‘Things can change in a second’: Broadway cancels shows as Omicron cases hit New York

More than half of the Broadway shows scheduled in December have had to cancel multiple performances as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus sweeps through New York during the critical holiday theatre season.

The sudden cancellations are testing the mettle of an industry that had just started to bounce back after an unprecedented shutdown.

Performances including Hamilton, Hadestown, The Lion King and Dear Evan Hansen will all be dark through Christmas. The Rockettes, a dance troupe whose high-kicking shows are a holiday staple at Radio City Music Hall, ended their run early on December 16.

The holidays have historically provided a boost for Broadway before a slump in the first quarter, when New York City tourism wanes and many shows close.

For some, that boost won’t be coming. Seven shows have shuttered; four, including Thoughts of a Colored Man and Waitress, blamed the financial hit from coronavirus cancellations. New York City reported about 11,500 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

Shows have been taking extreme lengths to keep running. One such production had been Thoughts of a Colored Man, where playwright Keenan Scott II took to the stage during the December 21 and 22 performances of his own play, because cast members were ill, including one with Covid-19. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to keep the show running, with Wednesday being its final performance.

Gross sales were at $22.5m for the week ending December 19, according to the Broadway League, a trade association, down 26 per cent from the previous week. Over an equivalent week in 2019, before coronavirus was detected in the US, sales totalled more than $40m.

Taking into account the fact that fewer shows are running this year, revenues are at 71.5 per cent of what they were compared to 2019, Lee Seymour, a Broadway producer and writer, estimated.

How individual shows are doing is unclear, because the Broadway League is no longer providing show-by-show data. Charlotte St Martin, the league’s president, said the data would be released again “when business is normal”.

Even before the pandemic, a gap has existed between what industry insiders call the “haves” and “have-nots” — Broadway stalwarts versus new, smaller productions.

That gap has likely widened as audiences gravitate towards known quantities. Financially secure shows can better withstand cancellations without closing for good.

Five of the seven shows that have closed early this season were new to Broadway. New productions were ineligible for up to $10m per company in federal grants received by popular shows that predate the pandemic including Hamilton, Hadestown and Come From Away.

“I think the biggest challenges are really for the shows that don’t yet have a recognisable brand,” said Mara Isaacs, lead producer of Hadestown.

Available data indicate audiences have been hungry to get back to the theatre. On average, the shows that are still open are about 82 per cent full, according to the Broadway League, indicating robust demand.

Compared with before the pandemic, more theatregoers are US tourists and New Yorkers. TodayTix, a mobile ticketing platform for theatre, provided data showing that local audiences were up 6 per cent compared to 2019, while international audiences were down by the same amount. Data from ticket reseller Vivid Seats show that the biggest names continue to attract audiences from afar.

At the same time, people are purchasing tickets closer to showtime, said Brian Fenty, TodayTix chief executive, posing a threat to advance sales.

“People . . . are making sure that their travel plans can be honoured . . . they’re making sure that the show is going to play,” he said.

Fewer workers in Manhattan offices have also made filling midweek seats a challenge, said Sue Frost and Randy Adams, Come From Away producers.

Frost and Adams said that hiring extra staff for their musical, including to make sure Covid safety protocols have been followed, has added costs. Broadway cast, crew and audiences must all be fully vaccinated, while people involved with production are tested regularly.

Flying Over Sunset at the Lincoln Center Theater, recently switched from testing cast and crew four times a week to daily, and has a “Covid team” including a production epidemiologist on the payroll, said Harry Hadden-Paton, who stars in the musical.

Broadway’s safety measures were a welcome change for Jaime Benavides and Ricardo Bruno, who were visiting New York from San Antonio, Texas. “They’re very lax currently over there,” Benavides said of his home state.

Yet the spectre of shutdown looms. “I feel like there’s a big cloud coming our way,” Hadden-Paton said.

“Things can change in a second,” said Estella Marie, who works in the wardrobe department of Come From Away. The musical announced on Wednesday that it would cancel performances to Christmas Day due to breakthrough cases of Covid-19 among the staff.

Closures on Broadway threaten part of the city’s economy. Before the pandemic, shows supported 97,000 local jobs and brought in more than $1bn in ticket sales a year on top of nearly $15bn in show-related spending, according to the Broadway League.

Leisa Creo and Jonathan Arak, friends from Manhattan, said they’ve made an effort to see more Broadway shows this year to support the industry. They took in a night performance of The Lehman Trilogy at the Nederlander Theatre this week.

“Broadway, it’s the heart of the city and it’s struggling. You know, that’s a big deal,” Creo said. “Is there anything more New York than Broadway?”

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