<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - Broadway shuts down over ongoing coronavirus concerns"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">A year ago, the <a target="_blank" href="/story/travel/news/2020/03/12/coronavirus-cancellations-museums-landmarks-tourism-tours/5032712002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l="|inline|intext|n/a" class="gnt_ar_b_a">pandemic forced Broadway</a> to take an abrupt – and extended – intermission, leaving performers uncertain of their futures in the industry. Today, theater actors are still waiting to see if the <a target="_blank" href="/story/news/politics/2021/03/11/biden-states-make-adults-eligible-covid-vaccine-may-1/4655548001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l="|inline|intext|n/a" class="gnt_ar_b_a">vaccine rollout</a> will give them the chance to return to the stage.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Broadway actors Laura Leigh Turner of <a target="_blank" href="/story/life/entertainthis/2018/04/06/mean-girls-musical-feminist-metoo-erika-henningsen-interview/487762002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l="|inline|intext|n/a" class="gnt_ar_b_a">“Mean Girls”</a> and John Krause of <a target="_blank" href="/story/life/tv/2019/06/09/tony-awards-2019-hadestown-wins-8-and-more-must-know-moments/1405132001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l="|inline|intext|n/a" class="gnt_ar_b_a">“Hadestown”</a> were on the cusp of career-making moments when <a target="_blank" href="/story/entertainment/2020/10/09/broadway-shutdown-due-coronavirus-extended-again-until-may-30/5935868002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l="|inline|intext|n/a" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Broadway shut down</a>. Turner debuted March 10; Krause would have performed in a leading role on March 12.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">At a news conference on March 12, 2020, <a target="_blank" href="/story/news/nation/2021/03/08/andrew-cuomo-complained-trump-states-politicized-covid-now-hes-accused/4632265001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l="|inline|intext|n/a" class="gnt_ar_b_a">New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo</a> announced the shuttering of Broadway as of 5 p.m. that day. Cuomo said at the time that the shutdown could remain in place for far longer than one month – it did, with the shutdown still in effect today. </p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">“It was a crazy thing to be removed before you even got time to really plant yourself,” Turner said.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The <a target="_blank" href="/story/entertainment/music/2021/01/07/mean-girls-musical-announces-broadway-closing/6590652002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l="|inline|intext|n/a" class="gnt_ar_b_a">“Mean Girls” production team announced in January that the show will not return to Broadway</a> after restrictions are lifted. Krause booked a flight immediately after the news of the shutdown broke so he could be with his wife, a television actor, in Los Angeles. He has not been back to New York since.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><strong class="gnt_ar_b_al">Stars in the House: </strong><a target="_blank" href="/story/entertainment/celebrities/2021/03/11/stars-in-the-house-broadway-seth-rudetsky-james-wesley/4654846001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l="|inline|intext|n/a" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Recomposing Broadway history during its darkest moments</a></p><figure class="gnt_em gnt_em_img"><img class="gnt_em_img_i" style="height:440px" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/10/09/USAT/f7f184c4-8735-432e-ab54-6ba33eea2e70-AP_Broadway.jpg?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" srcset="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/10/09/USAT/f7f184c4-8735-432e-ab54-6ba33eea2e70-AP_Broadway.jpg?width=1320&height=880&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp 2x" decoding="async" alt="Broadway posters outside the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York on May 13, 2020."/></figure><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2">‘Mean Girls,’ ‘Hadestown’ stars look back at COVID-19 shuttering Broadway</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Turner’s audition to play Karen Smith in “Mean Girls” was one of the 24-year-old’s first major auditions.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">“I made Tina Fey...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2021/03/12/covid-19-pandemic-anniversary-broadway-shutdown-effects-on-theater-actors/4645824001/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
