Bruce Springsteen reopens Broadway, but only for the vaccinated: the "Boss" of "Born to Run" will take the stage again at the St. James Theater for a new edition of his autobiographical "one man show" starting from June 26th and until to September 4th. "Springsteen on Broadway" had debuted in 2017 on the "long white road" and had been extended three times until the end of 2018. The peculiarity this time is that, in order to enter the theater, in addition to paying tickets with a price between 75 and 850 dollars, viewers will have to present proof that they have been fully vaccinated against Covid. "I had a great time doing 'Springsteen on Broadway' and am happy that I was asked to relaunch the show as part of the reopening of the theaters," said theartist who during the pandemic worked with former President Barack Obama on the Spotify podcast "Renegades".
"Springsteen on Broadway" is currently the first show to reopen on Broadway after the long months of the lockdown, but not the only in-person gig scheduled in the coming weeks. Today the Foo Fighters announced that they will reopen Madison Square Garden on June 20, while the Strokes will play on June 12 at Irving Plaza. In both cases, as for Springsteen, access will only be allowed to people protected by the vaccine. The announcement of the three concerts follows that of the municipality of New York which yesterday leaked plans for a maxi-concert in Central Park in late August with eight music icons on stage and the aim of celebrating the exit from Covid by encouraging in the at the same time vaccinations. At the concert on the Great Lawn, the New York Times reported yesterday, theaccess will be 70 percent reserved for vaccinated people with the rest of the public sitting in a separate section. Broadway has been closed since March 20, 2020 and the non-proceeds from the lockdown have brought to its knees an industry that, before the pandemic, employed almost 100,000 people, guaranteeing New York an induced amount of almost 15 billion dollars.
A limited number of productions have announced reopening starting August 4, but most shows are aiming for mid-September to raise the curtain again. Born from a private performance at the White House in the last days of Barack Obama's presidency, Springsteen's show is largely a musical monologue that brings together stories and songs from his long career including "My Hometown," "Thunder Road" and "Born in the USA". The show was an extraordinary success with the public with 113 million dollars in receipts and over 220 thousand spectators, in addition to those of the version filmed for Netflix, released in streaming after the last live performance in December 2018.
