After an extended hiatus Broadway is looking at reopening in September 2021.
What can only be described as an unprecedented time in history, the Broadway League earlier this week outlined a mandate for reopening the beleaguered venues and shows. To insure a safe work environment for workers and audience members, all attending and working in the venues must show proof of vaccination and wear a mask.
It is a huge welcome to have theater returning to the Big Apple, a sign that the world is slowly opening to a new normal.
The first trial for reopening was Springsteen on Broadway, an almost solo evening of song and scripted performance. The trail performances started in June, this year, and have been widely popular, but also testing the mask and vaccination mandate with a resounding success.
With the announcement that shows are set to return to the Great White Wave there are a number of performances slated to reopen in September. With the Tony Award winning shows Hadestown and Waitress set to reopen Broadway on September 2nd, followed by American Utopia, Moulin Rouge, Six, The Lehman Trilogy, Aladdin, Chicago, Come From Away, Hamilton, Lion King, and Wicked. With a number of additional shows returning in October, November and December.
But following the hiatus and social changes a large number of new productions are set to preview and open that will feature works by Black authors, these works include Pass Over, Lackawanna Blue, Chicken & Biscuits, Thoughts of a Colored Man, Trouble in Mind, Clyde’s and Skeleton Crew.
Pass Over by Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu is a story about two young Black men, Moses and Kitch, who dream of a land where police violence isn’t an everyday occurrence.
Lackawanna Blue by Ruden Santiago-Hudson is an autobiographical play about a 1950s boarding house in upstate New York and a woman who raised him.
Chicken & Biscuits by Douglas Lyons is a comedy about a family funeral and how a secret upends everything. Directed by Zhailon Levingston featuring Norm Lewis and Michael Urie and set to run at the Circle in the Square Theater.
Thoughts of a Colored Man by Kennan Scott II is the day in the life of seven men who live in Brooklyn.
Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress is a play about the irony of people of color on stage and how they play stereotypical roles in contemporary theatre. Its directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and stars LeChanze.
Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage is a comedy set in a truck stop restaurant where previously incarcerated employees dream of creating the perfect sandwich. Its directed by Kate Whoriskey and stars Uzo Aduba, Ron Cephas Jones and Kara Young.
Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau is a play about a group of automobile workers, set in their break room it is about life during the Great Depression. Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson and stars acting legend Phylicia Rashad, it is set to open Jan 12th at the Samuel J Friedman Theater.
One cannot talk about the reopening of Broadway without mentioning the Sondheim classic Company which is set to reopen November 15th and stars Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone, in their feminist reinterpretation of the known musical.
Whatever your thoughts of the current situation of the world, Broadway is definitely coming back and stronger than ever.
Tickets for all shows are available through Telecharge and the venue Box Offices.