NY theatre lawsuit is a joke but no one is laughing

The Actors Temple Theater

It was reported today that of eight Off-Broadway theatres and comedy clubs have filed a lawsuit against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio for keeping their venues closed during the pandemic.

According to Deadline,

The lawsuit filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by lead plaintiffs Catherine Russell, the owner of the The Theater Center in Times Square, and Michael Sgouros of Greenwich Village’s The Players Theater, challenges the COVID-19 shutdown, arguing that small venues could open safely at limited capactiy. The lead plaintiffs were joined in the suit by owners of The Actors Temple Theater, Soho Playhouse, Gene Frankel Theater and The Triad, as well as the Broadway Comedy Club and New York Comedy Club.

The lawsuit, which demands that the executive orders closing small venues be overturned, was filed by attorney James G. Mermigis, who writes, “Casinos, Malls, Movie Theaters, Restaurants, Gyms, Catering Halls for weddings, christenings and bar mitzvahs, Bowling Alleys, “Saturday Night Live”, schools and colleges have been allowed to re-open but the small venue theater industry remains shuttered despite its median capacity of only 144 seats.”

Mermigis notes that the 144-seat median is typically smaller than most of the venue types that have been allowed to reopen. The suit attends to distance the Off Broadway houses from the larger venues on Broadway, which will remain closed at least until next June.

According to the lawsuit, the theatre owners contend that due to the small size of the theatres, they will be better equipped to execute CDC health and safety guidelines.

While I fully understand the plight of those relying on the theatre industry’s return, I can’t help question the rationale of these theatres to sue the state of New York to reopen. Because even if the court sides with the plaintiffs, the landscape of trying to mount any show with financial stability would be impossible given the social distancing guidelines they would surely have to follow.

For example, if allowed to resume performances, these theatres wouldn’t be allowed to seat full capacity - at most, they would likely be allowed to seat 25%.

The median capacity for these theatres is 144. The Theatre Center seats 199 and the Gene Frankel Theater seats even less at 70.

That means at 25% capacity, The Theatre Center could allow 49 people to attend their performances. 17 at the Gene Frankel. The Soho Playhouse? 44.

So if “Perfect Crime” resumed at The Theatre Center and charged their usual $50 tickets. They would gross $2,450 per performance. The Soho Playhouse? $2,200. The Gene Frankel with the same ticket prices? $850.

And that’s if they sell out their maximum allowed capacities and if people feel it’s safe enough to attend NYC theatres in person. Here’s a shot of the Gene Frankel:

Not for nothing but you couldn’t pay me to attend a show in any venue, let alone one of that size.

I don’t know what the expenses are for running shows at these venues but it’s highly unlikely that they would succeed at doing so making so little in ticket weekly revenue.

Another likely obstacle would be having to work with the unions in allowing their members to work these shows. I didn’t see any of those organizations join the lawsuit nor endorse it.

So I’m left to wonder why these theatres are suing to reopen when it’s more than likely doing so would put them into further financial peril? What makes much more sense to me is that rather than spend money on lawyers, these theatre owners should use what funds they have to update/clean their spaces to make them safe when the industry is safe to reopen.