New York City is celebrating today following Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s announcement that he has dated the long-awaited return of live entertainment to April 2 by reopening a significant number of flexible venues (“Flex Venues”). as part of an ongoing systematic effort to help revive New York’s tough live entertainment industry.
Also part of the news is that New York’s event, art and entertainment venues with capacity for less than 10,000 people will be able to reopen at 33% of their capacity as of April 2. Up to 100 people will be allowed indoors and 200 outdoors.
NY PopsUp, the new festival of pop-up events supervised by the producers Scott Rudin Y Jane Rosenthal, was created to help revitalize the spirit and emotional well-being of the citizens of New York through the energy of live performances that take place over 100 days throughout New York City and State. The new security protocols developed by NYPopsUp in coordination with the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the Empire State Development (ESD) will also serve as a pilot program to reopen the Flex Venues. These Flex Venues – established performance venues that can accommodate social distancing guidelines – include major cultural centers such as The Apollo, Park Avenue Armory, St. Ann’s Warehouse, The SHED, Harlem Stage, La MaMa, National Black theater and The Glimmerglass. Festival’s Alice Busch Opera Theater.
In April, the Music Box on 45th Street will be the first to open its doors to the public for the first time since March 12, 2020, with a series of special NY PopsUp programs, and they will put in place the security protocols that will finally will be used for the return of Broadway.
Following the close of a year, these upcoming performances will mark a vital moment in the return-to-work efforts of tens of thousands of arts professionals throughout New York State.
The New York State Department of Health and NY PopsUp are collaborating with Broadway theater operators to create specific safety plans for each participating building, ahead of the first performances in April. This painstaking process will serve as Broadway’s own pilot program, increasing viewership over time, as permitted by the Health Department, and putting certain protocols in place as New York prepares for the full reopening of Broadway.
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