US Broadway Reenactment Time Delayed Again Until 2021
Broadway is an important north-south road in New York City, starting from Battery Park in the south and running through Manhattan Island from south to north. Because there are many theaters on both sides of the road, it is an important place for American drama and musicals, so "Broadway" has become synonymous with musicals. Broadway is one of the most famous streets in the world, with a total length of 24 kilometers and the longest street. With the evolution of historical culture, the Broadway today is not only a north-south road running through Manhattan Island in New York but also a synonym for theater or theater appreciation.
The most famous section of Broadway is called "White Avenue". Although this section of the road is only 1000 meters long, it is the center of the New York City Grand Theater. "White Avenue" got its name because before the neon lights, these shining lights were all white, and the night was just like the day. “Broadway District” refers to the Broadway Theater that extends along Broadway from the Nederlander Theater on West 41st Street in Manhattan to the Broadway Theater on West 53rd Street, and is actually located on Broadway The only theaters on offer are Marquis, Palace, Winter Garden, and Broadway. In fact, the theaters lined up around Broadway are also in Broadway. Every year on Broadway Avenue, millions of tourists from all over the world come to New York to enjoy Broadway's musicals. In the eyes of Americans, Broadway is an opera and drama, which belongs to American opera; but on other continents, such as Europe and Asia, Broadway likes to call Broadway a musical.
Broadway Arts has made an inestimable contribution to the promotion of American theater, cabaret and performing arts. Many Hollywood celebrities have embarked on the road of movie stars after starting from Broadway's stage art performances. Julie Andrews, the heroine of the famous Hollywood music feature film "Sound of Music", started from a performance on Broadway's musical of the same name. After being discovered by the director, she stepped onto the screen and became an idol in the United States in the 1960s. "Broadway" actually has three meanings. The first concept is the geographical concept, referring to 36 theaters within 12 blocks near Times Square in New York City. The second meaning is the performance in Broadway. The third meaning is the entire Broadway industry. This industry also includes those theaters that mainly perform Broadway repertoires outside New York City. In general, Broadway is a pinnacle representative of the Western theater industry and represents the highest level of artistic and commercial achievements in the theater industry.
In recent months, with the gradual stabilization of the overall domestic epidemic situation, the resumption of work in the event market has gradually ushered in. On the other side of the ocean, due to the differences in the treatment of the epidemic of Covid-19 in different countries, the potential risks of the new crown epidemic continue to spread, and there are still many uncertainties in the resumption of the global event industry. Now Broadway is being hit by the Cocid-19 epidemic. While all theaters are closed, many new plays have postponed the performance time. It is reported that Broadway's last season's box office revenue was as high as 1.8 billion US dollars, attracting 15 million audiences. However, with the outbreak of the Cocid-19 in the United States, the once tumultuous Broadway Theater has been closed for more than two months, with a total loss of more than 280 million US dollars.
On the evening of June 29th, the official website of Broadway of the United States announced that it would postpone the reenactment time to January 3, 2021. This is the fourth time Broadway has announced the rehearsal time since the Governor of New York announced the closure of Broadway Theaters on March 12. Previously, Broadway had postponed the timetable for the resumption of work three times. This closing is the longest temporary suspension of modern Broadway. Even after the September 11th incident in 2001, Broadway was reopened two days later. In addition, the Tony Awards ceremony, which is known as the "Oscar of theatrical world" and was originally scheduled to be held on June 7, has not yet been confirmed. Facing repeated delays in the resumption of work, Broadway Alliance Chairman Charlotte Saint Martin said in a statement: "Broadway staff are working closely with the Drama Union to work hard to promote theater reenactment. Once safety can be ensured, we will let the return of practitioners who make a living for drama and is also welcome to those who love New York. Our Broadway staff have been saying that we will definitely come back and we still have many stories to tell."
Despite this, because of the rebound of the US epidemic of Covid-19, Broadway, which once chanted "The show must continue", has little hope of resuming the show in the near future. This can be seen from Broadway’s postponement of resumption of work from April 12 to June 7, September 6, and finally to January 31, 2021. The Broadway Alliance said that all theater owners will refund tickets for musicals and dramas as of January 3, 2021, and some repertoires may not return until some time after January 3 next year. Although every member of Broadway hopes to restart the show as soon as possible and share stories that inspire the audience, the safety of actors, crew members, orchestras and audiences is the first priority, and only when it is safe enough will they return to the stage. Generally speaking, spring is one of Broadway’s busiest performance seasons, and many new shows will start before the Tony Award deadline in late April. According to statistics, 14.6 million people watched Broadway performances last year, and the Broadway Alliance alone contributed $14.7 billion to the New York City economy last season. In addition, Broadway and related industries provided 87,000 jobs.
Now, the statement that Broadway is closed until next year also means that the Covid-19 epidemic will bring huge economic losses to Broadway, and the theater will have to provide refunds and exchange tickets for all tickets sold throughout the fall. It is speculated that the epidemic is expected to cost Broadway more than US$10 million in losses, and nearly 100,000 people will face the threat of unemployment. For this situation, the American Theater Alliance has invested funds originally used for offline performances into relief funds. Eligible individual artists can receive $500 in immediate assistance, and theaters can apply for $1,000.
In addition, the West End, which is also the world performing arts center, is not optimistic. The West End of London issued a statement in May that the theatre will remain closed for at least the next two months. On June 3, the London Theatre Association once again issued a statement saying that the closure of the West End of London will be extended to August 2. Different theaters and repertoires maybe reopened at different times. If necessary, performance cancellation information will be announced one after another. Earlier, some industry insiders in the UK stated that some of the blockbuster musical performances including "Hamilton", "Miserable World", "Happy World" and "Phantom of the Opera" will not return to the stage until next year.
Some art institutions have warned that the United Kingdom will face a huge "cultural disaster" due to the pandemic of Covid-19. According to a report disclosed by the Oxford Economic Research Institute, the potential economic impact of the new coronavirus pandemic will cause over 400,000 jobs loss of opportunity in the UK in industries such as music, theatre, film, television, fashion, publishing, architecture, and museums. Among them, the UK’s creative industry is expected to lose £74 billion (US$94 billion) in revenue in 2020 and lose £1.4 billion per week.
In addition to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on the performance of the show, the long-term suspension will also hinder the development of the entire industry. Yu Xin, a senior practitioner in the musical theatre industry, believes that a prolonged work stoppage will reduce the vitality of the drama industry. The life of the actors in the development period is relatively difficult. Now that the theater is closed, these actors cannot make a living by acting, and they may switch careers, causing a loss of talent. At the same time, it is difficult for content production companies to recover funds, investment risks increase, and the output of new content is further affected.
In addition, the audience will not return to the theater soon. According to Forbes News, nearly 70% of Broadway theater audiences are tourists and local senior citizens. According to figures from the Broadway Alliance for the 2018-2019 show season, 65% of the audience are tourists who come to New York, 46% of them come from other cities in the United States, and 19% come from other countries.
Moreover, since the closure of the theater was mainly affected by the epidemic, after the theater reenactment, middle-aged and elderly people belonging to high-risk groups will not risk the infection to return to the theater in a large amount for the first time, and the tourism industry itself will not recover soon. Therefore, it will still take some time for the theater to resume normal operation after it is opened. At the same time, Yu Xin also pointed out: "In fact, the theater suspension is an opportunity for the entire industry to stop and think and innovate. You can try some new elements, such as outdoor performances, 3D projection, and new sound field design. These elements may bring some new drama forms. This is beneficial to the promotion of drama, and these elements can also be used to attract people to enter the theater after the reenactment. But unfortunately, at present most of the theaters are still engaged in online concerts, live broadcasts, and even directly broadcast performance videos"
Recently, some domestic drama industry practitioners have tried new performance forms. For example, "Only Love Dramatic City" created by director Wang Chaoge breaks the traditional stage model. The entire park and six theaters are used as performance areas, and more than 50 repertoires are performed at the same time, allowing the audience to choose their own route and repertoire. Public reports show that the play was premiered live on the cloud on June 15 and watched by more than 6.1 million people. The show was performed on June 19 and preliminary explorations have been made in the areas of drama promotion and cultural and travel integration.
The global event industry is cold, and it is happening in the context of the new crown epidemic, so there is still room for future markets. As long as we actively explore new outlets and find ways to deal with the current difficulties, then after experiencing the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the event industry is bound to have more vitality and the ability to resist risks.
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