New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo today announced that Broadway theaters featuring plays and musicals can reopen in New York City – at 100 percent capacity – on September 14.
Tickets for all shows will go on sale on Thursday, May 6.
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NEW: Broadway shows will be ready to open September 14 at 100% capacity. Tickets go on sale starting tomorrow.
Broadway is major part of our state’s identity and economy, and we are thrilled that the curtains will rise again.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) May 5, 2021
It’s a huge boost for New York City tourism, which has been devastated for more than a year now due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Broadway is a major attraction in Manhattan with many tourists coming to the city just to see shows, rather than including a Broadway production as an afterthought or as part of a vacation.
Broadway, home to 41 theaters, drew 14.6 million people who spent $1.8 billion on tickets in 2019, according to the New York Times.
The challenge will be whether the tourists come back, as visitors from outside New York City make up almost two-thirds of the nightly audiences as Broadway shows.
Some people were hesitant to come back knowing they will be in a completely full theater where one seat is practically on top of another.
I am not revisiting New York, and definitely not seeing a Broadway show, until community transmission is effectively zero.
— Lois Patterson (@loisrp) May 5, 2021
Some also wondered why there is a four-month wait until September, meaning Broadway will miss the lucrative summer travel season.
But that one is easily explained. With as many as eight shows a week to fill – Broadway is traditionally dark on Mondays but has two shows a day on Wednesdays and Saturdays – producers need time to advertise and market. They need to reassemble and rehearse casts who have been out of work for more than a year. And they need to sort out and negotiate safety protocols.