Coronavirus News: Broadway Shuts Down After N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo Bans Gatherings Of 500 Or More

Broadway officially went dark on Thursday, the same day that Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a ban on gatherings of more than 500 people.

Performances have shutdown until at least April 12, according to The Broadway League, as New York City faces a coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 100 people in the five boroughs.

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“Our top priority has been and will continue to be the health and well-being of Broadway theatregoers and the thousands of people who work in the theatre industry every day, including actors, musicians, stagehands, ushers, and many other dedicated professionals,” the president of The Broadway League, Charlotte St. Martin, said in a press release.

This shutdown means that the 31 shows currently on Broadway will close, and the 16 openings scheduled for the next month will be postponed. April 23 is the opening deadline for shows that want to be eligible for this year’s Tony Awards, which is scheduled to take place June 7. Officials have said that these dates may change.

Broadway may see losses up to $100 million, The Hollywood Reporter estimated.

This is not the first time Broadway has been shutdown, but it may be the longest. Snowstorms and Hurricane Sandy have shut shows down, as well as the Sep. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Those closures only lasted a few days though. The longest closures have been from labor strikes, with a musician strike in 1975 that lasted 25 days, and a stagehand strike in 2007 that lasted 19 days.

Senior staff writer for Backstage.com Casey Mink shared this post-9/11 Broadway commercial in light of recent news:

In an effort to lift the spirits of the Broadway community, Lin Manuel Miranda posted a previously unreleased Hamilton song to Twitter on Thursday:

Others in the Broadway community shared more positivity: