The Great White Way is a hot a$$ mess proclaims Nate Patten
Things on Broadway are bad right now. How bad are they? They’re really bad. Like “Britney Spears in 2007 meets Mel Gibson in 2010” bad. And here’s the worst news: they’re not getting better this week. Of course, COVID-19 is to blame for the decimation of live theatre, but it is time for us to admit that our prolonged closure can be blamed on none other than the utter incompetence of the theatre industry as a whole.
It’s been over 13 months since Broadway has closed its doors, and there still appears to be no plan as to how to get us back. Broadway is going to have to want to come back. When an alcoholic goes to rehab the first step is admitting there’s a problem. Notwithstanding, the problem is no longer COVID-19, it’s our own inability to move on. We’re also now all alcoholics. We are now the problem. One of the most insidious effects of the pandemic is one of the mind in which we have mistaken surviving this ordeal for adapting to it. I’ve heard friends gleefully proclaim, “I’m not going to go out even after I’m vaccinated! I’m doing my part!” Your part in what? Shutting down human civilization?
Different regions in the United States have taken vastly opposing approaches to the pandemic, but New York is currently one of the most cautious, with businesses still not at full capacity and people wearing two masks while sitting alone in Central Park. It certainly doesn’t help calm the fears of the people that when the media does a story on the perils of Covid now they show pictures of the beach, despite the fact that the beach is probably the safest place for you to be right now: outdoors, in the open air, and in sunlight. But with regard to Broadway, the industry is not going to open unless people insist that it reopen. Human beings are resilient by nature, and we must not allow the lethargy and complacency brought on by the coronavirus to obliterate the hustle and drive needed to jump start the arts scene.
There is a great irony in the current state of Broadway. The entire industry remains closed, but it still appears to be one of the most tumultuous scenes on earth. How can these two ideas exist at the same time? Actors Equity, the national labor union of all professional actors and stage managers, has been increasingly under fire for providing unrealistic and unattainable reopening protocols. The members of the union demanded a virtual town hall with the leaders of the organization during which pressing questions were asked: when will Broadway reopen? What steps are you taking to ensure the safety of BIPOC and trans actors in the rehearsal rooms? Why won’t you let me work?! If you did not attend the meeting, spoiler alert: none of these questions were answered in a satisfying way, if at all. With regard to the question regarding BIPOC and trans actors, the union claims they are “working with organizations” to ensure that this happens. When asked what the organizations were, the members were greeted with radio silence. A Broadway veteran friend of mine was set to star in an outdoor Equity production in Georgia this summer. For months, the theatre corresponded back and forth with Equity ad nauseam urging them to approve their production which, by all accounts, took nearly outlandish measures to keep everyone safe. The production is outdoors for crying out loud, and Florida, the neighboring state, has theatres, bars, and nightclubs open at full capacity indoors. But the production was not approved by Equity. Needing to stay open, the theatre decided to do the production non-union. This is what scholars have termed a cluserf*ck.
The other news racing around the entertainment world like a bull in a china shop is that Scott Rudin, famed Broadway and Hollywood producer, known widely in the community for decades of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse against his assistants, has announced he is “stepping aside.” While that certainly is good news, it raises the question: what is he stepping aside to? And what is he stepping away from? What the f*ck is “stepping aside” anyway?! Is he releasing himself from profits from these productions? While these answers remain unclear, what is certain is that a lead producer on Broadway for the past 20 years has crumbled. King Lear (not the one starring Glenda Jackson) has been dethroned. The news of this great falling has appeared only to exacerbate tensions within the community. Part of the reason this was publicized in the first place is that Tony Award winning actress Karen Olivo decided to leave her position at “Moulin Rouge” on Broadway in order to draw attention to an industry that has “no integrity.” It worked, and it was only when she made a public statement that the New York Times even reported Scott Rudin’s abuse allegations. But why does a member of the union have to take it into their own hands in order for something to happen? Actors Equity is still asking its members to pay their monthly dues, but the only way that anyone is being protected is by an actor sacrificing themselves to the cause. Where is the protection from the union? What is the point of even having a union then, if not to protect its members? How about we start a “we want our money back” campaign? Oh right, that would require action.
So, people, how do we come back? We simply GO BACK. We’re theatre kids. Do you remember when you were at theatre camp and you only had six days to rehearse Annie AND The Miracle Worker? What did you do? You made it work by being flexible and driven to do so. You helped sew Helen Keller’s corset, learned your choreography as Pepper, took an online course in Braille, and fashioned a Sandy costume out of raccoon pelt you found in the boys’ cabin. You figured it out, because your mom and grandma were going to be there in four days and you knew this was going to blow their f*cking minds. When did we get lazy? When did it become okay for the show to NOT go on? This is our scene. This our job. So why aren’t we doing it? The only way to go back, is to GO BACK. – NP
