Productions Vs Pandemic

Courtney Rowe

Broadway has been around for many years. Producing some of the biggest musicals in history. Such as Lin-Manuel Marianda’s ​Hamilton,​ Tina Fey’s ​Mean Girls​, and ​Winnie Holzman​’s Wicked​. These are a few of the biggest names on Broadway, but with the impact of COVID-19, what have the actors and actresses been doing to keep the excitement of their musicals alive without being able to perform.

Recently all over YouTube, there have been more and more bootleg versions of different musicals popping up, such as ​Wicked​ and ​Mean Girls​ both OBC (original broadway cast) and not. These versions of the shows give people who are into theatre more of a fun way to wait for theaters to open back up so they can go see the shows in person again.

Many people are aware right now that ​Hamilton​ has been put on Disney+, but other than this, they have been on YouTube answering fan questions and even a virtual appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show​.​ They have been spreading the word about it and I’m sure despite it being on Disney+ many people will still be going to see the show live on Broadway.

Many casts from different musicals have taken it into their own hands to use YouTube and virtuality to keep their viewers entertained, for example, the cast of ​Wicked​ did a remake of the song ​“For Good​”, from the musical, and so did the cast of ​Dear Evan Hansen​ doing a remake of “​You Will be Found​”.

In the upcoming season of musicals, the Broadway theaters are scheduled to open again in January of 2021, and as of right now there are about 20 different Broadway Production tickets for sale. I believe that with all that casts and producers are doing to keep up the excitement that in the upcoming season of new musicals and open theaters that they will be more popular than ever.