In the dance world, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater canceled performances at New York City Center, while Mark Morris canceled performances over the weekend at Zellerbach Hall at the University of California, Berkeley.
In sports, the N.B.A. and N.H.L. announced a round of game postponements, and the N.F.L. adjusted its testing policies, to address a surge in cases.
The film world offered evidence that audiences are still willing to gather. The industry had a great weekend, thanks to Spider-Man. But not all theaters were joining the party: Metrograph, citing the pandemic, said it would close its Lower East Side theater until Christmas, and Spectacle Theater, in Brooklyn, closed until Jan. 4.
Off Broadway, there were multiple shows down over the last week, often canceling at the very last minute. “Trevor,” a new musical at Stage 42, canceled its Sunday matinee and then on Monday said it would shut down, canceling the remaining two weeks of performances. And among those that canceled at least one performance were “The Alchemist” at Red Bull Theater, “Cheek to Cheek” at York Theater Company, “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas!” at New Victory Theater, “Hear/Now:LIVE!” at Keen Company, “Kimberly Akimbo” at Atlantic Theater Company, “Morning Sun” at Manhattan Theater Club and “While You Were Partying” at Soho Rep.
Although the cancellations have been prompted by the testing of arts workers, there are indications that safety protocols for audiences are likely to shift: The Metropolitan Opera announced last week that it would require Covid booster shots for patrons, as well as employees, starting in mid-January. The Public Theater said it would require not only proof of vaccination, but also a negative Covid-19 test, for entry; in the short-term that new policy will only affect audiences at Joe’s Pub, which is the only part of the Public with performances scheduled over the next few weeks.
And, in a flashback to earlier pandemic practices, some organizations are rethinking live audiences. “Saturday Night Live” last weekend performed without a live audience. Play-PerView, a streaming platform born in the first weeks of the pandemic, canceled a live reading in Los Angeles on Monday, opting to stream only, while a New York cabaret space, the Green Room 42, said Monday that it would begin livestreaming all of its shows, while still continuing to welcome in-person patrons, “until this wave passes.”