Broadway will be "mask-optional" starting July 1, 2022

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:09pm

This effectively ends all COVID protocols for audiences attending Broadway shows, less than one year after Broadway's reopening.

I'm not personally a fan of this, but I know some others will be.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Broadway-Theatres-Will-Be-Mask-Optional-Starting-July-1-20220621

Updated On: 6/21/22 at 12:09 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:12pm

Wow.

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:12pm

At long last!

[ACL2006]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:15pm

Sigh ...

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:20pm

I am thrilled! Anyone can choose what they want to do, I may still wear a mask, but I love that I get to choose now.

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:21pm

Well… guess my last show will be July 1. (Unfortunately just missing the date with my Into the Woods ticket). 
 

This was a stupid and irresponsible decision. 

[flord10]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:24pm

Your last show forever? Or is there a foreseeable scenario in which you would return to a mask-optional theater?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:25pm

One bit of language in the press release implies that we will get another announcement ahead of August. And if COVID cases suddenly spike again (especially within casts/theatre staff), masks will return. But it's pretty hard to get the genie back in the bottle.

"all 41 Broadway theatres in New York City will adopt a "mask optional" policy for the month of July."

Above all, this is Broadway wanting to maximize sales potential in the most lucrative months of the year. I don't think it will make a sizeable dent for most shows, but perhaps it will help some tourists.

Updated On: 6/21/22 at 12:25 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:31pm

Studies show that masks protect the wearer in public indoor environments, even when nobody else is wearing one. Just something to think about...

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:32pm

flord10 said: "Your last show forever? Or is there a foreseeable scenario in which you would return to a mask-optional theater?"

Will have to see what the Covid cases look like. I have been very selective of the things I do / feel safe doing. A masked and vaccinated audience felt extremely safe to me. A masked audience without a vaccine felt semi safe to me. This feels 100% unsafe now, to sit this closely with so many people without a mask or vaccine for an extended period of time. Just a personal preference. Will just have to find entertainment elsewhere. 

[LarryD2]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:35pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "One bit of language in the press release implies that we will get another announcement ahead of August. And if COVID cases suddenly spike again (especially within casts/theatre staff), masks will return. But it's pretty hard to get the genie back in the bottle.

"all 41 Broadway theatres in New York City will adopt a "mask optional" policy for the month of July."

Above all, this is Broadway wanting to maximize sales potential in the most lucrative months of the year. I don't think it will make a sizeable dent for most shows, but perhaps it will help some tourists."

There's no putting the toothpaste back in the tube. Once masks are gone, they're not coming back, no matter what the Broadway League says -- short of a citywide mandate, which we know is not going to happen with Adams as mayor.

[Wick3]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:40pm

Will they still require actors and theater staff to take a Covid test 2x a week?

[Wick3]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:41pm

Will they require ushers and bartenders to wear a mask inside the theater?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:41pm

Broadway has been more cautious than I’d say anywhere else (besides hospitals/nursing homes) so I’m curious what brought this decision about right now. I mean, this was always the end goal and what we wanted to eventually happen so in that way the fact that we’re here is a good thing. 
 

I think the fact that we now know Covid is here to stay and we are able to manage it and most importantly SURVIVE it, means that like everything else, your health is your personal responsibility and if you choose to go unvaccinated then that’s on you and whatever happens happens. Not diminishing it but the disease has (for the most part) turned into a cold for the majority of (vaccinated) people and that’s an amazing thing if you think back to the makeshift morgues in the park and us leaning out our windows at 6pm clapping, everyday. 
 

What I’m most curious about now is when shows will stop testing cast/crew.

[OhHiii]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:44pm

It was only a matter of time and it's no surprise it coincides with the first shots going into arms of kids 6months to 5 years old. The final group who's been waiting for eligibility. 

We have the tools available to us to avert severe infection and death with vaccines and there are many therapeutics to aid in recovery for those who get infected. 

And you are still allowed to wear a mask! Heck, you can even double mask if you want to. But the days of moral superiority over others who choose not to are over.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:44pm

Spot-on as always, Jakey. 

It's been a crazy last few years indeed. 

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:46pm

I don't know how I feel about this. They should have kept the vaccination requirement in place and make masks optional. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:51pm

This announcement feels very odd to me at this time, considering the number of shows that have been performing with multiple understudies over the past few weeks.

I also have a feeling that COVID-related exchanges/refunds are going to become even more difficult now.

Updated On: 6/21/22 at 12:51 PM

[stoptheworld38]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:51pm

I personally am happy about this new development - while I won't let it prevent me from seeing shows if it's required, I'm definitely not a fan of mask-wearing for extended periods - but we'll see how long it lasts. As others have said this was the eventual goal and it has to happen at some point. I know there have been people who won't go to a show if they have to wear one so I'm glad people have the choice now.

I do wish they were keeping/bring back vaccine checks though.

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 1:05pm

This was inevitable. Luckily, for anyone who is still cautious you can keep yours on or double mask if you're worried. I get the concern of those around you, but the reality is that Broadway is basically the only place I can think of where you've still needed to be masked. I've gone to live events all over (in New York too) and no one wears them anymore. They aren't required anymore. And it seems the majority of the country is done with them. I know numerous people who have been waiting for the Broadway mask mandate to be lifted before they would buy tickets to see a show. They're just not interested in spending a few hours with one on. Personally, I don't find it to be a big deal. I'll wear it if I have to and not complain. But, I get the other side too. People want to live their lives without COVID being a factor in daily planning anymore.

I get it's a sudden shift, but this was always coming and I'm glad that it's another step in the right direction. Take care of yourselves, everyone! 

[OhHiii]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 1:14pm

Dylan Smith4 said: "I don't know how I feel about this. They should have kept the vaccination requirement in place and make masks optional."

Vaccines' main function is not to prevent spread. Sure, it reduces it, but their primary function is to prevent severe disease and death. So in hindsight, it makes sense why vaccine mandate was pulled before the mask mandate as the latter does, in fact, help prevent spread.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 1:23pm

Jordan Catalano said: "What I’m most curious about now is when shows will stop testing cast/crew."

I think cast testing is here to stay as long as about half the cases are symptomatic. Maybe it eventually goes down to 1x a week if there haven't been Covid cases in the company for X amount of time. Testing is data that can inform decisions. In any situation, management wants to know why actors are out sick (bronchitis or stomach flu that can spread will be different than an injury received at work, or vocal fatigue, or a mental-health day, or something else) so they can be prepared for possible future illnesses and schedule additional rehearsals/fittings as needed.

The outdated belief of "actors should go on even when sick" has, sensibly, become more of an "actors should be careful not to hurt themselves further by performing while ill" situation, even before Covid. Mainly for musicals –– Amber Gray could conceivably go on in Macbeth with the sniffles or a cough; if she were in Hadestown, that could negatively impact her vocal performance.

[apetricc12]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 1:28pm

I have to admit that I didn't expect this.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 1:33pm

Lot666 said: "This announcement feels very odd to me at this time, considering the number of shows that have been performing with multiple understudies over the past few weeks."

Cast members were absent because shows are still testing every week, sometimes multiple times a week, and general policy is that you’re out for 10 days or until you test negative. Most of the positive cases have been asymptomatic/mild. Going “mask optional” likely means mandatory testing will soon be eradicated and cast members will go back to calling out when they feel sick like they always have. Presumably, positive COVID cases revealed from being sick and testing independently will affect how long a person is out, but it sounds like Broadway is trying to get back to “normal” and avoid having to rely on the deep bench of understudies and swings so regularly.

Updated On: 6/21/22 at 01:33 PM

[pagereynolds]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 1:33pm

I mean, the positivity rate here is still over 10% in most neighborhoods in Manhattan. There's no chance at all I'm going to see a show this summer while the mask thing is optional. 

Worth nothing that EVERY single response to the Broadway League's tweet is negative.