A Broadway performer recalls March 12, 2020, when an usher got sick during a matinee and their show shut down, the first COVID closure on Broadway. That night, Six missed its opening. What was supposed to be three weeks turned into 18 months dark.
And then in March of 2020, we were actually the first show to shut down because we had some unusual programming. We had a Thursday matinee for the show, and our audience was sitting in their seats, and it was 1 o'clock on Thursday, March 12th, and an usher didn't feel well. And so the stage manager made the unenviable announcement We are sorry. We have to cancel the show. Please go home. We'll find another way to get you into the theater. And that night on Broadway, Six, the musical Six, was supposed to open. Really? It did not open. They had their opening night party with just a few producers there. Every one of those producers got COVID. COVID swept our community immediately. From that night on, we shut down every Broadway show. We shut down 500 seats or more. You couldn't do your show. Everybody on Broadway went to go see a Broadway— an Off-Broadway show that night, Paige, because the Off-Broadway shows under 500 seats, they were still open. And we thought, oh, we'll close for 3 weeks. Oh my gosh, 3 weeks. We will lose so much revenue. We'll lose so much momentum. Yeah. They won't come back. 18 months later, Broadway—
Paige of Behind Genius driving an AI electric train in St. Louis (Intramotev Visit)
