TEMPE, Ariz. — The curtain is rising for many Broadway plays this month, after being forced to close because of the pandemic back in March of 2020. That means Broadway road shows are reopening at ASU’s Gammage Auditorium.
On Wednesday, one of Broadway’s hottest shows, Hamilton, is launching its national road show at Gammage. It’s one of the biggest shows in the history of theatre, and it’s going to be in the Valley for weeks. Fans will have many opportunities to check it out live and in-person.
Mesa's Connor Wince is part of the show and said he and his performer colleagues never could’ve imagined how long it would be until they’d work together again, when Broadway shuttered because of COVID-19.
“Something of like 500 some days since we’d all been together at work in March of 2020," Wince said. "So when you think about it in that scope, it’s been a really long time. So it feels really wonderful for all of us to be back together again.”
Wince is a Swing on Hamilton’s Broadway roadshow, which means he covers all of the male dancers in the ensemble if they’re ever out of the show.
He’s spent most of his time during the pandemic with his fiancé and finding a little work where he could. Now, he’s part of the national kick-off tour of Hamilton at ASU’s Gammage Auditorium.
“It’s a weird juxtaposition between how familiar it feels and at the same time how new and different it feels now," Wince said. "I think all of us have come back to the show very different people after having been away for such a long time.”
Wince, who now lives in NYC, added it's even more special that curtains will re-open right here in his home state.
"And as soon as the Zoom call was over, I picked up the phone and called my mom, and I was like, oh you're never going to believe where we're going back to work," Wince said.
Broadway’s shutdown and Hamilton's popularity are pumping up ticket demand in Tempe.
“We are so thrilled in fact we are saying, welcome forward," said Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, VP Cultural Affairs ASU and Executive Director of ASU Gammage. "We are so excited Broadway is opening, the road is opening.”
Jennings-Roggensack said like most other live events, there are operational shifts including COVID-precautions.
“We will ask people to wear masks for our care, their care and the performer’s care," she said. "So that will be a change.”
And behind the scenes, Wince said there’s a lot of work that goes into keeping the cast safe.
“All of us are required to be vaccinated," Wince said. "We get tested three times a week and even through all of that when we’re not on stage we still pick up a mask and put it on."
Precautions to ensure the show goes on for Wince and his fellow performers, and one of Broadway’s greatest live shows.
“We really hope that there’s an impact with the show and it can start conversations as people walk out the door and go home and that those conversations can continue onward," he said.
There’s also a clear bag policy and the show runs through the beginning of October. While there are plenty of tickets still available, they're expected to go fast.
There will be a lottery for a limited number of $10 tickets for every performance of Hamilton at Gammage.
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