“Waitress” is opening up again. The musical will return to Broadway for a limited engagement, Sept. 2, 2021 to Jan. 9, 2022. And the show’s co-creator, Grammy winner Sara Bareilles, will star in the musical Sept. 2 through Oct. 17.
“Waitress,” a musical about a woman trapped in an abusive marriage, opened on Broadway in 2016, and was nominated for four Tony Awards. It closed on Jan. 5, 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the theater industry. Now, the federal government is helping the show return to Broadway.
“Waitress” has received a $10 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration, as part of its Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program. The program is designed to help bail out cinemas, music venues, theaters, agents, museums, and other live entertainment venues that were forced to close because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though “Waitress” on Broadway closed well before the pandemic, it still received grant money. Meanwhile, two companies that are producing the “Waitress” national tours received a combined $16.9 million from the SBA.
How To Get Cast on Broadway On July 6, the SBA released the more than 4,000 recipients of its initial round of the Shuttered Venue Operators grants. So far, $3.2 billion has been awarded; the program plans to distribute $16.2 billion.
A grant of $10 million is the maximum amount the SBA offers. It has awarded $10 million grants to large institutions such as Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall. A number of other Broadway shows have also received SBA grants, including “Ain’t Too Proud” ($10 million), “Chicago” ($10 million), “The Phantom of the Opera” ($9.9 million), and “David Byrne’s American Utopia” ($9.4 million ). “Hamilton” on Broadway received $10 million while its two national tours received a total of $20 million.
The SBA has restrictions on what the grant money can be used for. The grant money can be distributed to payroll, utilities, and rent. Many Broadway theaters continued to collect rent during the pandemic (though notably, Broadway theater owners James Nederlander, Inc. and Jujamcyn Theaters LLC also received SBA grants). The grants cannot be used to pay loans incurred after Feb. 15, 2020 or placed into investments.
According to the New York Times, the producers of “Hamilton” will be using the grant money to remount the show, including the costs of rehearsals and hiring COVID safety officers. The SBA grants will also go towards costs incurred during the pandemic—“Hamilton” had continued to pay for health insurance for its cast and crew during the show’s closure. The money will not be going to producers, investors, or paying royalties.
“ ‘Hamilton’ has spent many millions of dollars during a time in which it was earning no income,” said the show’s lead producer Jeffrey Seller to the Times. “Our goal is for ‘Hamilton’ to be in the same financial position it was in when we suspended operations on March 12, 2020.”
It’s not just the big players. Smaller venues also received SBA grants. The Off-Off Broadway venue La MaMa received $275,224 and the National Black Theatre received $111,855. Local cinemas also received grants, including Cinelux ($1.9 million) and Sierra Cinemas ($1.4 million).
The SBA is continuing to take applications for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program.
“I couldn’t miss the opportunity to be there when Broadway welcomes audiences back into theaters that have been sitting dark for over a year,” said Bareilles in a statement. “It is a gift to get to revisit the beautiful story of ‘Waitress,’ centered around hope, resilience, and the support of our chosen family. It’s so special to be able to celebrate those same qualities at this moment in time within our theater family. Like so many people all over the world, this community has endured great loss and tremendous hardship, and we are all changed. But with this change comes powerful motivation to bring what we have learned and experienced this past year to make something even more beautiful and more intentional. Broadway is grit and grace, magic and mayhem, and I can’t wait to feel the electricity that pulses through all of us as the curtains rise once again.”