations for entry to theaters.
“The simplest formula: 100 percent vaccinated,” Cuomo said at a news conference. “The theaters are going to have to make those decisions.”Continue Reading
PRODUCERS WEIGH REDUCING PERFORMANCE WEEK FOR RESTART
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
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.”
WEAR A MASK, AVOID THE INTERMISSION: LESSONS FROM THE COVID THINK TANK TOWN HALL
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
