The Broadway reopening is one of the most anticipated events post the pandemic. Today, apart from the famous Central Park, Statue of Liberty, and the Empire State building - New York Broadway continues to be one of the most iconic representations of the vibrant city, hosting numerous performances across theaters, bringing its rich culture back to life! The origins of Broadway Theatre can be traced back to 1750 when the first theater company was launched by Thomas Kean and Walter Murray. It has come a long way since as the highest level of commercial live theater, where people travel from different parts of the world to experience the onstage magic and celebrate outstanding performances together. Read on to know about the Broadway reopening in 2021.

Broadway Reopening Date - 31st May 2021

Broadway League has announced the new reopening date of Broadway theatre as 30th May 2021. Since the initial shutdown on 12th March 2020, the Broadway League has declared numerous reopening dates following the pandemic — none of which have actually taken place. The dates declared so far are as follows: 12th April 2020, 29th April 2020, 1st June 2020, 7th June 2020, 6th Setepmber 2020 and 30th May 2021.

While industry experts continue to confirm that all shows are cancelled until further notice, the Broadway League continues setting these specific dates as a form of prediction or wishful thinking, giving a sense of hope to all theater enthusiasts.

Broadway Reopening - What's at stake when resuming post-pandemic?

To begin with, there is no doubt that strict safety guidelines will be introduced in order to prevent the spread of infections inside the theater, or at least until the staff and patrons are vaccinated and taking all necessary precautions.

It is, however, going to be a challenge to make this happen. If a Broadway theater decides to open during the pandemic, at least 80% of the audience seats need to be occupied in order to create a financial balance. Another stumbling block would be to come up with an effective way to manage social distancing protocol within the tight quarters as it would not be sufficient to only provide masks and hand sanitizers. With this, there is also a chance that prices of the tickets may increase in order to make up for the depleted audience.

What to expect when Broadway reopens

If the Broadway reopening is to take place as predicted in May 2021, it is very likely that only the smaller Broadway shows would begin functioning and the opening of bigger shows would be further postponed, after seeing the response for the first few performances.

Moreover, new Broadway shows are expected to choose dates that go even further into the future along with The Music Man and MJ: The Musical both confirming that their opening dates will be after September 2021 once all other Broadway shows have begun. One of the main reasons is the difficulty in getting a new show setup together during the ongoing crisis, which adds on more complexity amidst this challenging time.

Can the reopening date get extended further?

Truth be told, despite the new dates being announced recently, the sad reality is that Broadway producers and theater owners may be forced to wait until the pandemic is completely over before they can reopen up the doors to the public. There are many speculations that the vaccine will be released soon, however, until this turns into a reality the opening date could be as far out as December 2021, February 2022, or even August 2022.

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