Industry Pro Newsletter: Masking on Broadway Will No Longer Be Mandatory - But Is That What Audiences Want?

Last week, the Broadway League announced that masks would be optional starting July 1 for most Broadway productions, and the response from the theatre industry was mixed at best. First, the Broadway Unions don't appear to have been consulted on the change, though the League insists that the change is not in violation of any of the collective bargaining agreements. Second, Broadway fans don't appear happy with the change, with 12% of respondents to a recent BroadwayWorld survey indicating that with masks being optional, they're no longer planning to attend a Broadway show in July. Will the change help Broadway shows capture more tourists? Only time will tell on how this will impact grosses and house fills.

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Industry Trends

BroadwayWorld to Be Exclusive Streaming Home of 'Ms. Guidance'

The new dark comedy follows an actress who quits the industry and becomes a guidance counselor at the performing arts boarding school she attended - but her students' dreams reignite her own and she starts plotting her comeback. The first episode will stream on Wednesday, June 29th, with new episodes weekly every Wednesday. Click here to read more...

Shubert Foundation Awards $37.6 Million in Unrestricted Grants to Arts Organizations

The Foundation announced a record amount of grants, including fifty first time recipients. Of those 50 first time recipients, 18 were able to receive a grant due to a change in Foundation requirements to provide audited financials this year. They made the change in an effort to respond to the extraordinary need of many arts organizations across the country. Click here to read more...

Broadway/New York

Broadway Theatres Go Mask Optional Starting July 1

Starting on Friday, masks will be optional at most Broadway shows - since the Broadway League made the announcement, American Buffalo announced that they would be keeping audiences in masks until the show concludes its run on July 10. Click here to read more...

BroadwayWorld Readers Respond: Keeping Their Masks On

The majority of BroadwayWorld readers who responded to a poll after the Broadway League announced the mask policy change said that they would be keeping their masks on when attending Broadway shows in July. 12% of readers also noted that they had planned to attend a Broadway show, but would be changing those plans due to the change in mask policy. Click here to read more...

Unions Not Consulted Before Mask Policy Change

Deadline reported that Actors' Equity Association was not consulted by producers and the Broadway League about the change in mask policy for Broadway theatres, and the letter to their membership indicated that they and the other Unions were only given a few hours of advance notice about the change before the Leagues announcement. Click here to read more...

What's Behind Recent Closing Notices?

In rapid succession, three long-running shows Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, and Tina all announced that they were closing at the end of the summer. The challenges of low tourism numbers, as well as the opening of more than a dozen new shows in recent weeks proved too much for advanced sales for these shows. Click here to read more...

Regional

BroadwayWorld Seeking a Freelance Social Media/Video Editor in Los Angeles

As part of our continued commitment to regional theatre coverage, BroadwayWorld is seeking a new member of our content team based in Los Angeles. If you've got anyone in your network who might be a good fit, send them our way! Click here to read more...

Despite Worries of a Decrease, Philadelphia Cultural Fund Sees Budget Increase

Thanks to the work of activists and council members, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund was able to secure a slight budget increase in the recently passed Philadelphia City Budget. At the height of the pandemic, the Mayor's office was considering completely cutting funding to the Cultural Fund. Click here to read more...

Garden Theatre Board Members Resign, Production Canceled

Ongoing turmoil at the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden, Florida has led to the resignation of two board members who represented Central Florida Entertainment Advocacy. Their planned fall production of A Bronx Tale was also canceled, as many members of the creative team had resigned in the wake of controversy surrounding the position of Artistic Director at the theatre. Click here to read more...

Derek Charles Livingston Named Interim Artistic Director of the Utah Shakespeare Festival

Following the abrupt departure of Brian Vaughn, the board at USF has elevated Livingston from his post as the Director of New Plays. Before coming to the Festival in 2021, he had worked as an Artistic Leader in Southern California. Click here to read more...

International

Jermyn Street Theatre Announces New Leadership Team

Stella Powell-Jones and David Doyle will succeed Tom Littler, as Artistic Director and Executive Producer, respectively. They'll join theatre co-founder Penny Horner who serves as the Executive Director of Jermyn Street. Click here to read more...

Harry Potter has Someone On Stage for 24 Hours

As Harry Potter and the Cursed Child celebrates its seventh anniversary, the production now has seven productions running globally - in London, New York, Melbourne, San Francisco, Hamburg, Toronto, and Tokyo. Click here to read more...

Missed our last few newsletters?

June 21, 2022 - New Executive Leadership Announced for Many Theatres

Coming out of the pandemic, there were a ton of Artistic and Executive Leadership positions open at institutions across the country, and as those roles have been filled, that has opened up other jobs - causing the leadership jobs carousel to keep on spinning. Last week, a slew of announcements brought clarity to who would be leading many of the major institutions, at least on a temporary basis. Other stories this week include how the Metropolitan Opera managed to get through an entire season without missing a curtain due to the pandemic, a huge step forward for the RSC in their portrayal of an iconic Shakespeare character, and BroadwayWorld celebrating record traffic on Tonys' Night. Click here to read more...

June 13 - Audience Intentions Look Good into 2023, Molly Smith Retires, and San Diego Rep Suspends Operations

Waking up the morning after the Tony Awards is a day that often has many feeling inspired to go out and make art - to pursue their dreams and their passions. And as we look at the broader theatre industry in today's newsletter, there are a lot of trends that should be viewed as highly encouraging: first, data from IMPACTS suggests that we will continue to see a rise in audience demand into 2023 for performance based organizations. Second, the Broadway musical is thriving on Australian stages - and recent granting after the pandemic is allowing more homegrown musicals to take shape there. Finally, a study of leadership in Colorado shows us that at least in one state, the majority of companies now have at least one woman involved in artistic leadership. Taken together, these are strong indicators of a bright future, even as the theatre continues to grapple with some of the other issues outlined in other articles included in this and previous editions of this newsletter. Click here to read more...

June 6 - Tax Credits in Maryland, A Unionization Effort in DC

The Tony Awards are on Sunday, and that feels really normal. Anyone who has walked through Times Square in the past week or so would also attest that the crush of tourists is also starting to feel normal. Box Offices across the country are starting to normalize, though I don't know anyone wants to go so far as to call them normal quite yet. However, there continues to be an undercurrent of change throughout the industry - the vast majority of it for the better in terms of trying to create better conditions for artists and other workers in the creative industries. That change doesn't come without strife, and that is the other thing that is becoming a part of the new normal - unionization efforts, Do Not Work orders, and social media campaigns to put pressure on producers and institutions to make changes to the very business model of theatre. Click here to read more...

BroadwayWorld Resources

BroadwayWorld Stage Mag - A Fully Interactive Show Program

The digital solution to your show program needs - want to see what's possible? Check out the Stage Mag's for off-Broadway's Blindness and for Next on Stage Season 3! Then start building your own at stagemag.broadwayworld.com.

Add Your Show to our Regional Events Calendar

As audiences get set to return to in-person performances, and as your company works to market your own return to the stage, make sure you've got your upcoming shows in our regional events calendars. Listings are free of charge, with boosting options available. Get your show listed now!

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