Warning: This article is filled with Musical Theater references.
As the first year of Intermission comes to a close, announcements have come that the world of Broadway and off-Broadway will begin to reopen. This includes Wicked and Chicago on September 14th, Come From Away and Little Shop of Horrors on the 21st day of the month of September, and, just announced recently, the brilliant Hadestown on September 2nd.
This year's articles started with “the lights going down on Broadway,” and though it has been many months since that article was published, many of the questions in it still stand. How could Broadway open logically, avoiding the transmission of COVID? As a wise man once put it, “I’ll tell you… I don’t know.” And those in charge don’t seem to know either. After Governor Cuomo announced in May that Broadway theaters could begin to reopen, the decisions about how COVID guidelines would be handled were “in discussion” according to the New York Theatre Guide -- and they still seem to be a month later. So, while the buzz about Broadway is tingling through the country, the feeling of nerves and uncertainty cannot be ignored. Will Broadway ensure that everyone clamaring into the old theaters in September is vaccinated? Or is a negative COVID test enough? What will be done to make sure the crew and Company are kept safe? Answers must be given publicly before a feeling close to security can exist in the hearts of those so desperate to fill empty seats.
Not only must one think about the steps towards safety on Broadway, but audiences must see changes in how Broadway contributes to systemic racism. The reflections that began last summer following the Black Lives Matter protests should have been taking place since the beginning. The look inward on how the country has treated people of color throughout its entire history should have occurred on both individual and communal levels so long ago. When last summer came, many engaged in discussion on how to combat systemic racism -- including Broadway. Now that Broadway has reopened, actors, backstage crew, and audiences alike need to know: what has been changed? Will there still be a large, extremely problematic difference in the number of white people in leading roles (both on the stage and off) compared to the number of POCs? Every single Broadway theater is owned by a white person. Will this change? There has only been one play by an Asian woman produced in the whole history of Broadway. Will this change? It must. While there is a thrill in the prospect of Broadway returning, it must not return exactly as it was. Audiences should not be seeing and experiencing the same stories, put on by the same people. Everything must change.
What does the return of Broadway mean for the future of LaGuardia productions? The excitement of Show Choir and dancers appearing in person, all together, on CNN May 21st shows the potential for the future. In terms of Drama and its future performance, however, much remains unknown. The circulating theory is that there will be a musical next year, but the question remains, will it be filmed or performed live? Would a show be chosen with a smaller cast for safety purposes (hopefully not as small as The Last Five Years)? Will we see a return of SDFs to normal? Is that possible? It likely is, considering there is one year until the next ones occur, but what does that mean for One Acts? Winter Sing? First semester scenes? While LaGuardia students wait with baited breath for news of next year’s curriculum, Drama majors wait with baited breath for news if they’ll participate in a live, in person performance at LaGuardia next year.
These performances must happen. Every high schooler has the opportunity to be vaccinated. If LaGuardia achieves the desperately needed herd immunity, then the possibility of these performances happening grows extensively. If teachers take the opportunity to get vaccinated, this possibility becomes even higher. Few Drama majors, given the choice and knowing it’s safe, would choose to keep wearing masks while performing. With the regulations pertaining to those vaccinated, scenes can happen again, quite possibly with unmasked performers. Even now it is possible for scenes to be performed, though streamed virtually, in person. If all performers of a scene are vaccinated, then actors can safely perform and film the scene together unmasked. The ability to make these performances live in the black box is not available as of now, but in the fall, should the massive drop in COVID cases continue, this becomes possible. How? Temperature checks at the door (both of the school and of the black box), a continued use of the DOE Health Screening website, and proof of vaccination are all logical ways to keep LaGuardia Drama students safe and able to watch their friends do what they have worked so hard to do.
The same can be said for bigger performances taking place in the Little Flower Theater and the Concert Hall. All of these precautions can be taken when one wants to see a performance there. Will audiences have to wear masks? Probably. But the possibility of being able to see performances again in the building makes it worth it. On stage and rehearsals it is slightly different, but not too different. One would prefer not having to wear a mask while performing, and should be safe in the ways mentioned above. Rehearsals would probably have to be a little shorter, and if the cast is over 30% unvaccinated, aspects of a performance are tricky to figure out safely, but with a constant monitoring of any possible symptoms and continued contact tracing, it is in no way unlikely for in person performances and rehearsals to take place again.
So, while logistics are still being figured out, Broadway is returning, hopefully with much needed changes, and with this return, LaGuardia has the potential to and must resume its performances as well. LaGuardia Drama can start “Opening Doors” to future productions and say “Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome” to the promise of performances occurring once again. So, Drama majors, let’s raise a cup “to the world we dream about, and the one we live in now.”
“We’re gonna sing it again.”