Broadway’s Reopening May Not Happen Until 2021

While the “official” lockdown of live Broadway theater has been extended to September 6, 2020, Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League has disclosed in an interview with the Daily Beast that she personally believes Broadway won’t reopen until January 2021. Optimistic members of the Broadway League—the national trade association for the Broadway industry, created in 1930, now with over 700 members—believe the Great White Way could reopen at the end of this year; other members are projecting spring 2021.

Social distancing isn’t possible with the “present financial models” she discloses. Opening also entails safety precautions be in place that allow audience members to sit in close proximity, which includes initially wearing masks. On a practical level, opening the doors later this year would theoretically mean relatively large holiday crowds, which would mean a tour-de-force of preparation to ensure safety for audience members as well as the actors, musicians, backstage, front of house and others who make the show go on.

According to St. Martin in the last ten weeks Broadway has been losing an average of $35 million a week, which will remain steady, leading to a loss of about $1.5 billion at the end of the year. Meaning that whenever Broadway does return, a financial rebound would not be quick. Broadway shows traditionally operate on tight financial margins and a loss of business on reopening is anticipated. For shows running at the time of the March 12 closure, relaunching could cost in the region of from $750,000 to $1.5 million. Thus, a reopened Broadway would probably see fewer shows and shows with few or solo performers and limited musical elements where those are required.

In the Broadway of the future, St. Martin said, “I think you’ll probably see a lot of contactless activities, like with scanning tickets, and no faucets and hand flushes in the restrooms,” said St. Martin. Concession servers, she said, would likely be wearing masks and gloves and “serving your drink in a paper cup that you personally throw away. New products are being developed every day, it seems.” And with all the uncertainty that abounds now, with clear thinking and consideration of the facts that are presently known, St. Martin is optimistic. “I believe we will be back, and eventually we will be back to where we were before,” she concludes.