Curtains go up on NYC's biggest show for the first time since theaters closed ...

Curtains go up on NYC's biggest show for the first time since theaters closed ...
Curtains go up on NYC's biggest show for the first time since theaters closed ...

New York's famous Broadway theater district will resume shows for the first time in 20 months Tuesday, with big hitters Hamilton, The Lion King and Wicked all back on stage.    

The Midtown Manhattan's theater district's 41 theaters are welcoming guests again, after intensive rehearsals and tests on equipment as well as costumes left untouched for close to two years during COVID-closures.   

Theatergoers and performers alike will be required to be fully vaccinated to attend, with everyone also required to be in masks unless they're eating or drinking.

But the road to getting back on stage has been long and hard. 

Theaters shut down on March 12, 2020, leaving its sets, costumes, and performers untouched for 18 months.  

Hamilton which opened six years ago, Wicked, which opened 17 years ago, and The Lion King, which opened 23 years ago, form the bedrock of modern Broadway, virtually immune to downturns, shifts in tourism and rivals. 

They are slatted to return to the stage today with a full audience. 

The Broadway show Waitress, featuring Sara Bareilles (pictured in a yellow apron) is one of the shows back on stage as Broadway reopens this month

The Broadway show Waitress, featuring Sara Bareilles (pictured in a yellow apron) is one of the shows back on stage as Broadway reopens this month 

Performers on the stage of Pass Over (now playing) prepped had to get the show on the road. Many Broadway performers had to work hard to get their bodies, stamina, and voices back in shape after 18 months off

Performers on the stage of Pass Over (now playing) prepped had to get the show on the road. Many Broadway performers had to work hard to get their bodies, stamina, and voices back in shape after 18 months off 

Another big step for Broadway is the reopening of TKTS booths in Time Square, where visitors can get same-day or next-day discounted tickets on shows.   

'It’s such a big step forward,” said Victoria Bailey, executive director of the nonprofit Theatre Development Fund, which runs the booth. 'To get it open and such a symbol to people that theater is coming back.'

De Blasio also called tonight a 'big night for New York City's comeback.' 

Despite the comeback, shows like Six - a reimagining of Henry VIII's six wives as popstars - had to completely redo their costumes, despite being wrapped in blankets for preservation, according to The New York Times. The show's plastic-and-foil costumes were destroyed and the bright and beautiful shades faded into dingy pastel colors from sitting locked away for so long. 

Other shows like Hamilton took the time off to upgrade lights and technology, while also deep cleaning the theater.

American Utopia moved to a new theater, causing the show to completely rebuild the set and curtains to fit the new stage; and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child condensed its two-part show into one sitting. 

Crews are testing every light, firing up all the equipment, and praying it works before audiences fill the seats again. 

'We didn’t want to be in a situation where we start finding problems after audiences come back,' Guy Kwan, who works for Juniper Street Productions, told The New York Times. 

'If you turn off your car or computer for 18 months and then turn it back on, you don’t know what problems you might come across.' 

A costume shop worker had to repair one of the outfits seen in The Phantom of the Opera. Other shows like Six - a reimagining of Henry VII's six wives as popstars - found their customers dingy and unusable after being wrapped in blankets for so long

A costume shop worker had to repair one of the outfits seen in The Phantom of the Opera. Other shows like Six - a reimagining of Henry VII's six wives as popstars - found their customers dingy and unusable after being wrapped in blankets for so long 

An actor stands in an empty theater with a mask on as performers prepared for reopening. It cost shows between $1.4million and $4million to re-rehearse

An actor stands in an empty theater with a mask on as performers prepared for reopening. It cost shows between $1.4million and $4million to re-rehearse 

However, the biggest obstacles theaters face in the reopening is its performers. 

Untrained and out-of-shape, performers have been offered limited time to get back into eight-shows-a-week-six-nights-a-week condition. 

Many shows have opted into vocal training classes for their performers through Columbia University and New York University. 

Performer Kevin Clay, who worked on various productions of The Book Of Mormon before settling into a Trader Joe's job when the shutdown happened, was used to the grind of pushing himself physically and mentally to be show-ready. 

'I had been doing the show

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