A few Broadway Shows Re-opening in August...?

[macbeth]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 6:54am

I've been checking Telecharge regularly and it looks like a few shows just quietly started selling tickets for August including Ain't Too Proud, Chicago and Jagged Little Pill. They weren't doing that last time I checked a week or so ago... 

[ElphabaGoodman]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 7:11am

Those shows have actually been on sale for months - they were on sale for June and then pushed back two months to August, as June will certainly not be happening.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 10:10am

It's certainly plausible. All depends on if the shows can adhear to the AEA guidelines by the time they'd start rehearsals in late-June or early-July.

[BroadwayGuy12]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 10:38am

As ElphabaGoodman pointed out, there are a handful of shows that have remained on sale throughout the pandemic. Until recently, they were on sale beginning the week of 5/31; now, they're on sale beginning the week of 8/2. Rather than a sign that these shows will be returning around this time, this more so seems to be an indication that the date for offering refunds or exchanges has again been extended (from 5/30 to 8/1).

I'm wondering if we'll soon see another press release/announcement from the Broadway League about a new suspension of performances, or if we've instead reached a point where it's now going to be up to individual productions to begin announcing their plans for reopening. If it's the latter, I suspect we'll start to learn more around Memorial Day, as the "current" deadline lapses and we have a clearer picture of the state of the pandemic, vaccination, necessary safety protocols, etc.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 10:47am

No League press release has ever meant anything, just as no tickets on sale condition has. The key factors are that the state has to eliminate social distancing and a market has to develop, and the AEA protocols have to evolve. No production is going to know the answers to the critical questions before June, which means September is the earliest possibly viable month. Also, note that many shows will need tourist audiences to return, and that is not going to happen for a while longer still. Patience.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 11:29am

Certainly none of the big shows will be returning before September or more likely October or November at the earliest, regardless of whether they're selling tickets now.  But I do wonder if we may see a smaller show or two try to open in a Broadway theatre before then (something like Love Letters a few years ago, where you only need two actors socially distanced and could probably still make a profit even at reduced capacity).  Or possibly smaller concert-like shows performed by artists at a reduced rate to try to get Broadway restarted (for instance, Savion Glover and Nathan Lane turning their pop-up show from the other night into a limited engagement).  I doubt anything like this will happen--Broadway houses will most likely just remain dark until October--but it's not out of the question we could see something like that.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 12:33pm

It may or may not be possible from a production standpoint but it would also need to be viable from an box office standpoint. I don't think you can sell a lot of tickets to Love Letters. Could there be non-theatre in theatres on Broadway? More likely because it would probably be of very limited duration but this is no panacea. 

[morosco]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 7:06pm

New York Post: These Broadway shows are selling tickets for September return

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 7:17pm

once again, tix on sale means nothing. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 7:22pm

This is the first time I might say “well it *might* mean something” now. If September is an actual possibility, than knowing the couple shows that are actually planning a return at that time is a nice thing to tentatively look forward to.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 8:36pm

If all of the mentioned shows open at those dates, I will buy tickets to all of them even though I have no desire to see any of them again. As I have said before, too many of the wrong shows opening in the fall with yield a bloodbath before the Christmas tree is erect at Rockefeller Center. Let's pray this does not happen. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 9:19pm

I agree. But there’s only a small handful right now that have tix on sale. If more and more start selling then it’ll be a little concerning.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 9:54pm

I guess the question is whether there is a correlation between what has tickets on sale and what will open. And I might be a little more willing to indulge this collection of shows were it not for Chicago which strikes me as a wack job candidate for early return. What stunt casting would bring us back to one of our least favorite theatres? Maybe Andrew Cuomo as Billy? I don't know. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 10:36pm

If I’m being honest, If you were to ask me what the first show to reopen would be, I’d probably say CHICAGO. I can’t imagine the Weissler’s haven’t spend the last year reaching out to any and everyone to get the biggest name possible for one of the first shows back.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 10:50pm

Carol Baskin as Roxie in Chicago can have all my money.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 11:32pm

Jordan Catalano said: "If I’m being honest, If you were to ask me what the first show to reopen would be, I’d probably say CHICAGO. I can’t imagine the Weissler’s haven’t spend the last year reaching out to any and everyone to get the biggest name possible for one of the first shows back."

My question is: who is the audience for it? I haven't been able to wrap my head around that. One thing we know, though, is that they are definitely not in it to lose money. We shall see. [I also can't wrap my head around the Carol Baskin post, but maybe if I have a massage...]

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/6/21 at 11:37pm

Oh, I have no idea about the audience. I mean - tourists ARE back in the city. I don’t understand why but they are back and the numbers keep getting bigger. And in 5 months when there will be even more tourists, if they have 3 broadway shows to choose from, two of them being some small artsy things for the locals or Marilu Henner and Tony Danza in CHICAGO, then the Weissler’s will make bank.

Updated On: 4/6/21 at 11:37 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 12:48am

Yes there are a lot of people in town, but I don't know who they are. Are they overnight tourists? A lot of hotels are not open. Are they theatre-going tourists? As I am sure you know, in normal times there is only a small subset of tourists who go to the theatre. (In normal times, there are over 60 million unique visitors a year in the city. Total Broadway is 15mil about 1/3 local but of course that figure is non-unique since a good share of it is repeat visits including crazy people like us.) You may be right that there might be a critical mass attracted to something I might find repellent and I don't know what the Weisslers know. My instinct is that most of the people I see walking around are not a target audience. Will that change in a few months? My skeptical side says no. I'll be happy when we actually know something again lol

 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/10/21 at 1:39pm

Aaron Rodgers as Billy Flynn

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/10/21 at 1:57pm

The timing is bad. (So I won't go into any other reason )