Broadway will require vaccinations, masks

Broadway audiences will need to wear masks and show proof of vaccination when shows reopen in the fall, the Broadway League said on Friday.

Colette Luke has more.

When the curtain rises and shows reopen in the fall, Broadway audience members will need to wear masks and show proof of vaccination to be allowed in.

That’s according to the Broadway League which said in a statement that vaccinations will also be required for performers, backstage crew and theater staff at all of its 41 Broadway theaters in New York.

Masks will be required for audiences except while eating and drinking in designated areas.

Theaters will make exceptions for children and people with a medical condition or closely held religious belief that prevents vaccination.

But the league said, those patrons must show proof of a negative COVID test.

Proof of full vaccination was already required to get a seat at Bruce Springsteen's solo show, which opened on Broadway in June.

The announcement comes just weeks before most Broadway theaters reopen in September after a 16-month shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it also comes as the fast-spreading Delta variant picks up speed prompting the CDC this week to recommend a return to indoor mask wearing even for some vaccinated people.

Some of the city's other preeminent performing arts centers, including the Metropolitan Opera are not only requiring vaccinations but are fully barring children under 12 who are currently ineligible to get the vaccine.

Both Broadway and the Met are opening at full capacity, with Broadway theaters ranging in size from 600 to 1,000 seats and the Met seating 3,000.

The league said the policy on Broadway will stay in effect through October, and theaters may relax the rules in November "if the science dictates”.