VIDEO: Kate Shindle, John Kristiansen and More Discuss The Impact of the Broadway Shutdown on the Industry

In a PBS NewsHour special, members of the theatre community have spoken out about the impact that the near year-long Broadway shutdown has had on the industry, and what the shutdown could mean for people in the industry moving forward.

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Kate Shindle, president of Actors' Equity shared: "I don't think most people think of actors, for example, as the middle-class workers that the majority of us are. They also don't really think about the arts and entertainment industry's impact on the economy."

She continued to say, "Look, making a living in our industry, being a professional actor or stage manager, is one of the hardest things you can do, even on a good day. It's an incredibly unstable and unpredictable way to make a living for so many of us. But when it stretches on past a year, which it's about to, I think there's a very real possibility that a lot of people will leave the business, because they're not exactly sure what they're waiting for."

John Kristiansen, whose company is a theatrical costume supplier for Broadway shows, shared: "When it started to become terrifying was when things were happening, like Disney closing "Frozen on Broadway" because it was too hard to open it up again. And we started to see this shift in trying to get people to talk to us, figure out what to do for our people, who are my family." He went on to say, "The people that are doing the beading, sewing the garments and putting the thread in, it's a lot of people that are doing this, each one very important. We need to make sure that they're - they make it through this."