Arts in New York to get shot in the arm with celebrity-filled pop-up shows
THE stages are now set for a reemergence of the performing arts in New York, with the launch Feb. 20 of ‘NY PopsUp,’ a 100day rollout of 300 free concerts, recitals, and theatrical and comedy performances in venues across the state.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D, and project organizers on Monday released new details about the arts recovery initiative - by far the most ambitious by any state and first described by the governor in his State of the State address last month. The expanded list of performers includes Tony winners (Idina Menzel, Billy Porter), television stars (Danielle Brooks, Sarah Jessica Parker), comedians (Kenan Thompson), hip-hop and rock stars (Q-Tip, Patti Smith), dancers (Savion Glover, Sara Mearns) and opera singers (Davóne Tines, J’Nai Bridges).
These performers and dozens of others join previously announced participants such as Chris Rock, Renée Fleming, Hugh Jackman and Amy Schumer in the events, which kick off at Manhattan’s massive Javits Center on Feb. 20. That live performance, a tribute to health-care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis, will feature band leader Jon Batiste, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant and dancer Ayodele Casel. The first pop-up performances will also occur that day on street corners and in parks throughout New York City. Many of the events will be recorded to be featured online later.
“This is really cool and creative,” Cuomo said Monday at a news conference in Albany. “You have an entire sector of the economy that has been out of work. When you shut down Broadway, when you shut down movie theaters, then you stop an entire industry.
We have to now nurture that industry to bring it back. It is vital for our cities to survive.”
When asked whether the project was a precursor to the reopening of Broadway and other theaters — shut down for nearly a year — the governor replied, “I don’t have a firm timeline.” But he did note that a recent success with a Buffalo Bills football game, in which 7,000 in-person attendees were tested for the coronavirus, was a hopeful sign.
“Would I go see a play with 150 people if the 150 people were tested and they were all negative? Yes, I would do that,” Cuomo said. Broadway theaters all have far more than 150 seats, however, and producers say they need to completely fill those typically 1,000-to-2,000-seat spaces for shows to be profitable.