NYC mayor: Broadway can (still) wait

[Bob Jersey]

Till September, "Blas" tells Joe and Mika... https://deadline.com/2021/04/broadway-reopening-new-york-city-mayor-bill-de-blasio-morning-joe-1234746468/ (link)

B

[M-D November]

As someone who has loved theater his whole life, I'll say the following:

• this sucks, and
• it's probably for the best

Most Broadway houses are OLD AS HELL, and even the older houses that have been renovated recently probably aren't set up to deal with air-handling requirements in a post-COVID world.  What's more, I'm sure the ownership groups (Shubert, Ambassador, Nederlander, etc.) probably haven't started the necessary retrofits. And then there are practical considerations - how many musicians can you actually have in a post-COVID orchestra pit?  How many performers can safely share a dressing room?  How many rows do we have to block off so people don't get Groffed during a musical number?

Broadway needs time to figure this all out.  (Not to mention rehearse and [re-]mount productions.  I feel terrible for everyone put out of work right now, but this isn't the sort of return that can be half-assed (looking at you, WWE).