Name: How to Reopen: Broadway
Uploaded: 2020-07-20
Duration: 5 min 9 s
Description: Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League, discusses the future of life on stage.

Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League, discusses the future of life on stage.

How to Reopen: Broadway 

Entertainment

How to Reopen: Broadway

the Broadway League is the trade association representing commercial theater in New York City and around the country there is a Broadway series that performs and 242 cities around the country. And if it's a Broadway series, it's one of our members who produces it. Mhm. We actually, uh, shuttered on March 12th, and it was a very sad day because we had a show that was literally opening two hours after we shuddered. We had 16 total shows that did not get to have their opening on Broadway this season. Since that time, we have delayed our return several times, and now we are projecting winter for a return. The return still has to have governor's approval and all of the protocols that will ensure that the theater goers, the cast and the crew are safe. Because as much as we'd like to get our stages lit again, we're not going to open until we are assured. Based on the information we have that the cast crew and the audience will be safe, mhm, mhm. Each week we learn more and have more ideas of what it might look like. I think it would be foolish of us to not expect to have masked the mandatory in our theaters. Uh, certainly we can't mask the cast and crew, and there will be different protocols for them. And we're hearing of some very good protocols that will enable us to test every member of the cast and crew every day very quickly. We think there will probably be more and more contact list services in each of the theaters. One of the things that we're doing to get Broadway open is we have 40. Task force is made up of over 300 members, and each of those task forces is looking at how to reopen, how to market, how to reach people and make them feel comfortable, what the protocols are in the theater, what the protocols are for touring Broadway. And also how do we talk to the federal government, the state government and the city government about what the stimulus packages should be to bring Broadway back to life. The first place we can't officially distance the financial models that exist for Broadway just doesn't allow it. We have checked four different theaters of different sizes and different ages, and the most number of seats that we could get in the biggest theater is 27% of the seats. If you truly socially distanced, well, that would not be financially viable. But it also would take away from the experience. I mean, Broadway is magic. There's the reason it's the one form of live entertainment that continues to grow around the world, not just in New York City. The last thing we can afford to do is have these shows come back, not do well for two or three weeks and have to close. Then they might never come back, because it has been estimated that to reopen that it will cost anywhere from a million and a half to $4 million to come back, even if they had already opened and has been a long running show to get all their cast back to get the rehearsals redone to get everything back to where it's the best theatrical employment entertainment in the world. That's what it's going to cost to do that. Mm. We're hoping that we're able to open with enough crowd that we will be able to at least break even so that we can keep the show going because we're very important aspect of New York City. 80% of the people that come to New York for pleasure site Broadway as their number one or number two reason for coming to the city and were responsible for there being 97,000 jobs in the city. Whether it's the restaurants near the theaters, the parking garages, the other attractions, the shopping, you know, we are an economic driver, so we need to get back up for New York to be back. Mm.