Broadway tickets to go on sale for September reopening

Thousands lost work when Broadway theatres closed in March last year

Tickets for Broadway will go on sale this week, although shows will not restart until 14 September.

Theatres will then be allowed to fill 100% of capacity, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced.

Thousands lost work when Broadway theatres closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic.

"Broadway is a major part of our state's identity and economy, and we are thrilled that the curtains will rise again," Mr Cuomo said on Twitter.

New York plans to lift the majority of coronavirus restrictions later this month, but Broadway needs more time for rehearsals and producers need time to advertise the shows.

• Broadway workers fight to stay afloat with theatres closed

• The night London's theatres went dark

"Restarting Broadway is a complex endeavour," Charlotte St Martin, president of the Broadway League, an industry group, told the Reuters news agency.

"Today's green light by the governor to put our shows on sale now for the fall is vital to our success."

Safety procedures are still being ironed out, with one possibility being a requirement for audience members to show proof of vaccination.

"We've never done this before," Victoria Bailey, executive director of TDF, a non-profit organisation which oversees a ticket-selling booth in Times Square, told the New York Times.

"The last time the theatre industry opened from a pandemic, Shakespeare was still writing new plays."

Thirty-one Broadway shows were in production when Covid-19 hit, including Hamilton, Wicked and The Lion King. Some productions, including Mean Girls and Frozen, will not be returning for the reopening.

Broadway supports more than 96,000 jobs in New York and contributed nearly $15bn (£11.2bn) to the city's economy in 2019, according to the Broadway League, a theatre union. That number does not just take into account ticket sales but also the investment to put on and run a show, and the money tourists spend when they come to New York to see a performance.