NEW YORK – After months of Broadway theaters having been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the curtains reopened for the first time on one of the stages that bring New York City to life.
And it is that as part of the art festival known as NY PopsUp, which was created as an initiative by Governor Andrew Cuomo to accelerate the return of the arts and culture scene, the first performance inside a Broadway theater was presented Saturday afternoon after months of being closed, NY PopsUp announced in a release.
The special event was part of the “pilot program” created by the festival as a large-scale model to return live performances safely after the pandemic shutdown.
This was how the legendary theater St. James Broadway had an audience comprised primarily of frontline workers affiliated with The Actors Fund and Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. They had the opportunity to see performances with four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks and two of the greats on the New York stage: Nathan Lane, a three-time Tony Award winner, and Savion Glover, a Tony Award winner.
To ensure the health and safety of all attendees and workers, NY PopsUp and St. James Theater worked in partnership with the New York State Department of Health and followed state biosafety protocols. For example, attendees had to follow the rules of physical distancing.
Lane interpreted Playbills, a new monologue by playwright Paul Rudnick about a man who has spent the last year locked in his studio and who had been fired from his job and missed going to the theater.
Glover performed a special piece by tap which channeled his personal experience of a life in the theater and allowed the audience to reflect on what Broadway was, what Broadway is, and what Broadway will be.
Many of the NY PopsUp presentations are free and open to the public. The festival launched on Saturday, February 20 and will run through Labor Day., the same day that the 20th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival begins and the Little Island Festival at Pier 55.
Many of the festival’s performances can be seen through their social networks. For more information visit this website.
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