The greatest story told on
Broadway this year may have been its own -- bouncing
back from a year-and-a-half long shutdown only to end the year in uncertainty
again amid the Omicron surge.
2021 has been the year of Broadway's comeback, the curtain rising again
after the 18-month pandemic shutdown. Who would have thought rock and roll would kick off
Broadway's comeback, but "Springsteen on Broadway" did just that.
The music legend's residency at the St. James
Theater was the first show performed for a Broadway audience, beginning
in June.
Later in the summer, the
drama "Pass Over" became the first play to open since the shutdown,
beginning the rollout of more than 30 plays and musicals to take the stage.
Nearly two and a half
million people have seen a Broadway show this year, according to the Broadway
League. But Broadway
relies on tourists to fill around two thirds of its seats. Travel restrictions
and lingering COVID-19 concerns have taken a toll on the box office.
"We haven't come all the way back, not even close,” says Caleb
Silver, with Investopedia. “When you look at unemployment in that sector in and
around Broadway and also revenue to the shows, we are a far cry from making it
all the way back."
But the impact of the
reopening is evident far beyond the footlights, with many who are employed on
Broadway living throughout the tristate area now with more opportunity to get
back to work.
The Broadway League is
confident that this time, the lights of Broadway will stay bright.
The bar is high for Broadway's revival – 2019, the last full year of performances, set a
record as the most attended ever, with more than 14 million
theatre-goers.