It has been thirteen months since the COVID-19 pandemic forced Broadway theaters to close on March 12, 2020. But now efforts are underway to begin the reopening process, with two initiatives paving the way for a safe return in-person live performances.
On Saturday, April 10 at 2 p.m., dozens of Broadway performers on hiatus for over a year were invited to attend an event at the iconic Broadway Theater (located at 1681 Broadway, 53rd Street). Presented as part of New York Pop-Up – a statewide festival of hundreds of mostly unadvertised and largely free live pop-up events designed to invigorate the entertainment industry – Amber Iman (shuffle along) gave the second stage performance at a Broadway theater this month, after April 3rd appearance of Nathan Lane and Savion Glover at the St James.
To ensure the health and safety of all attendees and workers, NY PopsUp and the Broadway Theater have worked closely with the New York State Department of Health, following all required health and safety protocols . The masked and socially distanced audience represented a reunion of actors from Ain’t too proud – The Life and Times of Temptations, Chicago, Come from afar, hamilton, Little shredded pill, Dear Evan Hansen, Diana the Musical, Red Mill!, West Side Story, Bad, Tina: The Tina Turner Musicaland The Book of Mormonas NY PopsUp continued its seventh week.
For those who were not present, the performance was also broadcast live on the airwaves of the festival instagram food. You can watch a clip from the hour-long performance, of Iman singing Nina Simone’s classic “Be My Husband” (which she performed in her Broadway debut in the 2013 musical). soul doctor) to Youtube and here:
In addition to NY PopsUp events, national medical company ATC Healthcare Services, in cooperation with NYC, operates a vaccine pop-up site at 20 Times Square (47and Street and 7and Avenue), where the permanently closed NFL Experience was previously located. Designed specifically for the Broadway theater community, the vaccination center employs 80 to 100 Broadway workers left unemployed during the pandemic, to provide administrative support to clinical nurses who administer vaccines.
The site opens with limited capacity today, Monday April 12, and is expected to be fully operational by 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, hoping to distribute more than 1,500 doses a day in the coming weeks. The increased availability of vaccines is expected to prove to be a critical step forward in Broadway’s ongoing reopening process.
