New York City’s Broadway and London’s West End may not reopen until at least early next year because it will be highly difficult to enact social distancing procedures to keep theatergoers, performers and staff safe, legendary theater producer Cameron Mackintosh predicted Sunday. “The truth is, until social distancing doesn’t exist anymore, we can’t even plan to reopen,” Mackintosh, who produced “Phantom of the Opera,” “Cats” and “Les Misérables,” said in a BBC radio interview. If we don’t hear [about lockdowns lifting] in a few weeks, I think the truth is we won’t be able to come back until early next year. On both sides of the Atlantic, scores of theater performers and staff are out of work and have launched crowdfunding and charity initiatives to raise money. In the U.S., theater workers and other artists, creators and arts and culture organizations have called for federal aid to be included in future economic stimulus legislation.

Source: Huffington Post May 04, 2020 17:15 UTC