Saturday of last week marked the two-year anniversary of March 12, 2020, a date which will live in infamy for theatergoers, when Broadway began its 18-month shutdown due to COVID-19.
During the fall, we witnessed the official reopening of Broadway and the professional theater industry, which was followed by the major setback of the Omicron variant, which forced numerous shows to cancel performances or close altogether during December, which is the industry’s most lucrative time of the year.
Attendance numbers and grosses, which have slowly picked up since December, should receive a major boost in the coming weeks as 16 new shows open before the end of April, and that will be followed by the 2022 Tony Awards on June 12, 2022.
Needless to say, Broadway’s continued commercial resurgence depends largely on COVID-19 infection rates continuing to slide, to the point where locals feel more comfortable attending shows, tourists return to New York, and it no longer becomes necessary to require audience members to wear masks and confirm their vaccination status.
On Saturday, in a grim reminder that COVID-19 remains a serious threat, “Hadestown” was forced to cancel its matinee and evening performances due to an outbreak among the cast. (The night before, Amber Gray, who recently left the cast, returned so that the show could go on.)
It is also possible that the current turmoil in Eastern Europe could have an indirect impact on the professional theater by affecting financial markets and international tourism.
To put things into perspective, on the one-year anniversary of the shutdown, members of the theater community held a rally in Times Square. At that point, no one knew when theaters would reopen. From that point of view, the amount of progress that has been made over the past year is extraordinary. Where will we be in another year’s time?
‘The Minutes’ to donate ticket sales to Ukraine relief fund
“The Minutes,” a new 90-minute drama about a city council meeting by Tracy Letts, which begins previews at Studio 54 on April 2, will donate a portion of ticket sales to Save the Children’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. “We take this step in support of the men, women and children affected by the unfolding humanitarian crisis,” the producers said in a statement. “The Minutes” was in previews and mere days away from opening night when Broadway shut down two years ago. A production of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the ensemble cast includes Letts himself, Jessie Mueller, Ian Barford, Austin Pendleton, and Sally Murphy.
‘Broad City’ actress to present solo show on abortion
Ilana Glazer, co-creator and co-star of the Comedy Central series “Broad City,” has signed on as “presenter” of Alison Leiby’s solo comedy show “Oh God, A Show About Abortion,” which will play an Off-Broadway run at the Cherry Lane Theatre in the West Village beginning April 25. In a statement, Glazer said that Leiby (a co-producer of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” who also did “punch-up” writing for “Broad City”) is “one of the sharpest voices in the comedy scene right now” and that the show is “about Alison’s specific experience as a 35-year-old woman who chose to get an abortion” and “widely relatable to anyone who’s ever had to make a complex decision.”
