Omicron And Broadway: How Covid Is Affecting The Theater

After various theaters finally reopened in late 2021, it seems the curtain is closing on a few more productions due to Covid-19. Industry experts are optimistic about the future, however.

According to CNBC, 18 productions were outright canceled in the days before Christmas. Since many productions are struggling to continue throughout the pandemic, omicron is causing a labor controversy of sorts.

Vice president of production at Disney Theatrical Anne Quart described the chaos involved with starting a new day at the theater.

“You wake up in the morning, and you brace yourself as each company’s daily test results start to come in,” she said, as reported by Variety. “For about a week there, it felt like a tsunami.”

Broadway producer Kevin McCollum explained that he has multiple shows currently running, including “Mrs. Doubtfire,” but that opening the show as cases surged “was "like planting a sapling, but there's a hurricane."

McCollum has decided to postpone all performances for the time being, until mid-March, saying the long-term intermission is the only feasible alternative going forward. The union, however, insists that producers are deliberately choosing to close productions to conceal finances.

"Our Broadway contract does allow a show to go on hiatus in a way that protects everyone's jobs and gives audiences the promise that the show will return,” President of the NYC Musicians Union Local 802 Tino Gagliardi said. “But some producers choose not to follow this route so they can hide their finances from us. Instead, they simply close down their shows completely, with a vague promise of re-opening."

McCollum and Quart, like many other industry experts, expect the storm to weather down.

“I think the one thing we’ve all learned… is we just take it one day at a time,” Quart said. “In crisis, I never want to be in the trenches with anybody but theater people.”