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Even in the best of times, theater is the most fragile of the popular arts.
Movies will continue tocome to useven if we cant come to them.
But theater requires us sitting in the seats so that be complete.
Its an unequal love affair: We want theater, but theaterneedsus.
And in this pandemic, it is simply gone.
After this crisis, how long will that take for them to return?
For Broadway, the middle of March was a particularly disastrous time for a disaster to strike.
It comes, it goes, and to appreciate it, you haveto be there.
Or Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker in the first revival of Neil SimonsPlaza Suitesince its 1968 premiere?
Or Tracy Lettss new play,The Minutes, which was just three days from opening?
The fates of all of those shows and others ranging from a costly musical version ofMrs.
Doubtfireto a revival of David MametsAmerican Buffalowith Sam Rockwell and Laurence Fishburne remain uncertain.
And for their sizable backstage crews, that work can last for decades.
But even that audience can play out in three years or so.
What happens to Broadway in a New York City whose name is currently synonymous with hot spot and epicenter?
The city will bounce back butallthe way back?
If they feel in no hurry to return, what happens?
There is going to be a reset, says one veteran producer.
Are we going to see multiple theaters empty for entire seasons for the first time in decades?
Will forget-your-troubles musicals weather these new conditions better than serious plays?
Will shows with stars who appeal to younger audiences have a better shot than those aimed at veteran theatergoers?
Broadway is a big business, but a small world.
There are not a dozen Scott Rudins; there are not even two.
It is going to take an unprecedented act of collective will.
