Broadway Will Remain Dark Until At Least September
It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Broadway theaters are now expected to stay closed through Labor Day!. According to a recent piece in the New York Post, a three-month closure was announced by the Broadway League today. The impact will be felt across the 41 theaters that make up the Broadway community.
Broadway initially shut down on March 12th when the Governor of the state Andrew Cuomo banned all gatherings of over 500 people. The date was then pushed until June 7th. Now, according to the Broadway League was expected to go on until September 8th at the earliest.
Broadway League president Charlotte St. Martin had this to say about the news, “While all Broadway shows would love to resume performances as soon as possible, we need to ensure the health and well-being of everyone who comes to the theater — behind the curtain and in front of it — before shows can return.”
An unfortunate consequence of this longstanding closure is that not all shows will be able to survive the closure. A couple of plays including a revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” by Edward Albee have already announced that they will not be back in September.
Mary McColl, executive director of the Actor’s Equity Association also spoke about the closure. She said, “Today the Broadway League took a difficult but necessary action to put the safety of everyone from the audience to the actors and stage managers first.” She added in her statement, “Before our members can safely return to work, we will need new protocols that protect audiences and workers alike.”
As of going to print, no guidelines have been revealed as of yet as to what this might entail.
If there’s anything positive to be found in this awful situation its that Disney did announce this morning that ‘Hamilton’ the Broadway phenomenon by Lin-Manuel Miranda will be streamed on Disney+ on July 3rd. The film version of the musical was set to come out in the Fall of 2021 but this was moved up in response to COVID-19.
Broadway fans are still waiting to hear what will happen with this year’s Tony Awards. The Tonys have already been postponed to June 7 but it is looking more like that to will be postponed until next year.
Disney currently has three musicals on Broadway: Aladdin, The Lion King, and Frozen.
This is a story that we’ll be following closely. Readers are encouraged to keep checking in with MickeyBlog for the latest Disney-related news and updates!
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