Broadway Keeps “Mask Optional” Policy For Audiences In August and Beyond

Broadway will maintain its “mask optional” policy for audience members in August “until further notice,” the Broadway League said Tuesday.

The Broadway League made masks optional for audience members starting July 1. Up until that point, an industrywide mask mandate had been in effect since July 2021. 

About every month since Broadway’s reopening, the League has reviewed its protocols for audience members. The mandate for proof of vaccination for audience members, which was also set in July 2021, was lifted at most Broadway theaters starting May 1. 

While masks are optional, the League said “audience members are strongly encouraged” to wear masks while attending a show.

The decision comes as new cases in New York City, and nationwide, are on the rise. 

New York City is currently at a “high” cases level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which comes with the guidance to, “Wear a mask indoors in public.” 

The city is currently reworking its own alert level system, which previously listed actions the city should take if cases reached a certain threshold. The positivity rate in the city hit 14.9 percent as of July 18, according to the city.