NEW YORK — Broadway audiences, performers, crew and staff will have to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter New York City’s theaters at least through October, the Broadway League announced Friday.
The mandate, which applies to all 41 Broadway theaters, will require guests older than 12 to be fully vaccinated, meaning they must show proof of receiving their last dose — or single-dose vaccine — at least 14 days before the performance date.
Exceptions will be made for children, who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated, as well as people with a medical condition or “closely held religious belief that prevents vaccination,” the league said. Guests who meet the exception criteria will have to show proof of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of the performance start time or a negative rapid test taken within six hours prior to the show.
Audiences will also be required to wear masks, except to eat and drink in designated areas, according the league, which includes theater owners, operators, producers, presenters and general managers.
“As vaccination has proven the most effective way to stay healthy and reduce transmission, I’m pleased that the theatre owners have decided to implement these collective safeguards at all our Broadway houses,” league President Charlotte St. Martin said in a statement.
“A uniform policy across all New York City Broadway theatres makes it simple for our audiences and should give even more confidence to our guests about how seriously Broadway is taking audience safety,” St. Martin said.
The new policy comes days before the first Broadway play is set to start performances, ending an unprecedented 16-month hiatus driven by the coronavirus pandemic. The play, Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s “Pass Over,” has its first preview scheduled for Wednesday.
Broadway is one of many organizations and businesses announcing new COVID-19 rules this week amid a nationwide surge of new infections, largely caused by the highly transmissible delta variant. The Metropolitan Opera, which plans to reopen in September, is also requiring guests to be vaccinated, but it won’t allow children under 12 into the building because they can’t yet get a shot.
“As soon as children under the age of 12 become eligible to receive a vaccine, fully vaccinated children will be welcomed back,” the Met said in a statement on its website.
Even restaurants are taking action. Danny Meyer, founder of Shake Shack CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, said Thursday that customers and employees would all be required to show proof of vaccination to enter his restaurants.
The latest rise in new cases, which officials have also blamed on stubborn anti-vaxxers, forced the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reverse its guidelines this week and recommend that vaccinated Americans resume wearing masks indoors in hard-hit areas, which include New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested Friday that the city might impose a vaccine mandate for restaurant-goers as early as next week.
“Given everything we’re learning about the delta variant, all options are on the table,” he said in a CNN interview. “What’s going to happen, bluntly, is that folks who are vaccinated are going to be able to experience all the things that they love in the life of this city and this country, and the folks who are not vaccinated are going to find that too many things that they want to do, they can’t do unless they’re vaccinated.”
The Broadway League plans to review its vaccine and mask mandate in September for performances in November and beyond.
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