BREAKING: B'way shutdown now til May

I hate to see it. We heard a few weeks ago from the booking agents we've been talking to that this was what was in the pipeline and I don't like seeing it actually get said now. Not a good day for us.
 
Nice to see Secretary Clinton tweeted in response to it. Any visibility improves the odds of getting help eventually.
 
Whats really sad is by the time they pass another stimulus bill we will need another 6 months of PUI on top of it. I think my unemployment runs out in April... I think we have 56 weeks or so.
 
I'm out of regular benefits already. My extended benefits run out the week before Christmas. Asset liquidation starts soon. The industry will not return sufficiently before I reach full retirement age to justify keeping my microphones, coms, and other audio ephemera.
 
On the other paw... er.... tentacle:

For a show to plan on opening the first week of June it would be necessary to begin pre-production earlier. For a show still sitting in a theater, getting it up and running again will be faster than a new show or re-mounting a show that was packed out. LX and SX rental shops will need build time. Casts, orchestras and crews will need to be hired and rehearsed. Designers will have to come back, directors and producers... to approve the rejuvenated productions. Think: Lamborghini Mach VRT farm tractor, not Lamborghini Contessa in pace.

That means for incrementally more techs, work will be coming back starting in Feb or March 2021.

For that to happen, at all, means we can't have a disastrous winter Covid/flu season. Infection and transmission rates going up in my state and county over the last 3 weeks are likely the results of Labor Day weekend and schools/colleges opening to in-person classes and extracurricular activities. The Denial is strong with some...

Wear your mask, wash your hands, reduce your exposure time.
 
Ludicrously, we have a government website to assess what you might be good at if you need to retrain. A good number of the jobs it suggests are in performing arts and creative industries, the very sectors they are recommending should retrain. Left hand, meet right.
 
I liked the suggestion that ballet dancers become boxers. Okay, there are some dancers that I'd certainly not wish to tangle with, but how would they make an income without established name brand recognition? No TV bouts for newbies, and no audiences for anyone... such a hollow response. Did Brittan take "cluelessness" lessons from its former colony or is it the other way around?
 
On the other paw... er.... tentacle:

For a show to plan on opening the first week of June it would be necessary to begin pre-production earlier. For a show still sitting in a theater, getting it up and running again will be faster than a new show or re-mounting a show that was packed out. LX and SX rental shops will need build time. Casts, orchestras and crews will need to be hired and rehearsed. Designers will have to come back, directors and producers... to approve the rejuvenated productions. Think: Lamborghini Mach VRT farm tractor, not Lamborghini Contessa in pace.

That means for incrementally more techs, work will be coming back starting in Feb or March 2021.

For that to happen, at all, means we can't have a disastrous winter Covid/flu season. Infection and transmission rates going up in my state and county over the last 3 weeks are likely the results of Labor Day weekend and schools/colleges opening to in-person classes and extracurricular activities. The Denial is strong with some...

Wear your mask, wash your hands, reduce your exposure time.
Your reasonable forecast of how things will have to be should also acknowledge the changes to the ‘supply’ of theatre personnel.

Many theatre workers will be unavailable for whatever transpires over the next 6 - 12 months. At the younger and older end of the work force, ’retirement’ and newly graduated students who have nowhere to go may have moved on. Rental companies, especially those which are heavily financed, may have closed their doors by the time theatres reopen.

I wonder how many commercial shows left their gear in place when theatres closed, and what kind of financial compensation deals have been worked out.
 
Throwing hands up in the air....
We are now in a resurgence. Most every entertainment venue that I know of is shut down. Although more-or-less retired, my heart is broken! I see so many very talented people in my life that feel they have lost their future and wonder if there will even be a "live entertainment" industry at the end of all of this. I try to remain hopeful, but appear to be more of a therapist for others then a technical person. I have seen some very inspired ways invented to keep entertainment flowing but the bottom line is that a live show is a very expensive endeavor. Without a large paying audience it is hard to see a business model that would support the type of shows we are all used to. Having spent many years providing equipment for shows my heart especially goes out to the support industry. No income, but the bank bills for purchased equipment do not know there is a pandemic.
 
Throwing hands up in the air....
We are now in a resurgence. Most every entertainment venue that I know of is shut down. Although more-or-less retired, my heart is broken! I see so many very talented people in my life that feel they have lost their future and wonder if there will even be a "live entertainment" industry at the end of all of this. I try to remain hopeful, but appear to be more of a therapist for others then a technical person. I have seen some very inspired ways invented to keep entertainment flowing but the bottom line is that a live show is a very expensive endeavor. Without a large paying audience it is hard to see a business model that would support the type of shows we are all used to. Having spent many years providing equipment for shows my heart especially goes out to the support industry. No income, but the bank bills for purchased equipment do not know there is a pandemic.

One thing that has gotten me through this situation so far is the knowledge that going all the way back to Ancient Greece there have been countless plagues, war, and tragedy that have stood in the way of human progress. But live entertainment has persisted. It may be delayed, and we as a group are suffering, but so long as humans still exist someone will stand on a stage and address a crowd. Quarantine and social distancing has really reinforced how much people appreciate going to live shows. I've enjoyed seeing some of my favorite acts perform on my TV or computer, but it is nothing like being in the room and feeling there music physically hit me. I know I'm not in the minority of feeling that way. Live entertainment will continue. It will take some time to recover, but it will continue to exist. Now the question of whether or not we are the ones who are going to continue to be the ones who produce it and enhance it is of course another discussion, and harder to answer with the end of the pandemic being unseen for the immediate future. I'm not a religious man, but one of the few things I have faith in is that we will come back.
 
I hope everyone is holding out. I used up my unemployment and had to get something. I'm now doing HR work for a very large online retailer. I make half of what I had been making pre-pandemic, plus it's only temporary. Small shows have restarted with a ton of restrictions, so we'll see if they can survive. I can only hope to get back when my contract ends.
 
It completely baffles me that they let airline passengers sit on a plane for 4-5 hrs., every seat filled, but won't let the public back into a theater, every 3rd seat.
 
The airline industry likely sticks more money in the pockets of politicians. Assuming there's any science to it at all, it may be easier to certify the ventilation systems on an airplane. There are certainly fewer suppliers and fewer configurations.
 
It completely baffles me that they let airline passengers sit on a plane for 4-5 hrs., every seat filled, but won't let the public back into a theater, every 3rd seat.
Studies have found that airplanes filter the virus out of the air very effectively and the risk is reasonably low. Airplane systems are also fairly uniform. By comparison, air exchange and filtration in a theater is rather limited and varies from one building to the next. I wouldn't get on a plane now, but I also wouldn't go to the theater, restaurant, or bar.
 
Studies have found that airplanes filter the virus out of the air very effectively and the risk is reasonably low. Airplane systems are also fairly uniform. By comparison, air exchange and filtration in a theater is rather limited and varies from one building to the next. I wouldn't get on a plane now, but I also wouldn't go to the theater, restaurant, or bar.
This. Cause nobody wants someone farting or puking then the plane smells like rotten eggs and 5 bloody Mary’s and tequila. Like everything else on the plane they invest a lot of RnD into it besides the seating and bathroom size cause that’s their FU to the world. We built a 70m flying brick you poop in a closet and sit in a crawl space.
 

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