BWW Blog: Post-Quarantine Broadway Picks For The Socially Distant Theatregoer

This is weird. With the recent announcement that the Great White Way will stay closed through September 6th, I'm preparing myself for the first summer in what feels like ever without Broadway. There are countless things about theatre I'll miss: the first notes of the overture, leafing through Playbills, the annoying seat neighbors crinkling M&Ms right at the quiet parts. However, all this time means that I can really do my research for when the lights go back up in NYC. I'll share my list of top post-pandemic Broadway picks.

Frozen (Pre-Closing). September is a great time for Frozen to reopen- it's a great show for the kids and we'll be right at the end of the yearly August heat wave. I haven't seen the movie but it sounds like they probably have great air conditioning. I also will be honest in that I misread "ice queen" as "ice cream" so don't be disappointed like I was when I found out that it was not, in fact, a show about Ben and Jerry's. Side note: I have some suggestions for Disney's next movie musicals. ( Cone From Away? Legally Blondie?)

Company. Exactly what we need after what feels like five years of quarantine. Why have your parents yell at you to get off your phone when you can have Patti LuPone do the same thing! It currently remains to be seen if they will be changing the songs to fit world updates for coronavirus. I personally hope to hear "Another Hundred People (Made Bad Hair Decisions Because What Else Is There To Do These Days)."

Mean Girls. This one is for the seniors who didn't get their last few months of high school. Both the show and movie are actually based on the nonfiction book Queen Bees and Wannabees , so it should take you right back! I will point out that my high school had a distinct lack of spontaneous dance breaks and Renee Rapp's vocals that could knock out Dwayne Johnson. We did have calculus, though, so it's pretty much the same.

Hadestown. Sometimes quarantine feels like hell. Want some perspective on that? Try literal hell. This story is a retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth; essentially, Eurydice gets trapped forever in Hadestown and cannot leave. Orpheus gets the chance to lead her out of the factory, but he can't make any contact with her. It's the OG social distancing! So relatable! However, I'm concerned about working conditions. Are the workers at Hades' factory essential? What's the benefit package like?

Frankly, it doesn't matter what you go see when theatre returns- Broadway is Broadway, and our community will (in the words of Hamilton ) rise up. I'm sure there will be fundamental changes to how theaters operate, and we should be prepared to adapt to those changes. For now, we can only speculate what that will be like. I'm personally hoping for replacing confetti cannons with giant Purell dispensers. Who needs boring old streamers when you could be germ-free and live out your Nickelodeon slime cannon dreams? Call me, producers.

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