Teatros de Broadway permanecerán cerrados hasta mayo de 2021: cumplirán 14 meses sin recibir público

Los teatros de Broadway permanecerán cerrados al menos hasta finales de mayo de 2021, informó el viernes la asociación Broadway League, una nueva señal de que el entretenimiento en vivo de Estados Unidos pasará con el telón abajo durante la temporada 2020-21.

Es la tercera vez que la asociación teatral pospone la reapertura de los escenarios, mientras la pandemia de coronavirus recobra fuerza en Estados Unidos, incluida Nueva York.

“Nuestros miembros se comprometen a reabrir tan pronto como las condiciones lo permitan”, dijo el viernes la presidenta de la Liga de Broadway, Charlotte St. Martin, en un comunicado.

Así, Broadway estaría cerrado por más de 14 meses, el periodo más largo de la historia del distrito de entretenimiento de Manhattan, uno de los motores económicos de Nueva York y una importante atracción turística.

Todos los teatros están paralizados desde el 12 de marzo.

Al momento del cese de las presentaciones, 31 espectáculos estaban en marcha en Broadway y otros ocho preparaban sus estrenos para la primavera boreal.

“Estamos trabajando incansablemente con múltiples socios para asegurar la sostenibilidad de la industria una vez que podamos volver a levantar el telón”, añadió St. Martin.

Algunas producciones ya tiraron la toalla, principalmente el musical “The Snow Queen” (La Reina de las Nieves), pero también “Beetlejuice”, así como las obras de teatro “Hangmen” y “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (¿Quién le teme a Virginia Woolf?).

Según el canal local de noticias NY1, dos joyas de Broadway, los musicales “The Lion King” (El Rey León) y “The Phantom of the Opera” (El Fantasma de la Ópera), no se reanudarán hasta el otoño boreal de 2021.

Broadway, que antes de la pandemia generaba unos 33 millones de dólares de ingresos semanales, espera recibir asistencia financiera de emergencia por parte del gobierno federal, pero hasta ahora no ha sido favorecida por el Congreso de Estados Unidos.

El cierre de Broadway hasta mayo es un nuevo golpe para las artes escénicas en Estados Unidos, dos semanas después de la cancelación de la temporada de la Metropolitan Opera de Nueva York.

Las salas de conciertos y los teatros están paralizados en todo el país, que sigue registrando decenas de miles de nuevos casos de coronavirus diariamente.

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"I have a house in Long Island that I've had for 28 years and I've been quarantined with my partner of 30 years. The really weird thing is that in those years, I have never spent more than three consecutive weeks here. Every single year, I have put in no fewer than a hundred daffodil bulbs, and I've never been here to see them grow and bud and bloom. To see them go through that cycle has been completely worth it…I was supposed to begin teaching on a more formal basis this year. I never considered that teaching about performing arts, or writing books about it, were things that I would be good at, but I've been feeling lately that maybe I do want to. I've learned that it's OK to not be constantly busy and challenging yourself—it’s made me reflective. Now it feels like a rehearsal for retirement, which is something that I never really entertained…I've been working since I was a teenager, so to suddenly not be working is strange. I have to admit that it was a little mournful to me [to return to the New Amsterdam Theatre]. I've been connected to that theater longer than just ALADDIN—I did MARY POPPINS there as well. I've been going there for more than 10 years. I'm so familiar with it that it was really mind-bending for me. I was happy to be there, but I felt very uncomfortable in a way…I wish I had a crystal ball to gaze into in real life—just so I would know what we were heading toward. I think the hardest thing is the great unknown. Like when you're waiting for a cake to come out of the oven, or for a baby to be born. It’s that anticipation and flutter in your body that you can't quite kick. If I do find that crystal ball, I’ll happily ship it to everyone I know."⠀ .⠀ Jonathan Freeman of ALADDIN photographed by Matthew Stocke outside the New Amsterdam Theatre⠀ .⠀ Living near the theater district during the Broadway shutdown, photographer and performer Matthew Stocke has been haunted walking past the empty palaces sitting in repose, waiting for the lights and stars to return. In this new Broadway.com photo feature, he reunites members of the theater community with their Broadway home #AwayFromHome @mattjamesphotostudio

A post shared by Broadway.com (@broadwaycom) on Oct 6, 2020 at 9:50am PDT