Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
The Great White Way Returns: Audiences Cheer The Symbolic Reopening Of Broadway
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 15, 2021
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock File type: JPG File size: 130.0 MB
View all 10
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 15, 2021
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A few shows have already reopened on Broadway in previous weeks—that includes Bruce Springsteen bringing back Springsteen On Broadway, the new play Pass Over, and a pair of musicals last week, Waitress and Hadestown—but Tuesday night marked the symbolic rebirth of Broadway after 16 months of pandemic darkness. Audiences gave multiple standing ovations across the Theater District as three of the biggest Broadway blockbusters—Hamilton, Wicked and The Lion King—all reopened last night.
Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was naturally on hand for that show's return, and he welcomed audiences back with a speech before the start of the show, thanking frontline workers and the Actor's Fund.
"I don't ever want to take live theater for granted ever again, do you? So sacred," he said. "This incredible company has been rehearsing, they've been rehearsing in their apartments, keeping their bodies limber for a year and a half. They had their first rehearsal in front of an audience on Sunday night, and they [realized they] were missing something—they were missing the most important collaborator, and that's you. It took six years to get this [show] on the first time, I'm so glad it didn't take six years to come back. Thank you for getting vaccinated and wearing a mask...I'm so grateful to you, and I hope you go see as many shows as you can."
Also before the show, Miranda staged a live Ham4Ham show featuring the combined casts of Hamilton, Wicked and The Lion King. They all sang *"*Theme From ‘New York, New York” together outside of the Richard Rodgers Theater.
Before the opening of The Lion King, director and costume-designer Julie Taymor thanked the audience for returning and added, "Theater, as we know, is the lifeblood and soul of the city. It’s time for us to live again."
Over at Wicked, Kristen Chenoweth—who originated the role of Glinda in 2003 when the show opened—came out to welcome audiences back as well (she wore ruby-sequined heels). She too thanked the Actors Fund for their efforts to help Broadway workers during the shutdown.
“There’s no place like home,” she said. “I wanted to be here to welcome New York and all of the theatergoers back to what is my favorite show. The excitement is palpable backstage. If I may, this has been quite a year, and we’re still in it, right?”
Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the musical's words and music, appeared at the end for the curtain call. He told the Times earlier in the day that there is no substitute for live theater.
“The thing about live theater is it’s a community, not just onstage, but with the audience the whole theater becomes a community, and we’ve just really really missed that,” he said. “You can’t equal that experience on screens — on little screens or even big screens — it’s just not the same as live people and a live audience and what happens every night between them and among them in that theater. That’s irreplaceable.”
Besides those three behemoth productions, longtime Broadway mainstay Chicago also reopened, Lackawanna Blues had its first preview, and the Times Square TKTS booth returned. “It’s such a big step forward,” Victoria Bailey, executive director of the nonprofit Theatre Development Fund, which runs the TKTS booth, told the AP. “To get it open and such a symbol to people that theater is coming back.”
"Broadway, and all of the arts and culture of the city, express the life, the energy, the diversity, the spirit of New York City,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference on Tuesday morning. “It’s in our heart and soul. It’s also so much of what people do to make a living in this town. And that makes us great. So, this is a big night for New York City’s comeback.”
As part of the reopening, all Broadway workers and audiences now must be vaccinated to enter a theater, and they also must wear masks inside the theater, except when eating or drinking in certain sections. Some shows, like Wicked, have side-stepped some issues by not letting people eat or drink inside the theater, whereas attendees say some audience members were looser about the regulations at The Lion King.
There are lots more shows expected to open in the coming weeks and months, including David Byrne's American Utopia (September 17th), Come From Away (September 21st), Aladdin (September 28th), To Kill A Mockingbird (October 5th), Tina: The Tina Turner Musical (October 8th), Girl From The North Country (October 13th), Jagged Little Pill (October 21st), Diana (November 2nd), The Book Of Mormon (November 5th), and Company (November 15th). You can check out a full list of return dates here.
Tagged
lin-manuel miranda
hamilton
musicals
wicked
broadway
the lion king
theater
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Ever wish you could get paid to walk through a stranger’s house? ‘The Scout’ is for you.
A new film focuses on the strange career of a location scout in New York City.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Sep 26, 2026
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.
By
Hannah Frishberg
A massive MTA archive ended up in a Virginia warehouse. A Brooklyn man brought it home.
By
Hannah Frishberg
How a Harry Styles pop-up in the East Village led to a nearby bookstore owner's arrest
By
Sonia Rao
NYC’s creative workers are increasingly self-employed, report says
By
Hannah Frishberg
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .