Broadway theaters to reopen as part of NY PopsUp Festival

The Music Box Theatre will be the first Broadway venue to open since lockdown began a year ago.

Following the announcement of an arts pop up festival taking place across New York City, Governor Cuomo has announced that live indoor performances can resume from April 2. A number of "flex venues" will be opening for one-off engagements during the year, with the Music Box Theatre being the first Broadway theatre to reopen, as well as a number of off-Broadway and cultural venues.

NY PopsUp producers Scott Rudin and Jane Rosenthal said: "In just two weeks NY PopsUp has become the engine that drives the safe re-opening of the arts throughout our State. It's a wonderful bonus to the opportunity to present 300 shows in 100 days, and to the enormous satisfaction in bringing artists back to work here. It's incredibly exciting to see what the arts community and the state can do, together, when we all row in the same direction."

Flexible venues will be adapted for social distancing guidelines, with a maximum audience number of 150 attendees. All visitors must prove a negative Covid-19 test prior to attending the live performance.

St James Theatre was the first Broadway theatre to open again, with a performance on April 4 starring Nathan Lane and Savion Glover.Currently the home of Dear Evan Hansen, the Music Box Theatre will reopen at some point in April, with information on performances and dates to be confirmed. More Broadway theatres are also expected to reopen their doors in the coming months, with details to be announced.

Other venues opening include The Apollo, Park Avenue Armory, St. Ann's Warehouse, The SHED, Harlem Stage, La MaMa, National Black theatre and The Glimmerglass Festival's Alice Busch Opera Theater.

NY PopsUp will see hundreds of pop-up performances take place across the five boroughs of New York City. Having launched on February 20, over 1,000 events are scheduled through to Labor Day (September 6), with Broadway stars appearing all over the city. Outdoor events will also take place at Lincoln Center, with 10 spaces to open next month.

^{Photo: Music Box Theatre (photo by ajay_suresh on Flickr under CC 2.0)}