Industry Pro

For many theatre and dance companies, now is the time for the big moneymaker - Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker in most cases, a slightly different holiday tradition in other places. We are still waiting to see what the final numbers look like as companies grapple with new variants, new restrictions, and stringent (and often costly) testing protocols for their performance company

As we once again find ourselves entering a winter of uncertainty, a few breakthrough infections and other illnesses have plagued major productions in multiple markets the past few weeks. While many continue to track the Omicron variant, a surge of Delta cases has made planning more complicated than most people hoped it would be.

Stephen Sondheim pushed the form to new heights, and in many ways gave us the modern musical that we know today. The theatre world is completely different because he was in it, and as we move forward without Sondheim, it will never be the same again.

Across the globe, COVID case counts are rising once again, but the potential impact on tourism - the next major move toward the full recovery of the entertainment industry - is yet to be seen. In the United States, most international travel restrictions have been lifted, and Broadway’s current numbers are strong and on the rise.

The holidays are starting to look more “normal” for Broadway and NYC - with restrictions on international tourists lifted, the return of the Broadway holiday schedule, and an uptick in grosses post-Halloween, things are starting to feel much more normal in New York - and regions beyond.

After a week of announcements here at BroadwayWorld (more on those below), it has also been a week of mostly good news throughout the theatre industry - tourism numbers continue to climb in major regional hubs and theatres continue to announce fuller season schedules for the coming year.

With new data released this week from the Broadway League, a clearer picture of Broadway’s reopening is emerging - and the signs are encouraging for venues across the globe. So far, Broadway has played to audiences at 85% of capacity.

As audiences start to return, what was once a subtle trend in the industry - towards ticket buying closer to the date of performance - has dramatically shifted since theatres have reopened. Where the advance ticket sale window was previously 6-8 weeks, that has now become within two weeks of performance, which for marketers means that the promotional cycle has also shifted - bigger pushes for longer.

The theme of the past few weeks has shifted to labor strife and labor agreements, over ongoing concerns about COVID-19 and its variants - a welcome sign as the theatre industry gets back to work that much of the talk of changes is beginning to translate into action.

Coming back from a year and a half shutdown was never going to be easy. The challenges brought not only by the pandemic but by individual artists standing up against the myriad of injustices that were normalized within the industry meant that as theatre artists got back to work, there were going to need to be serious changes to “business as usual”.

New data this week that indicates many of the technological advances that occurred during the pandemic for audience interaction are here to stay - and have been adopted by older patrons in addition to younger patrons. A promising sign for a more efficient, digital first industry.

Regardless of how one might be emotionally feeling about the Tony Awards, one thing is certain - it marked an important moment in the return of the theatre. While there are still plenty of challenges ahead for the industry, taking the evening to honor performers from the previous theatre season was an important step to take to move forward.

On Thursday this week, we'll be joining Axiom Medical for a free webinar about how you can do just that - without becoming an epidemiologist in your spare time. This week we have stories about Broadway's reopening, producing green theatre, and more about what the future of the industry might look like.

Live events continue to come back with protocols that, so far, don’t seem to be causing a widespread increase in cases. While the delta variant (and other variants of COVID-19) continues to cause uncertainty, it does appear that vaccine and mask mandates are holding steady as a safe approach to bringing audiences back in house.

Congratulations to the companies of Hadestown and Waitress becoming the latest shows to open up on Broadway. If you haven't seen either André de Shields leading the Hadestown final dress audience in New York, New York or the Waitress casts post-bow tribute to Nick Cordero, make sure to check those out and get your tissues ready. Below, we've also got stories about a new gun law in Texas (and its impact on arts organizations), the impacts of long covid on performers, and new leadership models that are emerging for theatre companies.

The return to Broadway videos have been rolling out over the past few weeks from various shows as they all get ready to welcome back audiences this fall - but the This is Broadway campaign from the League of Broadway Theatres is a beautiful love letter to the stage - and the League hopes it will encourage audiences to come back by reminding them of why they fell in love with the stage in the first place. With more Broadway shows set to welcome back audiences this week, we'll continue tracking developments of both audience and artists safety.

Many theatres feel that if they don’t press forward, then they’ll be sealing their own fate - that leaves many to be faced with seemingly impossible decisions: do we continue streaming and not bring anyone back in? Do we produce a hybrid season? Are our audiences ready to come back?

The last year and a half has had a lot of members of the theatre industry questioning what was meant by business as usual - and many of those questions have a lot of merit. While theatres have spent much of the pandemic trying to survive, they’ve also been spending time trying to not only answer those questions, but find the best path forward.

Despite recent headlines about the delta variant of COVID-19, more regions are preparing to move ahead with reopening plans. While this will certainly bring about some hesitation from audience members, most survey data indicates that with the proper safety plan, audiences are motivated to come and see the show.

With Pass Over moving into their space, another big step was taken on the Road to Reopening for Broadway in particular - along with the announcement of safety plans and procedures from the League and Unions.

Last week, AEA announced that they were opening up membership to anyone who had worked professionally in the American theatre, more productions in the UK were forced to cancel performances, and Steppenwolf announced new leadership.

The news felt like it made a distinct shift after the Fourth of July weekend, with more show openings, casting announcements, and season announcements being the focus, as opposed to ongoing issues related to the pandemic.

The news felt like it made a distinct shift after the Fourth of July weekend, with more show openings, casting announcements, and season announcements being the focus, as opposed to ongoing issues related to the pandemic.

As we hit the start of the second half of the year, the news stories over the last week really exemplify what we’ll be tracking throughout the fall: Sydney has had to re-enter lockdown, more regions are committing to reopening plans, and the Unions and Producers are working long hours to try and reach agreements to move the industry forward safely.

It was a big week in New York theatre as Bruce Springsteen opened a Broadway show for the first time in 15 months to a fully vaccinated crowd. While theatre has continued in various forms throughout the pandemic, seeing the return of a show to one of the major commercial centers of the industry was an important step from an economic and emotional standpoint.