Broadway Won't Open in 2020 By: Ella Simmons

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    Countless theater lovers, including myself, were devastated to hear when New York City Broadway closed because of the corona virus pandemic. Once Broadway temporarily halted in March of 2020, there were many negative outcomes- shows permanently ended such as Disney's musical Frozen, people had to figure out what to do with their pre-purchased tickets, and many actors, producers, and musicians were left without a job for an unknown amount of time. Around October 9th was when The Broadway League announced that shows wouldn't be opening back up until May 30th, 2020 which was later than previously expected.


   

    Although this series of events was upsetting, there were many logical and necessary reasons why Broadway closed in the first place. It is indoors with many people sitting together. This means that there's no true way to social distance, considering many theaters in NYC are old which means that auditorium chairs are close in proximity, and the bathrooms are small. Another reason was because of the safety of the cast. They are in very close quarters backstage, and they sing and touch onstage without masks on. Singing is proven to spread germs from your mouth at a father distance than talking would, making it slightly more risky. One last main reason is that almost 16% of Broadway attendees are 65 and over in age, and older people are more prone to obtain the virus and for it to be more dangerous for them than it would be for someone younger.



    Clearly it was too risky to keep Broadway open, although not having it until mid-2021 will be heartbreaking for people who love to go to see the art form, for the hundreds of people who are out a job currently, and for NYC in general; as St. Martin said in the article, "Broadway is often called the beating heart of New York City." 






https://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-certainly-sobering-to-know-that-new-york-will-be-without-broadway-this-summer-why-broadway-cant-bounce-back-from-the-coronavirus-shutdown-any-time-soon-2020-05-15







Comments

  1. DanielleOctober 28, 2020 at 5:15 AM

    Did you mean May, 2021? This is so heartbreaking and I hope that when they do open, the ticket prices don't skyrocket, which could cause many people to be unable to go. I miss Broadway! We had tickets that were cancelled and we always take the kids to a show in the fall, which isn't happening right now. Stinks!

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  2. AnonymousOctober 28, 2020 at 2:18 PM

    We had tickets that were cancelled too because of the pandemic, it was really disappointing.

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  3. AnonymousOctober 30, 2020 at 4:50 PM

    It really is so sad to see all these normally lively places empty & closed :')
    Hopefully it remains scheduled to open sooner than later (as long as it is safe).

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  4. AnonymousOctober 31, 2020 at 11:40 AM

    My family goes to a brodway show every year, and this was so upsetting to year :(

    ReplyDelete

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