OFF BROADWAY THEATERS AND COMEDY CLUB OWNERS
WILL TAKE THEIR CASE TO COURT ON NOVEMBER 12
Catherine Russell, owner of New York’s Theater Center at 50th and Broadway does pose an interesting query: “If churches, schools, restaurants, salons, stores, gyms and yes, even bowling alleys can open [in New York], why are the small theaters who have invested in air sanitizing upgrades, implemented every safety protocol, and have mandates requiring that people are masked the entire time they are in the venue still left without some sort of reopening schedule or tentative reopening date?”
Now, small independent NYC theater owners are pushing for a reopening date and they have been assigned their day in court. On Thursday, November 12, Attorney Jim Mermigis and a group of 12 Off-Broadway theaters and comedy club owners will argue that by allowing small venues with enhanced air filtration systems to open at 25% capacity, countless artists and theater professionals will be able to go back to work.
When the city shut down on Monday, March 16, these theaters were originally grouped with the restaurants and bars. However, when indoor dining at 25% resumed in NYC on September 3o, the reopening of small entertainment venues was never addressed.
Having experienced Disney World last month, it appears that houses at 25% and vigilant rules followed by all is working to stop the spread of coronavirus. Why not use small theaters to serve as models for larger theaters, currently shuttered until next June, 2021? Is the lawsuit frivolous or will it be a groundbreaking moment in bringing back theater, however limited that be?