News

The Metropolitan Opera Cancels 2020-2021 Season

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: September 23 2020 @ 12:18 pm

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Metropolitan Opera has announced that the company has canceled its 2020-2021 season. The plan will keep the opera house dark until next September. The Met had previously canceled its 2019-2020 season.

"Because of the many hundreds of performers who are required to rehearse and perform in close quarters and because of the company’s large audience, it was determined that it would not be safe for the Met to resume until a vaccine is widely in use, herd immunity is established and the wearing of masks and social distancing is no longer a medical requirement," read a statement on the organization's website. "Health officials have said this will likely take at least five to six months after a vaccine is initially made available. We want nothing more than to get back to creating operatic magic as only the Met can, but the safety of our company and the audience we serve must come first."

The Met revealed plans for its 2021-2022 season, which will include the Met premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut up in My Bones, the first opera by a Black composer to be performed there. The full season will also include …

Broadway.com #LiveatFive: Home Edition with Harriet Harris

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: September 23 2020 @ 12:00 pm

Tony winner Harriet Harris visits #LiveatFive to chat about the new Netflix series Ratched and more! 

Culture Secretary Confirms Theater Performances Are Exempt from New U.K. Curfew

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: September 23 2020 @ 11:25 am

Following reports of an anticipated surge of COVID-19 cases across the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson shared updates on coronavirus guidelines on September 22, including a 10PM curfew for bars, restaurants, pubs and more. British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden took to Twitter to confirm that the new measure will not apply to theaters and cinemas. Indoor performances will still be to take place with social distancing measures.

The new guidelines, which also include negligence of COVID-19 safety measures in the workplace punishable by fines up to £10,000 ($12,700) or closure and a renewed work from home directive, are expected to be in place for next six months and reexamined, depending upon the rate of transmission.

"Never in our history has our collective destiny and our collective health depended so completely on our individual behaviour," Johnson Tweeted. "Now is the time for all of us to summon the discipline, the resolve and the spirit of togetherness that will carry us through."

As previously reported, West End theaters have been shut down since March 16, though Six is scheduled to be the first West End musical to resume performances beginning on November 14 at the Lyric Theatre.

What To Do (Without Broadway!): A Day-to-Day Schedule

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: September 23 2020 @ 11:09 am

Even with Broadway on hold, there's plenty to do. Trust the Broadway.com editors to get you in on the best online events, theater-centric films, TV shows and more!

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
The Silverfish @ 7PM ET
Tony winner Nikki M. James, George Salazar, Kate Wetherhead and Benny Elledge star in this virtual performance of Megan Loughran's play. Part of Urban Stages’ September Play Fest & Fundraiser, the event benefits the company's efforts in discovering and producing new plays.
Watch Online

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
Hercules Reunion on Stars in the House @ 8PM ET
The stars who voiced the hit Disney film, including Tate Donovan, Susan Egan, Danny DeVito, Roger Bart, Lillias White, LaChanze, Roz Ryan and more reunite for an evening of reminiscing and musical performances.
Watch Online

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
Excerpts from A Walk on the Moon & We Live in Cairo @ 7PM ET
New York Theatre Barn hosts a free livestream of excerpts from these new musicals as well as a conversation with the writers and creative team. Jackie Burns and The Lazours perform.
Watch Online

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
Virtual Mad Hot Ball @ 7PM ET
Kick up your heels at home as Dancing Classrooms celebrates the community that …

Billy Porter, Phoebe Waller-Bridge & More Among Time 100 Most Influential People

Source: Broadway.com | Posted: September 23 2020 @ 10:33 am

Theater fans will spot some names they know (and love!) on this year's Time 100, Time magazine's list of the most influential people in the world. The list was revealed on a primetime television special that aired on ABC on September 22. Tony and Emmy winner Billy Porter, Hadestown creator Anaïs Mitchell, Emmy and Lucille Lortel Award winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge  and multi-hyphenate creator Tyler Perry are included on the 2020 list.

Music icon Cyndi Lauper, who earned a 2013 Tony Award for creating the score for Kinky Boots, penned a tribute to Porter, who garnered his first Tony starring in the musical. "When Billy Porter and I met, we were instantly kindred spirits. We both moved through the world as people who didn’t fit in, and we made use of what made us different as an asset," she wrote. "When you can embrace those things about yourself that don’t fit in, that is when the magic happens."

Hadestown Tony winner André De Shields wrote about meeting Mitchell in his own essay. "Once upon a time in 2009, I was departing Central Park’s Delacorte Theater, having completed a performance as Tiresias in a production of Euripides’ The Bacchae, when …