First post-pandemic Broadway show will open in NYC this August
Photo by Andrae Ricketts on Unsplash
Broadway is back, even earlier than planned. The Lincoln Center Theater on Tuesday announced that Pass Over, a play produced by Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu and Danya Taymor, will begin previews on August 4, over a month ahead of the expected reopening date for performances. Pass Over will become the first Broadway show to hold performances since the coronavirus pandemic forced all 41 theaters to close on March 12, 2020.
Inspired by Waiting for Godot, Pass Over takes place on a city street corner and tells the story of two young Black men who have lost many friends at the hands of police. According to the New York Times, the play was written in response to the shooting of Trayvon Martin and draws on the Book of Exodus.
In New York, the show debuted off-Broadway in 2018 at the Claire Tow Theater. After a sold-out extended run, producers announced last month plans to reopen at the August Wilson Theatre, previously home to Mean Girls. Spike Lee also directed a film version of the original Chicago show, now available to stream on Amazon Prime.
“Every single day it feels like New York specifically, and Times Square in a focused way, is coming back to life, and I want our show to be part of that,” Nwandu told the New York Times in an interview. “I want our show to be a very visible and very instrumental part of leading that charge, and so after we had done our due diligence and I knew that it was a safe thing to do, I said yes.”
Previews for Pass Over will begin on August 4 with opening night planned for Sunday, September 12. A tentative final performance is scheduled for October 10. Tickets will go on sale Friday, June 4 at 10 a.m.
Over a dozen Broadway shows have already launched sales for fall performances. See the full list of all productions currently selling tickets to date here.
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