Broadway theatres to extend coronavirus-related shutdown, will remain closed until January 2021

Broadway theaters will remain closed through 3 January, 2021, industry group the Broadway League said on 29 June, extending their coronavirus-related shutdown for another four months. The New York City theaters, which went dark in mid-March, had previously set a tentative reopening date of 6 September, but social-distancing requirements for audiences, actors and production staff have made it impossible for plays and musicals to resume. [caption id=“attachment_8541391” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  A shuttered Broadway theatre in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Image via Reuters[/caption] Thirty-one Broadway shows were in production when the shutdown began. Those that come back are expected to resume over a series of rolling dates in early 2021, the Broadway League said in a statement. The organisation is developing safeguards to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus among audience members, actors and staff. Producers of some shows, including the stage musical version of the Disney film Frozen, have said they will not return at all. Others are looking even further ahead to the spring of 2021. The debut of The Music Man, starring Hugh Jackman, was shifted to May 2021 from October 2020. Music Man rehearsals were to have begun June 29, but due to the ban in New York City on large gatherings, they were rescheduled to early February. According to a CNN report, the Chairman of the Board of The Broadway League, Thomas Schumacher, said in the statement, “The Broadway experience can be deeply personal but it is also, crucially, communal. The alchemy of 1000 strangers bonding into a single audience fueling each performer on stage and behind the scenes will be possible again when Broadway theatres can safely host full houses.” With inputs from Reuters