TDF Stages

In sad but not surprising news, The Broadway League officially announced that all Broadway shows are suspended through Sunday, September 6, aka Labor Day weekend. Considering arts and entertainment are part of the final phase of New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's reopening plan, chances are New York City theatre productions won't resume until long after that date. The logistics of large crowds gathering safely in enclosed spaces are complicated, and artists and audiences alike have many concerns.

Broadway shut down on March 12 with an original reopening date of April 13. But as the COVID-19 crisis intensified, it became clear that was out of the question. Many Broadway shows scheduled to open in the spring pushed their productions to fall, including the musicals Caroline, or Change at Roundabout Theatre Company and Flying Over Sunset at Lincoln Center Theater. Now it seems autumn may be overly optimistic. According to Charlotte St. Martin, the Broadway League's president who's also on Mayor Bill de Blasio's recently formed Arts, Culture and Tourism Sector Advisory Council, the organization is "working in cooperation with the theatrical unions, government officials and health experts to determine the safest ways to restart our industry."

---

Raven Snook is the Editor of TDF Stages. Follow her at @RavenSnook. Follow TDF at @TDFNYC.

Top image: TDF's Times Square TKTS Booth.