A year ago, the pandemic forced Broadway 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 vaccine rollout will give them the chance to return to the stage.
Broadway actors Laura Leigh Turner of “Mean Girls” and John Krause of “Hadestown” were on the cusp of career-making moments when Broadway shut down. Turner debuted March 10; Krause would have performed in a leading role on March 12.
At a news conference on March 12, 2020, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo 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.
“It was a crazy thing to be removed before you even got time to really plant yourself,” Turner said.
The “Mean Girls” production team announced in January that the show will not return to Broadway 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.
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‘Mean Girls,’ ‘Hadestown’ stars look back at COVID-19 shuttering Broadway
Turner’s audition to play Karen Smith in “Mean Girls” was one of the 24-year-old’s first major auditions.
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