Broadway theaters sound alarm as closure extended through May 2021

[rooster59]

Broadway theaters sound alarm as closure extended through May 2021

 

FILE PHOTO: A sign is seen outside the shuttered Minskoff Theatre, home the popular show "The Lion King" in New York, U.S., July 2, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Broadway theaters on Friday extended a coronavirus shutdown until the end of May 2021, bringing the closure of one of New York City's biggest tourist attractions to more than a year and forcing a revival of musical "The Music Man" into 2022.

 

Broadway theaters went dark in mid-March as the pandemic hit New York and previous target dates for reopening have come and gone without any progress in finding a way to put on indoor shows with live audiences that also protects actors and backstage crews working in cramped conditions.

 

Producers of "The Music Man," who had hoped to stage the revival in May 2021 with Hugh Jackman, said on Friday they had pushed back the opening date of the show until February 2022.

 

The Actors' Equity Association called the extended shutdown heartbreaking and appealed again for a national testing strategy and government help for the arts.

 

"My heart breaks for everyone who works on Broadway or depends on it to make their living," Mary McColl, executive director for the union, said in a statement.

 

“Too many in the industry need help now as we face another six months without work," she added.

 

Thirty-one shows were playing on Broadway when the shutdown began. Some, including the stage musical version of the Disney film "Frozen," have said they will not reopen.

 

Last month the Metropolitan Opera in New York said it had canceled its entire 2020-21 season and would remain closed until September 2021.

 

New York state Senator Brad Hoylman called for financial aid for theaters, saying in a statement on Friday that 100,000 New Yorkers rely on Broadway for their incomes and the industry contributes $14.7 billion to the economy of New York City on top of ticket sales.

 

"I’m ringing every alarm bell. Broadway is facing its greatest crisis in modern history," Hoylman said.

 

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Writing by Jill Serjeant and Marguerita Choy)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-10

 

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[eeworldwide]

16 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"I’m ringing every alarm bell. Broadway is facing its greatest crisis in modern history," Hoylman said.

 

Broadway has only existed in modern history.

The arts are about translating pain into story as a cathartic means of expression for the masses.

Theatre has existed for millenia. 

The China virus will not bring it to its knees for evermore.

[spidermike007]

It will take some time to see how this all shakes out, but it is my opinion that the economic fallout from the inane economic shutdown, is going to be 200 times worse than Covid itself, and the recovery "ramp up" will be long and excruciating. Far longer than they say. It will not just bounce back. In the history of the world, as far as we know, there has never been a deliberate worldwide economic shutdown. It is light years beyond dumb.
The "slowdown" will last well into 2021, for certain. And some industries may never come back, or will be a pale shadow of their former selves. No doubt homelessness will skyrocket in the US. Tourism in Thailand will never recover to even close to it's former levels, and that leaves millions out of work.

What about concerts? Will people be willing to hang out with crowds of 20,000, at a cost of hundreds of dollars for a crappy seat? Same with sports. Will people be willing to go into a stadium or an arena with 20,000 to 100,000 people close together, and pay crazy money for a seat?
Movie theaters? Broadway? Cruise ships? Will the hordes just start descending on restaurants again, and pay inane prices for a gourmet meal? The list goes on, and on and on.
And in the end, hundreds millions worldwide could end up far poorer than they were before. And tens of millions could end up starving to death, compared to perhaps 300,000 or so total deaths worldwide from Covid? OK. The rich stay safe and financially secure. And the rest of us? And those of us who are self employed, without fortunes in the bank? One has to wonder what they will open to?

 

Tourism is not returning to Thailand anytime soon. If you think about it, the group that comprised perhaps 60% of all arrivals (lower to middle income Chinese and Indians) are the ones who have been hardest hit by this idiotic worldwide economic shutdown. Tourism in Thailand will never recover to even close to it's former levels, and that leaves millions out of work. Most countries will still be required to have Covid letters, as the virus is still raging in many countries. 

[Jillie Norman]

This year had been a big pause in life.