It’s curtains for a new Broadway season. Broadway theaters that have been closed since the onset of the coronavirus in March will remain closed until at least May 30, 2021, the Broadway League announced Friday.
There were 31 Broadway productions on the boards when performances were halted on March 12 due to the pandemic, and an additional eight shows that were in rehearsals with plans to open in the following six weeks ahead of the cutoff for Tony Award eligibility in late April.
The Tony Awards, which were postponed from their scheduled June date, are now expected to take place later this fall to honor the shows that managed to open earlier in the Broadway season. Nominations will be announced on Oct. 15.
But Friday’s announcement kills the 2020-21 Broadway season — and puts a damper not only on New York City’s usually vibrant theater community but also on a centerpiece of the city’s tourism industry.
Several long-running shows, including the musical “Beetlejuice” and Disney’s “Frozen,” already announced that they will not reopen. The fate of other shows remains unclear.
“With nearly 97,000 workers who rely on Broadway for their livelihood and an annual economic impact of $14.8 billion to the city, our membership is committed to re-opening as soon as conditions permit us to do so,” Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin said in a statement. “We are working tirelessly with multiple partners on sustaining the industry once we raise our curtains again.”