April 2021
CRAINS: "What you need to know about the federal Broadway bailout" by Crain's Cara Eisenpress - "As of December, the arts industry was the only major city sector still below half of its pre-pandemic employment level, according to a report by the state comptroller. Owner compensation is also permitted."
The Broadway League President, Charlotte St. Martin, "FALL 2021 REOPENING is a possibility...but #Broadway cannot reopen at anything less than full capacity." - as reported by Rana Novini for NBC News
What does this mean? Why couldn’t they figure out a way to reopen at “less than full capacity”. Producers and theatre owners, although organized into a “Broadway League” are independent from each other. Some of them will blame it on the unions, who did not want to reduce their base salaries without some guarantees. On the other hand, I have heard nothing (from the insiders) about serious talks aimed at putting people in seats, and artists back to work. I think they just gave up. It was too much work to renegotiate eighteen union’s rulebooks for a pandemic.
Along the way, few did anything to address the needs of their workers, which is why the industry rallied around government aid called “Save the Theatres”. Still, that was aid for institutions, not for workers or artists.
For now, St. Martin says a few shows are “tentatively holding September dates for reopening or opening,” with a few more scheduled in October and November. But St. Martin knows that things can change quickly, adding, “If some miracle happened — the [COVID-19] incidence rate went down dramatically, the vaccination rate went up dramatically — [Broadway’s return] could be sooner. But as of right now, we’re looking at September.” ...
“Sports stadiums are able to operate at limited capacity because they have other sources of revenue, including giant television deals. Broadway doesn’t have that.”
GOLDSTAR SUBSCRIBERS were asked (end of March 2021) to “describe your willingness to go out to live events” on a scale of 0-100:
The average response score was 53 out of 100.
If venues followed strict cleaning routines and social distancing policies, that number goes up to 60 out of 100.
When asked about wearing a mask to an event, 87 out of 100 said they would definitely be willing to wear a mask during an event, including before and after the show.
When asked about their willingness to go out to live entertainment after getting vaccinated, 61 out of 100 said they would.
And a bright spot: When asked how much they’re looking forward to the return of live events, the average response was 89 out of 100!
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