The rollercoaster ride of 2020 has sure had its ups and downs, and 2021 is destined to continue this trend with regulatory action expanding and contracting in order to attempt to contain the spread of Covid-19. This article examines regulations that have been put in place primarily in New York to deal with Covid-19, andContinue reading “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This: Covid-19 Regulations and Relief Now and To Come for Arts and Entertainment”
Author Archives: Ethan Krasnoo
Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!: Five Broadway Theaters Seeking Insurance Coverage Due to COVID-19 Losses
Since Broadway’s closure in March, Broadway theaters have not been able to operate or generate revenue in any capacity. Jujamcyn Theaters, LLC, which owns five Broadway theaters that had, prior to the shutdown, been presenting “Hadestown,” “The Book of Mormon,” “Mean Girls,” “Moulin Rouge,” and “Frozen,” filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to enforceContinue reading “Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!: Five Broadway Theaters Seeking Insurance Coverage Due to COVID-19 Losses”
UPDATE: Actors’ Unions to Each Other: Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat
In November, AEA and SAG-AFTRA agreed that AEA will cover work that supplements a live audience and this agreement will last tentatively until December 31, 2020. However, AEA has various lawsuits in the works against some theaters that already have streaming deals with SAG-AFTRA. The resolution of these grievances still remains to be seen. This isContinue reading “UPDATE: Actors’ Unions to Each Other: Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat”
No More: Off-Broadway Theaters Bring Litigation to Obtain the Same New York Reopening Rights Granted to Restaurants and Bowling Alleys
In late October, eight off-Broadway theaters, including The Actors Temple, Soho Playhouse, the Triad, and the New York Comedy Club, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan’s federal district court against Governor Andrew Cuomo, the New York Attorney General, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, seeking an order that would allow them to reopen their theaters with precautionaryContinue reading “No More: Off-Broadway Theaters Bring Litigation to Obtain the Same New York Reopening Rights Granted to Restaurants and Bowling Alleys”
Actors’ Unions to Each Other: Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat
A Tale as Old as Time The work for stage actors in NYC and the US at large has dwindled since the pandemic came to town, but one segment for stage performers has actually picked up: streaming performances. The number of streaming platforms and high profile digital performances or adaptions of stage shows has increasedContinue reading “Actors’ Unions to Each Other: Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat”
The Parks Are Alive With the Sound of Music
The New York City Committees on Economic Development and Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Intergroup Relations recently introduced a bill to the New York City Counsel that would grant free access rights to non-profit cultural groups to both rehearse and perform in outdoor spaces throughout the City, including parks, pedestrian plazas, public parking lots, andContinue reading “The Parks Are Alive With the Sound of Music”
Waving Through a Window: Precautions for Live Theater During the Pandemic
Broadway may still be dark, but theater with unionized actors is slowly coming back to life in parts of the U.S. With some extra precautions, like seating further from the stage and actors performing behind Plexiglas, audiences are now in fact witnessing performances live and in person at a few select theaters. Earlier in theContinue reading “Waving Through a Window: Precautions for Live Theater During the Pandemic”
Out of Town Tryouts: What Theater Reopening Looks Like in Europe
A month ago, I posed the question, “What will it take for Broadway to reopen?” We were nowhere near the mark for that then, and we’re still not. But, as I discussed last month, theater in Seoul was open—specifically, the city had reopened a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera withContinue reading “Out of Town Tryouts: What Theater Reopening Looks Like in Europe”
The Great White Way
Recently, more than 300 Black and Indigenous artists and other people of color (BIPOC) who are theater professionals published a statement addressed to “White American Theater” denouncing racial injustice in the theater community. Among other things, the statement decries the absence of BIPOC individuals involved in theater programming, including playwrights, directors, actors, choreographers, designers, dramaturgsContinue reading “The Great White Way”
Another Op’nin, Another Show: What Will It Take for Broadway to Reopen?
Broadway has been dark since mid-March. New York has entered Phase 2 of its four-part reopening plan, and Broadway, along with other entertainment venues, is slated to reopen at the tail end of the plan. Recently it has been reported that the sun will not come out again for Broadway until 2021. Specific productions thatContinue reading “Another Op’nin, Another Show: What Will It Take for Broadway to Reopen?”
The Law Ally of Broadway 