What will theater look like after the pandemic? How will stage artists address the societal upheavals wreaked by COVID-19? Everyone’s asking, no one knows, but Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Nelson and New York’s Public Theater offered up a much-needed and beautifully executed bit of hope last night with the era-suiting livestreamed world premiere of What
Theater
Editors’ Note: With acknowledgment of the big-picture implications of a pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives, cratered global economies and closed international borders, Deadline’s Coping With COVID-19 Crisis series is a forum for those in the entertainment space grappling with myriad consequences of seeing a great industry screech to a halt. The hope is for
EXCLUSIVE: Actors’ Equity Association has hired the high-profile safety consultant David Michaels, former administrator of OSHA under President Barack Obama, to advise and help the union develop the steps necessary for reopening Broadway and theaters across the country after the COVID-19 shutdown. In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with Deadline, Equity executive director Mary McColl
Editor’s Note: As Deadline continues its Coping With COVID-19 Crisis series on the struggles of people in the entertainment industry impacted by the coronavirus-related shutdowns and layoffs, we’ve launched a new series, Reopening Hollywood (or Broadway, as the case may be), focused on the incredibly complicated efforts to get the industries back on their feet
New York’s Public Theater has canceled this year’s free Shakespeare in the Park season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the first summer in 58 years that Central Park’s Delacorte Theater will stay dark. The 2020 summer season was set to include a production of Richard II, directed by Saheem Ali, and a return four-engagement
EXCLUSIVE: The way we do the things we do has changed so much in recent weeks that a classic Temptations song might be what everyone needs right now. In this video, the cast of Broadway’s Ain’t Too Proud got together — remotely, of course — to perform the show’s opening number “The Way You Do
Broadway will remain closed through June 7, a two-month extension of the current coronavirus shutdown that would seem to retroactively end the 2019-2020 Broadway season with the March 12 shutdown. The extension announcement was made today by the Broadway League, the trade group representing theater owners and producers, which had been in discussions with theatrical
Editors’ Note: With full acknowledgment of the big-picture implications of a pandemic that already has claimed thousands of lives, cratered global economies and closed international borders, Deadline’s Coping With COVID-19 Crisis series is a forum for those in the entertainment space grappling with myriad consequences of seeing a great industry screech to a halt. The hope is for an
Editors’ Note: With full acknowledgment of the big-picture implications of a pandemic that has already claimed thousands of lives, cratered global economies and closed international borders, Deadline’s Coping With COVID-19 Crisis series is a forum for those in the entertainment space grappling with myriad consequences of seeing a great industry screech to a halt. The
Editors’ Note: With full acknowledgment of the big-picture implications of a pandemic that has already claimed thousands of lives, cratered global economies and closed international borders, Deadline’s Coping With COVID-19 Crisis series is a forum for those in the entertainment space grappling with myriad consequences of seeing a great industry screech to a halt. The
Telecharge, the service that bills itself as the official ticketing site for Broadway and Off Broadway, will automatically refund Broadway tickets purchased for performances between today and April 12. The tickets will be refunded back to purchasers’ credit cards. Rival service Ticketmaster posted notices on its website for some Broadway shows indicating that internet and
Broadway producers are “cautiously optimistic” as attendance figures for last week show little, if any, immediate impact from the global coronavirus scare. Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League trade organization representing producers and theater owners, said in a conference call with reporters this afternoon that she was “even a bit surprised” with today’s
Broadway box office was down 11% last week, but don’t jump to any coronavirus conclusions: Attendance was down a small 3%, and the slide in receipts can be chalked up at least in part to theater-going children. With more than a dozen productions participating in the annual Kids Night On Broadway – children free with
Heading into the final stretch of its limited Broadway run, David Byrne’s American Utopia set a box office house record at the Hudson Theatre, grossing $1,416,344 for the week ending February 9. The figure – for only seven performances – beat out the previous high-water mark set by an eight-performance week of Sunday in the
Broadway continued to drop a some box office winter weight last week, though no one seems to have notified David Byrne: The former Talking Head’s American Utopia was not only a sell-out but surpassed the $200 mark for average ticket price. The priciest seat on Broadway after the blockbusting champ Hamilton, Byrne’s concert-style theater piece,
Broadway settled into its new winter clothes last week, with recent arrivals My Name Is Lucy Barton, Grand Horizons and A Soldier’s Play padding the roster as Oklahoma! and Slave Play joined the raft of recent post-holiday departures. In all, the 27 productions (two fewer than the previous week) grossed $30,443,388 for the week ending
Broadway’s winter thinning continued last week, with a trimmer roster and lower ticket prices sending total box office on a 28% drop from the previous week to $31.1 million. Attendance for the 29-show lineup was 259,101, a drop of 18% from the previous week’s 36-show list. Most productions reported box office dips for the week
A post-Christmas Broadway box office fell like so many dry pine needles last week, with most shows taking fairly significant tumbles as ticket prices settled back to reality. In all, total grosses for the 36 productions dropped 23% from Christmas week to $43,095,641. Attendance of 317,679 was down only 9%, putting the box office blame
Broadway’s 2019 was one of lofty highs: the sumptuousness of Hadestown, the twin shocks of Oklahoma! and Slave Play, the marvelous risk-taking of What The Constitution Means To Me and Gary: A Sequel To Titus Andronicus, the belly laughs of Tootsie, the star-making arrival of Tina‘s Adrienne Warren and the star-confirming stands of American Utopia‘s
Broadway’s West Side Story and A Christmas Carol broke house records at their respective theaters last week as holiday business kept overall box office very sturdy. From the previous week, the 34 Broadway productions climbed 5% to a $40,645,773 box office total. The figure pushes Broadway’s season-to-date total past $1 billion. Total attendance of 302,372
Well, that was fast: Director Ivo van Hove’s West Side Story joined Broadway’s Million Dollar Club after only six previews, grossing $1,254,440 in its first week of performances. The musical revival, with all new choreography by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, filled all seats at the Broadway Theatre for the week ending Dec. 15, with a
Producers of Broadway’s Tony-nominated Beetlejuice said Monday that the comedic musical based on Tim Burton’s 1988 cult movie will play its final performance at the Winter Garden Theatre on June 6. A national tour is being mounted to kick off in fall 2021. Beetlejuice the musical opened April 25, 2019 and was nominated for eight
Broadway box office mostly held steady last week, even as many shows might not have overmuch to cheer about during the pre-holiday week. In all, the 35 productions took in $32,015,929, down just 2% from the previous week’s 36-production roster. Total attendance for the week ending Nov. 24 was 278,056, off about 4% from the
Broadway box office took a step back last week, with most shows reporting receipt drops from the prior week (which included Veterans Day Weekend, perhaps boosting tourist money). In all, the 36 Broadway productions grossed $32,819,621 for the week ending Nov. 17, about 7% down from the previous week. Attendance, though, held steady at 289,802.
Jagged Little Pill, the Alanis Morissette musical that’s not about Alanis Morissette, joined the Million Dollar Club in its first full week on the Broadway grosses chart, taking in $1,107,845 for eight previews for the week ending Nov. 10. The Jagged take no doubt helped Broadway’s overall total, which jumped about 14% from last week
Tootsie, the Broadway musical that had an easier time charming critics than winning potential ticket buyers, will play its final performance on Sunday, January 5, 2020. The musical, based on the hit Dustin Hoffman movie from 1982 and a winner of two Tony Awards, will have played 293 regular and 25 preview performances since opening
Declarations of “She’s Got Legs” might be premature, but Broadway’s Tina: The Tina Turner Musical is already strutting to $1M+ at the weekly box office, becoming one of the season’s most promising productions. In its second week of previews, Tina was a sell-out at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, grossing $1,386,360 for seven previews. With an average
Broadway tiptoed another step into the fall season last week, with a hefty batch of newcomers mostly toting less than hefty bags of box office receipts. Total box office for all Broadway productions were up a wispy 2% over the previous week, tallying $29,894,777. Total attendance was 260,498, just 2% more than the previous week
Broadway’s fall season kicked into gear last week, with no fewer than eight new shows in previews, including three that just began performances. Overall box office, alas, was pretty much stuck in the summer doldrums, with total receipts of $29,320,908 up a measly 1% over the previous week – and that’s with three additional shows
Rupert Everett will take over for the previously announced Eddie Izzard as George in director Joe Mantello’s upcoming Broadway staging of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? co-starring Laurie Metcalf as Martha. The announcement was made today by producers Scott Rudin/Barry Diller/David Geffen, who said Izzard is leaving the production due to scheduling conflicts. The revival