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Helen Shaw: How did the group get going?
And so this is a real mixture of regional and Off Broadway and Broadway workers.
But what wasnt happening as much was people talking across all the different worlds.
I ended up contacting my mother [Ed.
She thought he might be interested in the sort of questions that we were contemplating.
Theres also Organization and Economics, which has a lot of people from different nonprofit institutions.
:Theyre like the public-health Avengers.
What surprised you in those early talks with the epidemiologists?
They made me feel that treatment is equally or maybemoreimportant.
:Masks also point to how incredible people are at adapting.
The public-health folks have really underscored that its also about audience anxiety.
Its all very interwoven.
It was far less than they thought.
We obviously dont have the power to open or close theaters, but we can provide tools.
Our goal [as a think tank] is to be a resource for our industry.
So are you going to do an airflow study on a specific theater and then release the results?
:Ultimately, its going to take money, right?
Were going to be mounting asks.
And I know Westport Country Playhouse is doing a deep look at their HVAC systems.
So, again, I dont think were unique.
How do people learn about your findings?
:Its a small industry, and so people shouldemail Matt!
Again, Im not claiming that we are singular.
I know decisions are not being made in ignorance.
The Broadway League announced that refunds are being offered through September 6.
Yet those dates are never attached to any reasoning.
If public health is 50 percent public communication, are there any recommendations you would make about transparency?
About linking season announcements to explicit contact with public-health experts?
:I dont want to make a recommendation.
Iwouldsay I was really impressed and moved by how the Guthrie handledits announcement.
I would point to that as like a model and high point.
:Admitting what we dont know can also be a powerful thing.
Im quoting a doctor when I say, We dont make the timeline; the virus makes the timeline.
:Our field is a thoughtful field.
Western societies dont know how to grieve.
But we are workers.
We are American workers.
