2020 was a year unlike any other on Broadway. Marked by the theatre shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the curtain came down on stages across the globe. But as Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It, “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” Even without an auditorium, the theatre community still made history, using its voice to celebrate, to protest, to lift each other up.
From joyous openings to masked protests to moving tributes, revisit the moments that defined the year on and off stage.
My Name Is Lucy Barton, starring Laura Linney, opened at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre January 4, 2020, becoming the first Broadway show to open in 2020.
Matthew Murphy
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne made her Broadway debut in Chicago.
Marc J. Franklin
Hannah Corneau
Carmen Cusack performed a song in rehearsal for Flying Over Sunset, one of many shows that was slated to open in the spring of 2020.
Marc J. Franklin
Stage and screeen star Jordan Fisher returned to Broadway in the title role in Dear Evan Hansen.
Jenny Anderson
Members of the Broadway community gathered to honor the seminal composer Jerry Herman.
Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Alex Newell, Jessica Vosk, Eden Espinosa, and Noah Galvin starred in Manhattan Concert Productions presentation of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
The stage adaptation of The Prince of Egypt opened in London's West End.
Matt Crockett ©DWA LLC
To Kill a Mockingbird played a free one-night-only performance for a crowd of 18,000 public school students at Madison Square Garden.
The highly anticipated revival of Company , starring Katrina Lenk as Bobbie, celebrated its first performance at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
Jenny Anderson
Girl From the North Country opened at the Belasco Theatre March 5, 2020, becoming the last Broadway show to open in 2020.
Matthew Murphy
A woman looked over Time Squares on March 12, 2020, hours after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Broadway would shut down effective immediately due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Playbill Staff
Theatres lit their marquees blue in solidarity with those on the COVID-19 front line.
Playbill Staff
Brian Stokes Mitchell saluted healthcare workers, singing "The Impossible Dream" from his apartment while sheltering in place.
Joseph Marzullo/Media Punch
Photographer Jenny Anderson launched her virtual portrait series with stage and screen star Ariana DeBose, one of the many ways artists remained creative during the pandemic.
Jenny Anderson
Moulin Rouge!'s Justin Prescott marched with members of the Broadway community and New Yorkers in a memorial for George Floyd.
Charity Angél Dawson performed at the Rally For Freedom, a gathering by Claim Our Space and Krystal Joy Brown in honor of Black trans folk who are disproportionately victims of violence.
Matt Smith and Claire Foy rehearsed for a socially distant production of Lungs for Old Vic: In Camera.
Manuel Harlan/The Old Vic
Aladdin ensemble member Josh Drake shared a portrait from his apartment where he has been sheltering in place since Broadway's shutdown. "Everyone is relying on some form of art to keep their families and their lives going, to bring some joy into their households. I want to remind people: that’s us. That’s what we do and why we do it—to provide that happiness. Remember that we are people and there are livelihoods behind all of that."
The Ensemblist gathered members of the Broadway community for a message of resilience and to advocate the needs of its artists during a tribute in Times Square.
Michaelah Reynolds
Photographer Rebecca J. Michelson and graphic designer Tiffany Holt worked with theatre performers, including Ari Groover (pictured), to recreate classic marquees.
Tony winner and Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes performed David Hare's monologue play Beat the Devil, a response to the playwright's experience contracting the coronavirus.
Berkshire Theatre Group's outdoor production of Godspell opened in Pittsfield, Massachusetts August 7, 2020. The production marked the first Equity-approved musical since the coronavirus pandemic closed theatres nation-wide.
Emma K. Rothenberg-Ware
Be An #ArtsHero welcomed 100 New York arts workers to Times Square for a demonstration to demand $43.85 billion in relief aid to the arts and culture industry through the DAWN Act.
Hadestown's Hair Supervisor Kevin Thomas Garcia shared his experience during the pandemic. "I would love to say that I’ve been overly creative during this time, but the truth is I’m just trying to survive. Every single person I know is out of work with no return date in sight."
Senator Chuck Schumer and the Broadway League united to rally for Save Our Stages Act, which would provide billions of dollars in grants to live venues across the country in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jeremy Daniel for The Broadway League
The Ensemblist worked with Isabelle McCalla, Pierre Marais, and more to create the "I Am America" video, encouraging viewers to vote in the Presidential election.
Bernadette Peters joined Broadway's biggest stars to sing the harmonious “Sunday” from Sunday in the Park With George, sharing a moment of light as theatres remained dark.
Joseph Marzullo/Media Punch
Rachel John, David Hunter, Cedric Neal, and Rachel Tucker in rehearsal for Songs for a New World. The one-day-only event was the first musical to return to the West End following the theatre shutdown in March.
Hosted by Amber Iman, Broadway Advocacy Coalition presented its first Broadway VS at New World Stages, starring Lillias White and André De Shields. The event benefitted the newly formed Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program.
Curtis Brown
Reneé Rapp and members of the cast of Mean Girls performed for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Broadway performances for the 94th annual celebration were pre-recorded this year.
Emmy winner and Tony nominee Tina Fey hosted One Night Only: The Best of Broadway, a two-hour special celebrating the resilient Broadway community and benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Six resumed performances in the West End, becoming the first large-scale musical in the U.K. to welcome back socially distanced audiences at indoor venues, though London venues subsequently returned to lockdown.
Pamela Raith
Photographer Rebecca J. Michelson captured 45th street in honor of Broadway. Though the theatre remains dark, Broadway is at intermission; the show will continue.
Rebecca J. Michelson
