# BREAKING: B'way shutdown now til May



## Jay Ashworth (Oct 8, 2020)

Breaking: Broadway Shutdown Extends Through May 2021

NBC New York reports that The Broadway League will announce tomorrow another extension of the Broadway shutdown in New York City. It is expected that The League will announce a suspension of performances through May 30, 2021, marking another delay before shows will return.



www.broadwayworld.com


----------



## josh88 (Oct 9, 2020)

I hate to see it. We heard a few weeks ago from the booking agents we've been talking to that this was what was in the pipeline and I don't like seeing it actually get said now. Not a good day for us.


----------



## DaveySimps (Oct 9, 2020)

So very very sad. 

~Dave


----------



## avkid (Oct 9, 2020)

Borderline despondent over this, as we feed shows onto Broadway.
15 months!!


----------



## sk8rsdad (Oct 9, 2020)

Nice to see Secretary Clinton tweeted in response to it. Any visibility improves the odds of getting help eventually.


----------



## Footer (Oct 9, 2020)

Whats really sad is by the time they pass another stimulus bill we will need another 6 months of PUI on top of it. I think my unemployment runs out in April... I think we have 56 weeks or so.


----------



## TimMc (Oct 10, 2020)

I'm out of regular benefits already. My extended benefits run out the week before Christmas. Asset liquidation starts soon. The industry will not return sufficiently before I reach full retirement age to justify keeping my microphones, coms, and other audio ephemera.


----------



## TimMc (Oct 11, 2020)

On the other paw... er.... tentacle:

For a show to plan on opening the first week of June it would be necessary to begin pre-production earlier. For a show still sitting in a theater, getting it up and running again will be faster than a new show or re-mounting a show that was packed out. LX and SX rental shops will need build time. Casts, orchestras and crews will need to be hired and rehearsed. Designers will have to come back, directors and producers... to approve the rejuvenated productions. Think: Lamborghini Mach VRT farm tractor, not Lamborghini Contessa in pace.

That means for incrementally more techs, work will be coming back starting in Feb or March 2021.

For that to happen, at all, means we can't have a disastrous winter Covid/flu season. Infection and transmission rates going up in my state and county over the last 3 weeks are likely the results of Labor Day weekend and schools/colleges opening to in-person classes and extracurricular activities. The Denial is strong with some...

Wear your mask, wash your hands, reduce your exposure time.


----------



## TimMc (Oct 12, 2020)

And in the UK, the government has some advice for those 'redundant' in the arts:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/10/12/fatima-ballet-cyber-uk-coronavirus-jobs/


----------



## avkid (Oct 12, 2020)

That's so screwed up!


----------



## almorton (Oct 13, 2020)

Ludicrously, we have a government website to assess what you might be good at if you need to retrain. A good number of the jobs it suggests are in performing arts and creative industries, the very sectors they are recommending should retrain. Left hand, meet right.


----------



## TimMc (Oct 13, 2020)

I liked the suggestion that ballet dancers become boxers. Okay, there are some dancers that I'd certainly not wish to tangle with, but how would they make an income without established name brand recognition? No TV bouts for newbies, and no audiences for anyone... such a hollow response. Did Brittan take "cluelessness" lessons from its former colony or is it the other way around?


----------



## geoffrey hugh (Oct 14, 2020)

TimMc said:


> On the other paw... er.... tentacle:
> 
> For a show to plan on opening the first week of June it would be necessary to begin pre-production earlier. For a show still sitting in a theater, getting it up and running again will be faster than a new show or re-mounting a show that was packed out. LX and SX rental shops will need build time. Casts, orchestras and crews will need to be hired and rehearsed. Designers will have to come back, directors and producers... to approve the rejuvenated productions. Think: Lamborghini Mach VRT farm tractor, not Lamborghini Contessa in pace.
> 
> ...


Your reasonable forecast of how things will have to be should also acknowledge the changes to the ‘supply’ of theatre personnel.

Many theatre workers will be unavailable for whatever transpires over the next 6 - 12 months. At the younger and older end of the work force, ’retirement’ and newly graduated students who have nowhere to go may have moved on. Rental companies, especially those which are heavily financed, may have closed their doors by the time theatres reopen.

I wonder how many commercial shows left their gear in place when theatres closed, and what kind of financial compensation deals have been worked out.


----------



## JD (Oct 30, 2020)

Throwing hands up in the air....
We are now in a resurgence. Most every entertainment venue that I know of is shut down. Although more-or-less retired, my heart is broken! I see so many very talented people in my life that feel they have lost their future and wonder if there will even be a "live entertainment" industry at the end of all of this. I try to remain hopeful, but appear to be more of a therapist for others then a technical person. I have seen some very inspired ways invented to keep entertainment flowing but the bottom line is that a live show is a very expensive endeavor. Without a large paying audience it is hard to see a business model that would support the type of shows we are all used to. Having spent many years providing equipment for shows my heart especially goes out to the support industry. No income, but the bank bills for purchased equipment do not know there is a pandemic.


----------



## aeh20s (Oct 30, 2020)

JD said:


> Throwing hands up in the air....
> We are now in a resurgence. Most every entertainment venue that I know of is shut down. Although more-or-less retired, my heart is broken! I see so many very talented people in my life that feel they have lost their future and wonder if there will even be a "live entertainment" industry at the end of all of this. I try to remain hopeful, but appear to be more of a therapist for others then a technical person. I have seen some very inspired ways invented to keep entertainment flowing but the bottom line is that a live show is a very expensive endeavor. Without a large paying audience it is hard to see a business model that would support the type of shows we are all used to. Having spent many years providing equipment for shows my heart especially goes out to the support industry. No income, but the bank bills for purchased equipment do not know there is a pandemic.



One thing that has gotten me through this situation so far is the knowledge that going all the way back to Ancient Greece there have been countless plagues, war, and tragedy that have stood in the way of human progress. But live entertainment has persisted. It may be delayed, and we as a group are suffering, but so long as humans still exist someone will stand on a stage and address a crowd. Quarantine and social distancing has really reinforced how much people appreciate going to live shows. I've enjoyed seeing some of my favorite acts perform on my TV or computer, but it is nothing like being in the room and feeling there music physically hit me. I know I'm not in the minority of feeling that way. Live entertainment will continue. It will take some time to recover, but it will continue to exist. Now the question of whether or not we are the ones who are going to continue to be the ones who produce it and enhance it is of course another discussion, and harder to answer with the end of the pandemic being unseen for the immediate future. I'm not a religious man, but one of the few things I have faith in is that we will come back.


----------



## ruinexplorer (Nov 6, 2020)

I hope everyone is holding out. I used up my unemployment and had to get something. I'm now doing HR work for a very large online retailer. I make half of what I had been making pre-pandemic, plus it's only temporary. Small shows have restarted with a ton of restrictions, so we'll see if they can survive. I can only hope to get back when my contract ends.


----------



## SteveB (Nov 6, 2020)

It completely baffles me that they let airline passengers sit on a plane for 4-5 hrs., every seat filled, but won't let the public back into a theater, every 3rd seat.


----------



## sk8rsdad (Nov 6, 2020)

The airline industry likely sticks more money in the pockets of politicians. Assuming there's any science to it at all, it may be easier to certify the ventilation systems on an airplane. There are certainly fewer suppliers and fewer configurations.


----------



## FMEng (Nov 6, 2020)

SteveB said:


> It completely baffles me that they let airline passengers sit on a plane for 4-5 hrs., every seat filled, but won't let the public back into a theater, every 3rd seat.


Studies have found that airplanes filter the virus out of the air very effectively and the risk is reasonably low. Airplane systems are also fairly uniform. By comparison, air exchange and filtration in a theater is rather limited and varies from one building to the next. I wouldn't get on a plane now, but I also wouldn't go to the theater, restaurant, or bar.


----------



## Amiers (Nov 6, 2020)

FMEng said:


> Studies have found that airplanes filter the virus out of the air very effectively and the risk is reasonably low. Airplane systems are also fairly uniform. By comparison, air exchange and filtration in a theater is rather limited and varies from one building to the next. I wouldn't get on a plane now, but I also wouldn't go to the theater, restaurant, or bar.


This. Cause nobody wants someone farting or puking then the plane smells like rotten eggs and 5 bloody Mary’s and tequila. Like everything else on the plane they invest a lot of RnD into it besides the seating and bathroom size cause that’s their FU to the world. We built a 70m flying brick you poop in a closet and sit in a crawl space.


----------



## RonHebbard (Nov 6, 2020)

Amiers said:


> This. Cause nobody wants someone farting or puking then the plane smells like rotten eggs and 5 bloody Mary’s and tequila.
> Like everything else on the plane they invest a lot of RnD into it besides the seating and bathroom size cause that's their FU. We built a 70m flying brick you poop in a closet and sit in a crawl space.


"cause that's their FU."
FU?? 'splain PLEASE. 
Toodleoo! 
Ron Hebbard


----------



## Amiers (Nov 6, 2020)

RonHebbard said:


> "cause that's their FU."
> FU?? 'splain PLEASE.
> Toodleoo!
> Ron Hebbard


Bad words that can’t be said.


----------



## RonHebbard (Nov 6, 2020)

Amiers said:


> Bad words that can’t be said.


Bad words akin to phuque up? 
I've always liked the phonetic spellings: Phuque and Phuquecough. Neither MS's Spell Check nor Control Booth's profanity nanny notice or know what to make of them. 
Toodleoo! 
Ron (mercifully from outside little Donnie's walls) Hebbard


----------



## What Rigger? (Nov 9, 2020)

FMEng said:


> Studies have found that airplanes filter the virus out of the air very effectively and the risk is reasonably low. Airplane systems are also fairly uniform. By comparison, air exchange and filtration in a theater is rather limited and varies from one building to the next. I wouldn't get on a plane now, but I also wouldn't go to the theater, restaurant, or bar.


Absolutely correct. Air exchange is the big component. By that, we mean HVAC doing air changes per hour (ACH). If you can hit a minimum ACH depending on the size of the building, your chances of transmission are reduced to very,very low percentages- single digit. But not every building can do 3-12 ACH, with the proper filtration. A fan in a room isn't ventilation. Open windows help, but they aren't what does the heavy lifting. "Air purifiers" for a single room that plug into the wall socket really will just recirculate a finite amount of air most of the time. 

On top of that, just like in 1918, you have to anticipate that people will take time to actually be comfortable with the idea of congregating in large public events again.


----------



## TimMc (Nov 9, 2020)

What Rigger? said:


> Absolutely correct. Air exchange is the big component. By that, we mean HVAC doing air changes per hour (ACH). If you can hit a minimum ACH depending on the size of the building, your chances of transmission are reduced to very,very low percentages- single digit. But not every building can do 3-12 ACH, with the proper filtration. A fan in a room isn't ventilation. Open windows help, but they aren't what does the heavy lifting. "Air purifiers" for a single room that plug into the wall socket really will just recirculate a finite amount of air most of the time.
> 
> On top of that, just like in 1918, you have to anticipate that people will take time to actually be comfortable with the idea of congregating in large public events again.


Direction of airflow is important, too. In commercial passenger aircraft the flow is downward. Fresh air comes from above the passengers. The air returns are at the cabin floor level.


----------



## TimMc (Jan 29, 2021)

In better news, the Australian company of Hamilton has resumed rehearsals. Good for AU/NZ!!!








Hamilton returns after a devastating year: ‘I’m crying every day to know we’re back’

Rehearsals began for the Australian production this week – ten months after the world turned upside down



www.theguardian.com


----------



## Crisp image (Jan 29, 2021)

TimMc said:


> In better news, the Australian company of Hamilton has resumed rehearsals. Good for AU/NZ!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


We have tickets to see it in Sydney. hopefully we will be able to. We saw Come from away in Melbourne last weekend. Love that show.


----------



## kiwitechgirl (Jan 30, 2021)

TimMc said:


> In better news, the Australian company of Hamilton has resumed rehearsals. Good for AU/NZ!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I’m so grateful to be in Australia where things are starting to come back to life. Opera Australia is back performing with a whole lot of protocols in place - good article here - and a reduced audience capacity, along with Frozen, and Pippin has just finished a short-ish run too. I’m thoroughly sick of wearing a mask almost the whole time at work, but I will take it. Checking in and doing a temperature check as we go into the venue has become second nature. My state is up to 13 days with no community transmission and I’m just hoping that New Zealand allows quarantine free travel from Australia soon as I haven’t seen my family for over a year.


----------



## What Rigger? (Jan 30, 2021)

kiwitechgirl said:


> I’m so grateful to be in Australia where things are starting to come back to life. Opera Australia is back performing with a whole lot of protocols in place - good article here - and a reduced audience capacity, along with Frozen, and Pippin has just finished a short-ish run too. I’m thoroughly sick of wearing a mask almost the whole time at work, but I will take it. Checking in and doing a temperature check as we go into the venue has become second nature. My state is up to 13 days with no community transmission and I’m just hoping that New Zealand allows quarantine free travel from Australia soon as I haven’t seen my family for over a year.


Annnnnd today, 'leading the world' (The Last Superpower....ahem. ) Coachella and Stagecoach just announced they are cancelled for 2021. Surpising nobody, really.


----------



## gafftaper (Feb 1, 2021)

kiwitechgirl said:


> I’m so grateful to be in Australia where things are starting to come back to life. Opera Australia is back performing with a whole lot of protocols in place - good article here - and a reduced audience capacity, along with Frozen, and Pippin has just finished a short-ish run too. I’m thoroughly sick of wearing a mask almost the whole time at work, but I will take it. Checking in and doing a temperature check as we go into the venue has become second nature. My state is up to 13 days with no community transmission and I’m just hoping that New Zealand allows quarantine free travel from Australia soon as I haven’t seen my family for over a year.


Can I come visit you for... like the rest of my life?


----------



## Lyle Williams (Feb 3, 2021)

We bought Sydney Hamilton tickets for the whole family in the middle of last year. I can't wait!


----------

