Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Jason
Speaker 1: Kelly and I'm Carol Masser. Welcome to the Bloomberg Business
Speaker 1: Week Extra. It's our weekly podcast bringing an in depth
Speaker 1: interview you will not hear anywhere else, and this was
Speaker 1: a big interview considering some of the news of the week.
Speaker 1: Jason absolutely the president of Broadway League, Charlotte st. Martin,
Speaker 1: you know Broadway. We had talked to her a little
Speaker 1: bit earlier in the pandemic. There was some hope that
Speaker 1: maybe later this year Broadway would get back. People would
Speaker 1: be back on stage, people would be back in the audiences.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna happen. We're not going to see Broadway
Speaker 1: until at the earliest, and we don't even know what
Speaker 1: it's going to look like that We've been watching everything
Speaker 1: from a medical and scientific way, and our the people
Speaker 1: we're working with and that we've hired have said we're
Speaker 1: cautiously optimistic about after the first of the year, but
Speaker 1: for now, there's just no way we can accomplish your goal,
Speaker 1: which is to make sure that the cast, the crew
Speaker 1: and the audience are all safe. So we won't be
Speaker 1: back until they can be and so talk to us
Speaker 1: about the the economics of this, Charlotte, because I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously there are economic considerations, and you talked with us
Speaker 1: about this the last time you're with us. Their economic
Speaker 1: considerations on a socially distanced performance that makes it virtually impossible,
Speaker 1: and you did a nice job of explaining that. But
Speaker 1: the economic implications of no Broadway are are massive, they
Speaker 1: really are, and not just for Broadway, but for all
Speaker 1: of the businesses that depend on Broadway. We either hire
Speaker 1: or are responsible for nine thousand jobs. That's the local restaurants,
Speaker 1: that's the retail stores in the area, that's the hotels,
Speaker 1: it's the museums and the vicinity, the parking garages, and
Speaker 1: they don't go back to work until Broadway goes back
Speaker 1: to work. So, uh, it's not just Broadway that's hurting,
Speaker 1: it's everybody that depends on Broadway. Yeah, I am curious
Speaker 1: some of the questions, you know, the conversations you guys
Speaker 1: are having, because it's you know, this comes in a
Speaker 1: week where we did talk to you know, someone who
Speaker 1: manages a family owned hotel down in downtown New York,
Speaker 1: and you know what they're doing, and I think Jason,
Speaker 1: they said something like twenty or thirty pc capacity, you know,
Speaker 1: and how they're doing things differently, and it is a
Speaker 1: very different experience in terms of shoes being cleaned and
Speaker 1: everything sanitized. There is there is just no way to
Speaker 1: do Broadway physically or financially right on a smaller scale
Speaker 1: of not really making the goal always filling as many
Speaker 1: seats as possible. That's correct. The We are a heavy,
Speaker 1: heavily unionized business and we have the best theatrical employees
Speaker 1: in the world, but they're also the most expensive, and
Speaker 1: the costs of Broadway continue to skyrocket because the world
Speaker 1: expects us to deliver the best of everything, the best sets,
Speaker 1: the best digital technology, as well as the best actors,
Speaker 1: and it's it's an expensive business to run the The
Speaker 1: history has shown that in the best years, one out
Speaker 1: of four shows recoups on its investment, and for the
Speaker 1: long run it's one out of five shows recoup on
Speaker 1: their investments. So, uh, significantly reduced audience just doesn't work.
Speaker 1: If if we open and have audiences of or less,
Speaker 1: Broadway won't work. So we have to make sure that
Speaker 1: when we open we have ticket sales to help keep
Speaker 1: the shows open, because it would be a disaster to
Speaker 1: have the shows open and then have to close three
Speaker 1: weeks later. Right, So, Charlotte, I wonder, because I know
Speaker 1: you're talking to producers and playwrights and all the folks
Speaker 1: who are on the creative side as well. I mean,
Speaker 1: what does this do for shows that were, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe not quite ready to go, but we're teed up
Speaker 1: to open in the second half of the year, or
Speaker 1: maybe some shows that that we're scheduled to open at
Speaker 1: the beginning of next year. Does everything get pushed? How
Speaker 1: many things just don't happen? What's your sense of how
Speaker 1: this sort of ripples through what we see when hopefully
Speaker 1: we are able to return to Broadway early next year. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, fortunately, um, we have only had two shows
Speaker 1: that were too open right after we closed Broadway on
Speaker 1: March twelve, and one long running show, uh decide not
Speaker 1: to come back and that was frozen. And then there
Speaker 1: were the two that aren't going to be performing. But
Speaker 1: that leaves about thirty five shows that could be coming
Speaker 1: back when we reopen. And what happens is if they
Speaker 1: all come back, there won't be enough theaters for the
Speaker 1: shows that we're coming in because many of the shows
Speaker 1: on Broadway are what you call limited runs. They say,
Speaker 1: we're going to be running for twelve weeks or sixteen weeks.
Speaker 1: And if those shows do in fact come back, and
Speaker 1: we hope they do, then everything that was scheduled for
Speaker 1: January or the spring will be pushed back a bit.
Speaker 1: And we sure hope that all of those shows get
Speaker 1: to come back. Those people work four to six years,
Speaker 1: sometimes more to bring their show to Broadway, so we
Speaker 1: want them to have their day. I have to say
Speaker 1: I was kind of looking forward to it. I think
Speaker 1: it was going to be a limited run. Sara Disca
Speaker 1: Parker and Matthew Broderick. Right, they were just about to open,
Speaker 1: weren't they. They were, but they are scheduled to come
Speaker 1: back in the spring. Okay, that's good to hear local
Speaker 1: residents making good on their profits. Right, Yeah, exactly what happens?
Speaker 1: You know, I love you coming on because you do
Speaker 1: explain kind of the economics, um, and you know how
Speaker 1: Broadway works. What happens to all of those workers. You
Speaker 1: say it's heavily unionized. Do they have they been getting
Speaker 1: payments of some sort or are they getting money from
Speaker 1: the government? Like, how does it work? What happens to
Speaker 1: those workers. Well, when we shuddered, we paid the workers
Speaker 1: for two and a half weeks, and then healthcare was
Speaker 1: covered for longer than that, and many of the unions
Speaker 1: are getting healthcare coverage still, and many are getting unemployment insurance.
Speaker 1: But there's no question everyone on Broadway, producers, the people
Speaker 1: that work in the producer's office, the people that work
Speaker 1: in theaters, everyone is UH is experiencing difficulty. I mean
Speaker 1: most people think Broadway wow big business, big big corporations.
Speaker 1: Broadway is made up of hundreds of small little businesses
Speaker 1: that put everything they have to bring their show to Broadway.
Speaker 1: I mean, yes, you have Disney and a couple of
Speaker 1: the big shows that big companies that bring their shows
Speaker 1: to Broadway, but most are small, entrepreneurial businesses and they're
Speaker 1: all suffering as well as the actors and stage hands
Speaker 1: and designers. There's nothing good about this shutdown. And Charlotte,
Speaker 1: you know, one of the things we talked about the
Speaker 1: last time you were with us was you know, obviously
Speaker 1: you have UH a window into this through the touring
Speaker 1: companies as well. I mean, this is a national epidemic
Speaker 1: and we're seeing it really flare up in a lot
Speaker 1: of different places. I know, I believe if I remember,
Speaker 1: you hail from Dallas, so you understand all different parts
Speaker 1: of the of the country. How is the touring business
Speaker 1: looking amid all of this? Is it completely shut down
Speaker 1: as well? Are you seeing any movement there? Broadway tours
Speaker 1: are in two hundred and forty two cities around our
Speaker 1: country and they're all shuttered. The one slight glimmer of
Speaker 1: hope is many of the other markets where the Broadway
Speaker 1: shows two or two we're not as heavily hit by
Speaker 1: the virus. So there is some thought that some some
Speaker 1: of the cities can open up before the end of
Speaker 1: the year. And most of our cities are not as
Speaker 1: dependent on tourism as New York City is. They have subscribers,
Speaker 1: and subscribers are very loyal to their theater. I mean,
Speaker 1: I didn't miss a show at the Dallas Summer Musicals
Speaker 1: for as long as I could remember, because that's where
Speaker 1: I learned to love Broadway, and that's that's the way
Speaker 1: people are in many of the markets across the country.
Speaker 1: So hopefully we will get some of those people back
Speaker 1: to work before the end of the year. Do you
Speaker 1: see it as it's not until we get a vaccine
Speaker 1: or at least treatment modalities that can treat people who
Speaker 1: ultimately get the virus to keep you know, so that
Speaker 1: they they may get the virus, but they and take
Speaker 1: something that mitigates the symptoms and the outcomes. Is that
Speaker 1: is that what will ultimately open up Broadway Charlotte, Well,
Speaker 1: we do not believe that we have to have the
Speaker 1: vaccine to open It will be great to have it,
Speaker 1: but the medical professionals that we're working with say that
Speaker 1: many other protocols that are coming close to being real
Speaker 1: would allow us to come back. Certainly, the most critical
Speaker 1: thing for the cast and crew is the instant testing
Speaker 1: because there is no way that these performers can and
Speaker 1: stage hands and the people that work backstage can come
Speaker 1: back and we not be assured every single day that
Speaker 1: they're healthy. Because if you've never been in backstage of
Speaker 1: a Broadway theater, these are historic buildings that are spectacular,
Speaker 1: but they're not the biggest backstage areas you've ever seen.
Speaker 1: So uh, we have to have the testing that is reliable,
Speaker 1: and we're getting good indications that those will be available
Speaker 1: to us. Plus, there are protocols being developed all around
Speaker 1: the world that we're obviously watching and paying attention to
Speaker 1: at theaters of Global Community, and Broadway travels around the world,
Speaker 1: and the world travels to Broadway, so we're all sharing information,
Speaker 1: and our medical experts are telling us that, uh, they
Speaker 1: have cautious optimism that we can come back after the
Speaker 1: first of the year, not telling us exactly what, but
Speaker 1: after the first and uh, and we're hoping for that
Speaker 1: to be the case. As we all know, we find
Speaker 1: out new things about this virus. Seems like every week.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's positive and sometimes it's not, so we're very
Speaker 1: dependent on the good news. Yeah, as you're as you're
Speaker 1: talking about backstage, and I'm thinking about, uh, that opening
Speaker 1: scene of of the movie Birdman Charlotte where they're sort
Speaker 1: of going through all those narrow little halls and he's
Speaker 1: squeezing past everybody. You're right, I mean, it's just one
Speaker 1: of these things. And we talk about sports in the
Speaker 1: same way, sort of the intimacy of it, and that's
Speaker 1: why we love it in many ways. I mean, I
Speaker 1: guess as you started out this conversation by talking about Charlotte,
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you about New York City because
Speaker 1: we've been having so many conversations Carol and I have
Speaker 1: with so many guests about how the city may change
Speaker 1: on on the other side of this. And given that
Speaker 1: Broadway is so critical and as you say, so interconnected
Speaker 1: with that whole environment and so many different industries and
Speaker 1: little it's a little mini economy more than a mini economy,
Speaker 1: and economy into into itself unto itself, how do you
Speaker 1: think New York changes on the other side of this
Speaker 1: just only got about a minute left, sure, I mean,
Speaker 1: I do think it would be unrealistic of us to
Speaker 1: assume that Broadway and that New York City comes back
Speaker 1: full speed. I think we're anticipating that we will have
Speaker 1: to build up the tourism and the attendance at all
Speaker 1: things New York City. But we know that there's an
Speaker 1: enormous amount of demand for people to come back to
Speaker 1: New York and the longer we're closed, the more demand
Speaker 1: there will be. That was the president of the Broadway League,
Speaker 1: Charlotte st. Martin, and Jason. I'm not surprised. I remember
Speaker 1: our earlier conversation a month or so ago with her,
Speaker 1: and she was not hopeful, I mean her whole point.
Speaker 1: But how do you put all of these people in
Speaker 1: a Broadway theater. How do you keep them safe? How
Speaker 1: do you keep the people, the performers on the stage safe.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's really really difficult, and it's also a
Speaker 1: financial model that you really need full theaters for it
Speaker 1: to work. Well, that's exactly what I was gonna say.
Speaker 1: This is a health problem, but also an economic problem,
Speaker 1: as everything is with the virus and the response, and
Speaker 1: certainly that is coming to hear one Broadway. You've been
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Speaker 1: Carol Masser and I'm Jason Kelly. This is Bloomberg