Broadway Shows to Remain Shut Down Through May 30, 2021

As the COVID-19 crisis continues, the Broadway League has announced a further delay to the reopening of shows on the New York stage. All Broadway productions will now stay on hold—and will offer refunds and exchanges—through May 30, 2021. Dates for each returning and new Broadway show will be announced as individual productions determine the performance schedules for their respective shows.

“With nearly 97,000 workers who rely on Broadway for their livelihood and an annual economic impact of $14.8 billion to the city, our membership is committed to re-opening as soon as conditions permit us to do so. We are working tirelessly with multiple partners on sustaining the industry once we raise our curtains again,” said Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League.

Shows were initially set to be shut down through April 12, then through June 7, then through September 6 and then through January 3, 2021. The coronoavirus outbreak has caused the temporary closure of theaters worldwide, including in London's West End, off-Broadway and across the United States. Shows that have announced they will not return after Broadway resumes performances include Hangmen, the revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the musicals Beetlejuice and Frozen. 

Some productions previously scheduled to play during the 2019-2020 season have delayed their runs, including Flying Over Sunset, How I Learned to Drive, Caroline, or Change, Birthday Candles, Plaza Suite, The Minutes and American Buffalo. The new extension also impacts new shows that had rescheduled spring and summer openings. The upcoming revival of The Music Man, starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, has shifted its start date to December 2021. 

As previously reported, the Metropolitan Opera has announced that the company has canceled its 2020-2021 season. The plan will keep the opera house dark until September 2021.

Nominations for the digital Tony Awards, will be announced on October 15, but no date has been set for an awards ceremony at this time.