Broadway Will Continue Audience Mask-Optional Policy At Least Through August

[pstokely]

Source: Deadline

Broadway theaters will continue their recently adopted mask-optional policy for audiences at least through August, the Broadway League announced today.

The mask-optional policy – in which audiences are encouraged but not required to mask up – was announced in June for the month of July. That timeline has now been extended through August “and until further notice,” the League said today.

The mask-optional policy is “consistent with New York City and state recommendations,” the League said in its statement.

The news comes as New York City and the country at large are seeing surges in Covid cases due to the omicron BA.5 subvariant. The cases tend to be less severe than in past surges, and local news reports suggest that mask-wearing has decreased significantly on public transportation despite being a requirement. Earlier this week, the NYC Department of Transportation announced that the Staten Island Ferry would run at 20-minute intervals during rush hours, rather than the usual 15, due to staff shortages caused by positive Covid tests.

Read more: https://deadline.com/2022/07/broadway-mask-optional-covid-policy-through-august-1235072407/

---

but their crowd isn't anti-maskers, why did they go mask optional?

[choie]

1. A lot of tourists from non blue states

visit NYC and go to the theater. There are a lot of anti-maskers among them.

[pstokely]

8. They think every red state tourist is an anti-masker?

That's Branson's crowds, not Broadway's

[Initech]

14. I can't imagine Broadway is frequented by a lot of Trumpholes these days.

[AleksS]

2. I'm getting the feeling everyone

Is an anti-masker. The idea of enduring a mild inconvenience in order to protect the health of those around you is just a fully repugnant idea to most Americans today.

We went to a broadway show this weekend (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and our family may have been the only ones wearing masks in the entire theater. We were certainly the only people I saw wearing masks. Likewise, we were the only people wearing masks on our flights both to and from New York.

The days of “ask not what your country can do for you…” are long behind us. We’ve moved fully into “screw you, I’ve got mine.”

[Ms. Toad]

13. Sadly, I agree. n/t

[hueymahl]

3. Sounds reasonable

I expect they will re-evaluate if conditions change.

[pstokely]

4. haven't they changed?

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2022/07/09/nyc-recommends-masking-indoors-again--with-covid-cases-rising

[choie]

5. If only there were more performers (and audience members) like Patti Lupone

[Mickju]

7. I love her for doing that.

I love her for a lot more than that. I saw her in Evita many years ago and she was superb.

[Mysterian]

6. It's sad that the loonies have made a simple preventative health measure such an issue

There are millions of selfish, stupid people in the world. That's why we can't have nice things.

[NullTuples]

9. Maybe capitalism is not the best system for humans after all...

At least not without so much regulation it is at the point of gasping for breath.

[OldBaldy1701E]

10. "After all"??

Where have you been these last 50-60 years? Hell, the last 130 years?

[NullTuples]

11. Since Moscovy Company, 1555...

"See, we're going to set up a trading company but the real value is in the monopoly we have been granted by the King..."

[OldBaldy1701E]

12. Yep!

I was thinking more since the modern industrial revolution, but you are so right. And yet, we are still here.