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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: ryhog 10:01 am EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - Will 09:13 am EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| There will be masks, at least for the first several months. There will not be social distancing. There are investors ready willing and able to invest on these terms, and audiences ready to show up. No actor will be asked to perform unsafely. Specifically, no actor will even be allowed to show up until fully vaccinated. Producers (which include only a handful of artistic directors on Broadway) are basically irrelevant to the equation. Nothing has been attempted "earlier in the pandemic." By the time the first trickle of productions open/reopen, vaccination will be the standard condition. Before the end of this month, over a third of Manhattanites will have been vaccinated, and if you look at the zip codes that people buy Broadway tickets from (in NYC metro area), the number is significantly higher than that. Gordon's article is quite good and worthy of reading. It is not confusing nor does it state things incorrectly. I commend it to your attention. |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: Kaoru 03:20 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - ryhog 10:01 am EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| Wearing a mask, how they are going to enforce it? Sure, the patrons wears masks at the entrance/door, but they may take it off just like they are doing at a supermarket etc. once they are inside. Will the usher warn them they'll be asked to leave if they don't put the mask on? And will they actually boot them out? | |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: PlazaBoy 05:47 pm EDT 03/22/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - Kaoru 03:20 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| i agree, I can't imagine that people will follow the rules or that the rules will be easily enforced. We've read countless reports on the chat board over the years of inconsiderate, selfish, mind boggling audience behavior. I'm not sure anything will have changed in that regard. Once the lights dim, it's hard to control people's behavior. |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: ryhog 03:38 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - Kaoru 03:20 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| what supermarket or other store in the city are you seeing maskless people in? LOL I don't. And yes, they will enforce it, and yes they will be warned, and yes they will be booted out. How do I know this? Because a production's "life" depends on it. Not too many people will want to forfeit the expensive ticket just to be stupid. And even the stupid ones will get the message. Do you seriously think this is a major impediment? | |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 05:44 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - ryhog 03:38 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| I live in Morton Grove, IL which is about 1-1/2 miles north of the Edison Park area of Chicago. Since Mar., 2020, I go to the gym (when open) in the morning where I walk on the track for about 90 minutes. There are 3 or 4 grocery stores I go to regularly. I've been to Walmart several times and Kohl's twice. I've been to a local cinema (when open) maybe 5 or 6 times. I've never seen a person without a mask in any store. However, I do see some people occasionally with their mask below their nose, which, of course, spreads droplets. At my gym the people who use the track generally do not remove their masks when walking. When they do, I and others remind them to mask-up -- there has never been a refusal or confrontation, but the people who use the track are generally older, responsible adults. However, in other parts of the gym, a lot of people (mostly older teens and younger 20 somethings) on occasion remove their mask or lower it below their nose. There is limited staff at my gym to enforce the mask rule -- they do go from room to room and area to area constantly, but absolute enforcement is impossible, and I have seen confrontations and even some (rare, but it happens) intimidation. The people in charge are aware of the problem, constantly remind violators, but other than hiring an armed guard for every room, there's no real solution if some people are going to be jerks. Regarding the cinema, it's pretty much what Kaoru stated, many people, after they are seated in the theater, remove their mask. In fact, I'm probably one of the very few who only removes his mask (when eating popcorn) while watching the movie. Since Mar., 2020 I have not left my house without wearing a mask, and I do not remove it when I'm in a building. Nevertheless, in Jan., 2021 I was diagnosed with covid. I was interviewed by a lady from the Cook County Board of Health. She had me re-trace my steps for the 3 days preceding the morning I noticed the symptoms (no sense of smell, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, aches and pains all over, etc.) -- fortunately my doctor was able to do a video exam of me that very day and told me I probably had the virus. A test the next day confirmed it. Anyway the medical people surmised that I contracted covid 3 days earlier in a Farmer's Market grocery store where everyone was wearing a mask, but the store was grossly overcrowded, there was no social distancing, and it was impossible to turn around and exit the store. Anyway I got through the virus, it definitely sucked, but I recovered. I received my first dose of the Moderna vaccine last month, and the second dose yesterday. Just one person's story -- I'm not trying to over-generalize. |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: ryhog 06:23 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - BroadwayTonyJ 05:44 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| I'm glad you got through it! All of the stores I go to have good hygiene and social distancing. I waited outside in the freezing cold (NYC cold, not Chicago cold) to get into both groceries I regularly go to, which was a small price to pay for an uncrowded store. I have now had both doses of the vaccine as of 2 weeks ago. Like I said in another post, as eager as I am to see live theatre again, I would not have gone unvaccinated. I have not been to the gym yet but plan to return soon. My neighbor who goes to the same gym said it feels very safe there. There have been those here and elsewhere who want to push the reopening of theatres, but there is a good reason (reinforced by the news Ann posted above re the Bill T Jones show) to be patient. By Fall, we will know much much more than we do now, and we will hopefully be in a far far better place. I look forward to post-show drinks where everyone is laughing about "remember back when we were worried about ... " | |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 07:16 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:09 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - ryhog 06:23 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| I feel perfectly safe at my gym because I am able to social distance at all times. Not many people use the track and it's limited to 6 people at a time. There is an automatic lock on the door which only admits the 6 people with reservations. I'm just pointing out that in many areas there are those who do not follow the rules. At least 30% of the people in this country think that covid is either a hoax or not something serious. If they watch Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham and listen to them, they probably do not believe that 541,000 individuals have died of it here. All of the stores I go to regularly are safe. However, on that one occasion I was in a store that previously had always been safe, but that one time it was not safe and I paid the price. Regarding the film cinemas I have attended, the number of people in the individual theater has always been between 5 and 10 people, all several rows distant from others. Yesterday after getting my second dose of the vaccine, the doctor gave me the completed CDC card and referred to it as a passport. He said that probably in Illinois anyway a vaccine passport may be necessary for admission to large events (like theatre) in the future when such events resume, hopefully in the fall. |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: Kaoru 05:20 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - ryhog 03:38 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| I said, people wear a mask when they get in, but some people take it off in a store. What if people do the same, once inside the theatre and sit down and take it off especially when the lights are off? The ushers don't even take away a phone when the guests are using (texting, reading etc) during the performance even they are warned multiple times, unless they are recording or taking a pic. | |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: ryhog 06:03 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - Kaoru 05:20 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| I don't see people taking off masks in stores in the stores I patronize. That's what surprised me about your post. Earlier today I was in a large store in midtown and saw someone with their nose uncovered. It took under a minute for a sales clerk to tell them to cover their nose and they did. I have only seen one (seemingly crazy) person, in the Trader Joes in Chelsea, take their mask off and refuse to put it on, and he ended up getting thrown out after throwing his food at the employees. I don't think this is going to be a major issue among theatregoers in the early months. The difference between this and phones is that the producer's show is not subject to closure for phone issues like it will be for non-compliance with the monitoring requirement that will be in place. Personally, I would not go to the theatre without vaccination. By the time we have theatre, everyone will have had the opportunity to be vaccinated. The masks for the first few months is in anticipation of protecting the unvaccinated stragglers on the possible theory that a vaccinated person can infect an unvaccinated person. Once we reach herd immunity, our concern for these people will wane (as it has for everything else). This is how I see it. YMMV obviously. | |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: hanon 06:15 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - ryhog 06:03 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| I’m not sure I understand the analogy between food shopping and sitting in a theater for 2 1/2 hours. I think given the choice between attending live shows and watching television, many people will decide to stay at home simply because they don’t have to wear a mask. Even in the days before COVID, it was hard to fill theaters. A lot of people will decide they don’t want to sit in a theater with a mask on, probably enough to make it impossible to run a show profitably. |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: ryhog 06:54 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - hanon 06:15 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| I didn't really mean it as an analogy but more as an observation that folks around here don't seem mask averse in the way people in some other places apparently are. Your perspective on whether enough people will be motivated to go to the theatre in a mask is certainly a valid one. All I can say is that there are producers prepared to bet against you on that. (And that too is no different than producers betting on shows that just about no one on this board thinks is a good idea.) I think there is no question that some people will not go back if there is a mask requirement but I also think that there are people (including me) who will. Early on in the pandemic I watched quite a few filmed shows and of course the zoom things. I tired of it long before many here did but I've made no secret over the years that I don't find filmed shows a palatable substitute or even "the same thing." I have said this a number of times over the months but I think some people envision a much more robust Fall '21 than is likely to materialize, and a good part of the reason is that the market for theatre is going to be reduced by a variety of facts including the masks, a more general reluctance to be amongst people after 18 months of staying away from them, and the absence of tourists in large measure. So as I have said, I expect only about a half dozen shows in the early months and I also expect the mask mandate will be gone before Spring '22. We will STILL not be back to anything approaching a full complement of shows. I saw what you wrote in another post and just to react to that a little. I never say never but producers are rarely motivated by the prospect of losing money out of the gate. We all know that most productions will end up losing money but not by design. This is another reason that we can expect a limited supply of shows, because the design would be that the reduced demand will be somewhat close to matched by it. |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: blue70 04:09 pm EDT 03/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - ryhog 06:54 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| I used to attend theater, concerts, ballet and opera performances regularly. I will not be returning to see live performances any time soon. I lost a friend to covid this week, so I am even warier of crowds than I was before. I don't trust people to wear masks properly. I see people with ill-fitting masks every time I shop. I regularly see people who do not cover their noses. I've even seen people remove their masks in stores. I now shop during off-peak hours so that I encounter fewer people. In December, Fauci said that 90% of the population needs to be vaccinated in order for us to achieve herd immunity. Because of the amount of vaccine hesitancy out there, I'll be surprised if we are able to vaccinate 90% of the people. |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: ryhog 05:55 pm EDT 03/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - blue70 04:09 pm EDT 03/21/21 | |
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| Everyone decides for themselves what they are comfortable with and when, so nothing I say is intended to encourage anyone to do do things before it feels right to them personally. Having said that, as I have said before, herd immunity is a public health issue, not a personal health issue. Of course we have cause for concern that stupid people will not get vaccinated, because ultimately we will all pay for their choice in higher healthcare costs, taxes, etc. but it does not change things for the vaccinated at all. (NB the continued mask mandate exists to protect the unvaccinated (in the event vaccinated people end up being able to spread the virus) until everyone has had plenty of opportunity to get vaccinated. Once that happens, the mandate will be lifted.) And there will be vaccines for children in due course. There is research underway now; obviously we have to know that they are safe for kids before we allow them. But again, since there is a low incidence, this is not a public health priority. If we can empty the hospitals and the morgues of covid victims, normalcy will return. I hope you find the right time to return as well. | |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 04:46 pm EDT 03/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - blue70 04:09 pm EDT 03/21/21 | |
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| Last week one of the medical professionals, not Fauci, but a woman doctor, said that because there are no plans to vaccinate children, 95% of adults will have to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity. Right now in red states it's the macho thing to not wear a mask and not get vaccinated. Recently Trump repeated the baseless claim that vaccinations cause autism. The horrendous divide in this country is going to make it very hard to defeat the virus. |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: Will (tommyjonzie@yahoo.com) 10:18 am EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - ryhog 10:01 am EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| I appreciate your optimism but as Wednesday Addams said in Addams Family Values: "Wait." | |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: ryhog 10:27 am EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - Will 10:18 am EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| The word I have been preaching for a year now is "patience." We are waiting, but we are also seeing the results of a responsible approach to covid, something that we could not say 61 days ago. What you said was not entirely factual. It is not a fact that there will be no Broadway with masks. It is not a fact that investors will not invest until there are no masks. It is not a fact that audiences are not prepared to return (especially factoring in the robust vaccination numbers). | |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: AnObserver 10:45 am EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - ryhog 10:27 am EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| Are the Trump supporters in Staten Island and South Brooklyn being vaccinated? Don't they go to see Broadway shows too? Will they wear masks? I'm not sure they can be required to. Is it legal to ask proof of vaccination? I hope they do get vaccinated. Last night on PBS Newshour they showed footage of Trump saying a "beautiful child" got vaccinated and then became autistic. It was a long episode with Yamiche about Republican refusal to vaccinate. You can find it online. | |
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| re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? | |
| Posted by: ryhog 12:06 pm EDT 03/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Variety: As COVID-19 Restrictions Start to Ease, What Will It Take for Broadway Shows to Reopen? - AnObserver 10:45 am EDT 03/20/21 | |
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| There is no data correlating Trump support and vaccination in those areas (but it would make sense it is lower), but what we do know is that Richmond County, for instance, is about 1/4 vaccinated (first shot at least) and yes we also know that people from these zip codes buy far fewer tickets than those from the deep blue precincts. (Even more so, I am sure, for the sort of shows we can expect in the early months.) They are required to wear masks everywhere else they go in Manhattan so why would this be different? There is very little noncompliance that I can see. Why would it not be legal to ask for proof? That's what baseball is doing (for now with the alternative of rapid testing for entry), and we ask for proof for other non-covid purposes. Will their be persistent anti-vaxxers? Sure, but it will increasingly become a pain in the ass (airlines are almost definitely going to require it for instance), and once everyone else is enjoying herd immunity, no one will care. |
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