The show didn’t go on. The curtains closed, and the doors shut in March for hundreds of theaters across Pennsylvania — and thousands more across the country. The coronavirus pandemic devastated the arts community with a blow so strong and swift that it immediately sent home nearly everyone connected to the stage, leaving behind administrative staffs to keep driving funds into its arteries. In Pittsburgh, an eagerly awaited season of touring Broadway musicals, performances by the Grammy-nominated Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and live shows by magicians in the intimate new Liberty Magic theater got scrapped. The entertainment industry was among the first businesses to close due to the coronavirus, “and we’ll probably be the last to reopen,” Pittsburgh Cultural Trust CEO J. Kevin McMahon said. “We’re just not built for social distancing.” In Philadelphia, Anne Ewers has 9,000 empty theater seats every night. She’s the president and CEO of Kimmel Center Inc. , the base for eight resident companies, five stages and additional venues for smaller performances, corporate meetings and weddings. When the pandemic shut down Ewers’ operations, she furloughed 80 percent of her employees and cut millions of dollars from her budget. “After doing all of that, we still […]
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