Broadway shutting down all productions over coronavirus pandemic
Broadway will shut down tonight until April 12, due to the coronavirus outbreak, several sources told The Post.
Telecharge will automatically refund purchased tickets for performances between March 12 and April 12.
In what is the worst crisis the industry has faced since the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, several shows will not be able to recover. “The Minutes,” a new play by Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts that was to open Sunday night, is likely to close. A rep for it says the show is planning to come back.
Martin McDonagh’s acclaimed “Hangmen” is also unlikely to open this season, though it could come back in the fall. “Sing Street,” a new musical currently in rehearsals, will try to open in the fall, propped up by money from Barbara Broccoli, the producer of the James Bond movies. A spokesman for “Sing Street” said, “Nothing has been decided yet, in terms of when Broadway reopens.”
“The Phantom of the Opera,” Broadway’s longest-running show that draws heavily on foreign tourists, may well close down for good, sources said. But other sources say that Andrew Lloyd Webber is determined to keep “Phantom” open.
Actors’ Equity has been pushing for the shutdown as the union’s members are concerned about contracting the virus. “Equity is driving this,” said a producer. “If actors don’t feel safe, they don’t have to perform.”
Along with Broadway going dark, classic music fans will be shut out, too, as the New York Philharmonic announced today that it has canceled all of its concerts immediately and through March 31. “As always, the safety and security of our guests, musicians and employees is a priority,” the organization stated.
