Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts

File:No Close Encounters of Any Kind on marquee of Broadway Theatre - Mt. Pleasant, MI (49730008467).jpg

A theater marquee in Mount Pleasant, Michigan promotes social distancing

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the performing arts, mirroring its impacts across all arts sectors. Due to physical distancing requirements and closure of the physical venues, curtailing not only public performances but also rehearsals, many performing arts institutions attempted to adapt by offering new (or newly expanded) digital services. In particular this resulted in the free online streaming of previously recorded performances of many companies – especially orchestral performances and plays – lists of which were collated by journalists as well as bespoke crowdsourcing projects.

Cancellations and closure

Theatre

Many theatre performances have been cancelled or delayed. All Broadway theatres in New York have been closed until 6 September 2020, while West End theatres in London are closed until 28 June 2020. Several shows were already scheduled to end, but were forced to close earlier than expected. There are also shows that cancelled their entire run. Waitress on West End and Frozen on Broadway announced they are closed permanently, despite at the time of their announcements, they would be able to reopen after the shut down.

Cameron Mackintosh, a theatre producer, noted it will take four to five months for actors to return to the stage after social distancing ends.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Impacted theatre performances

Shows / company(ies)	Location	Details	Source
& Juliet	Shaftesbury Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
101 Dalmatians	Regent's Park Open Air Theatre London, England	World premiere postponed from 16 May 2020 to 15 May 2021.
4000 Miles (revival)	Old Vic, London, England	Postponed
9 to 5: The Musical	Savoy Theatre, London, England	Closed permanently after final performance in March 2020
Ain't Too Proud	Imperial Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
Aladdin	New Amsterdam Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
American Buffalo (revival)	Circle in the Square Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Opening postponed to 7 June 2020.
Beetlejuice	Winter Garden Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed permanently final performance on 10 March 2020; may move to another theatre or tour
Blithe Spirit (revival)	Duke of York's Theatre, London, England	Postponed to fall.
Birthday Candles	American Airlines Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 7 June 2020.
The Book of Mormon	Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020
	Prince of Wales Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Caroline, or Change	Studio 54, New York City, New York, U.S.	Postpone to fall.
Chicago (revival)	Ambassador Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
Cinderella	Gillian Lynne Theatre, London, England	Postponed to October 2020.
City of Angels (revival)	Garrick Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Come from Away	Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
	Phoenix Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Company (revival)	Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Postponed.
Dear Evan Hansen	Music Box Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 7 June 2020.
	Noël Coward Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Diana	Longacre Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Opening postponed.
Endgame and Rough for Theatre II double bill	Old Vic, London, England	Closed two weeks ahead of its scheduled end date in March 2020
Everybody's Talking About Jamie	Apollo Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Flying Over Sunset	Vivian Beaumont Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Opening postponed.
Frozen	St. James Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed permanently after final performance on 11 March 2020.
Girl from the North Country (revival)	Belasco Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
Hadestown	Walter Kerr Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
Hairspray (revival)	London Coliseum, London, England	Postponed to 1 September to 8 November.
Hamilton	Richard Rodgers Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
	Victoria Palace Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Hangmen	John Golden Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Cancelled after 13 previews.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	Lyric Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
	Palace Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
How I Learned to Drive (revival)	Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Premiere postponed indefinitely.
Identical	Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham, England	World premiere postponed to 2021
The Inheritance	Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Final four performances cancelled.
Jagged Little Pill	Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 7 June 2020.
The Lehman Trilogy	Nederlander Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Premiere postponed.
Leopoldstadt	Wyndham's Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Les Misérables	Sondheim Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
The Lion King	Minskoff Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
	Lyceum Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Local Hero	Old Vic, London, England	Postponed.
Magic Goes Wrong	Vaudeville Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Mamma Mia!	Novello Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Mary Poppins (revival)	Prince Edward Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Matilda the Musical	Cambridge Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Mean Girls	August Wilson Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020. Sabrina Carpenter expected to return following her limited run being cut short.
The Minutes	Cort Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
Moulin Rouge!	Al Hirschfeld Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
The Mousetrap	St Martin's Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Mrs. Doubtfire	Stephen Sondheim Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Opening postponed.
On Blueberry Hill	Trafalgar Studios, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Only Fools and Horses The Musical	Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
The Phantom of the Opera	Majestic Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
	Her Majesty's Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
The Play That Goes Wrong	Duchess Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Plaza Suite	Hudson Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Previews and opening postponed.
Pretty Woman: The Musical	Piccadilly Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
The Prince of Egypt	Dominion Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
The Seagull (revival)	Playhouse Theatre, London, England	Cancelled.
Sing Street	Lyceum Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Opening postponed.
Six	Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Opening postponed.
	Arts Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Sunday in the Park with George (revival)	Savoy Theatre, London, UK	Postponed to 2021.
Take Me Out (revival)	Hayes Theater, New York City, New York, U.S.	Opening postponed.
Thriller – Live	Lyric Theatre, London, England	Closed permanently after final performance on 15 March 2020.
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical	Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
	Aldwych Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
To Kill a Mockingbird	Shubert Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
Uncle Vanya (revival)	Harold Pinter Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
The Upstart Crow	Gielgud Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
Waitress	Adelphi Theatre, London, England	Closed permanently after final performance on 16 March 2020 Sara Bareilles and Gavin Creel's limited run ended on 14 March 2020.
West Side Story (revival)	Broadway Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
What's New Pussycat?	Leeds Playhouse	Opening postponed from 23 September 2020 until 2021
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (revival)	Booth Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Cancelled after 9 previews
Wicked	Gershwin Theatre, New York City, New York, U.S.	Closed until 6 September 2020.
	Apollo Victoria Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.
The Woman in Black	Fortune Theatre, London, England	Closed until 28 June 2020.

Impacted theatre companies / theatres

Company(ies)	Location	Details	Source
Royal National Theatre	London, England	Closed until 30 June 2020.
Royal Shakespeare Company	Stratford-upon-Avon, England	Closed until 30 June 2020
Shakespeare's Globe	London, England	Closed until further notice.

Impacted tours

Shows / company(ies)	Details	Source
Aladdin	Remaining engagements in San Antonio, Texas and Kansas City, Missouri postponed.
Anastasia	Performances in Tulsa, Oklahoma rescheduled to August 11–16. Engagements in New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida postponed.
The Bachelor Live on Stage	Tours from Kansas City, Missouri to Austin, Texas have been cancelled or postponed until October 2020.
Bandstand	Engagements in Schenectady, Morristown, Worcester, Reno, Modesto, Boise, Sacramento, and Lexington postponed or cancelled.
The Band's Visit	Engagements until 26 July, including stops in Richmond, Des Moines, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, on hiatus.
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical	Various one and two-night engagements canceled until Fall 2020.
The Book of Mormon	All remaining engagements cancelled, from the San Francisco leg to the Hershey, Pennsylvania leg.
Cats	Performances in St. Louis, Rochester, Schenectady, Fort Wayne, New Brunswick, Midland, and Kalamazoo cancelled or postponed.
Come from Away	Engagements in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Fort Myers halted.
Dear Evan Hansen	Performances in Detroit and Philadelphia cancelled. Tour is slated to resume on 5 May in Baltimore.
Frozen	Engagements in Portland, San Diego, and Salt Lake City postponed. Tour is scheduled to resume 6 May in Minneapolis.
Hamilton	Performances in Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles on hiatus until 21 April. The musical's Philip Tour is cancelled, including performances in Toronto and Ottawa. Its Angelica Tour in Atlanta rescheduled to 4 August – 6 September.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	Performances at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco canceled through 30 April.
Hello, Dolly!	All remaining performances cancelled.
Jersey Boys	Performances in Yakima, Spokane, Seattle, Reno, Thousand Oaks, Las Cruces, Tucson, and Honolulu cancelled through May 2020.
Jesus Christ Superstar	Engagements in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. cancelled. Select performances in Dallas are affected.
The Last Ship	Engagement in Washington, D.C. postponed until further notice.
Les Misérables	Engagements in Philadelphia, El Paso, and Fresno to be rescheduled to a later date.
The Lion King	Engagement at the Stranahan Theater in Toledo postponed. Performances in Omaha cancelled. Tour is scheduled to resume on 13 May in Denver.
Mean Girls	Performances in New Orleans, Denver, and Las Vegas cancelled. The tour intends to resume on 28 April in Los Angeles.
Miss Saigon	All remaining stops cancelled.
My Fair Lady	Performances in Milwaukee and Madison cancelled. Run in Cleveland postponed. Engagement in Chicago rescheduled to 10–23 May 2021.
Once on This Island	All remaining stops cancelled.
The Play That Goes Wrong	All remaining engagements have been canceled through May.
SpongeBob SquarePants	All remaining engagements cancelled.
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical	Remaining performances in Schenectady, Pittsburgh, and West Palm Beach cancelled. Performances are slated to resume 5 May in Tampa.
What the Constitution Means to Me	Remaining performances at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago cancelled.
Wicked	Performances in Madison and East Lansing cancelled, with shows in Columbus preparing to follow suit. Tour is currently slated to return on 20 May in Norfolk.

Impacted award ceremonies

Event	Details	Source
2020 Laurence Olivier Awards	Cancelled, with the awards being issued in an alternate manner.
74th Tony Awards	Postponed.
Pulitzer Prize for Drama	2020 announcement postponed to May 4 via live stream on the prize's official website.

Dance

Most dance productions have been cancelled or postponed. Some companies had to cancel their entire season.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Impacted dance productions

Companies	Location	Details	Source
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater	Dallas, Los Angeles, Palm Desert, Las Vegas, Berkeley, Seattle, San Antonio, Houston, Amherst and New York City, U.S.	Tour engagements cancelled, with hopes to reschedule; 2020 Lincoln Center season cancelled.
Alonzo King LINES Ballet	Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California, U.S.	2020 Spring season cancelled, along with its gala.
American Ballet Theatre	Chicago, Illinois, Durham, North Carolina, Detroit, Michigan and New York City, United States Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Tour engagements in U.S. and Abu Dhabi cancelled; 80th Anniversary Season at the Metropolitan Opera House cancelled, along with New York Premiere Of Love and Rage and anniversaries of several productions; 80th Anniversary Spring Gala postponed to 21 October 2020.
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo	Monte-Carlo, Monaco	Performances April and 2020 edition of F(ê)ates de la Danse cancelled.
Birmingham Royal Ballet	Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham, England	Performances through July cancelled.
Bolshoi Ballet	Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Russia Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., U.S.	All performances through April 10 and appearance in Washington D.C. cancelled.
Boston Ballet	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.	Remainder of 2020–21 season suspended; Stephen Galloway's new work premiere postponed to February 2021
Dutch National Ballet	Stopera, Amsterdam, The Netherlands	All performances through 12 July 2020 cancelled.
English National Ballet	London, High Wycombe and Bromley, United Kingdom Barcelona, Spain Mexico City, Mexico	UK and international engagements through 28 June cancelled.
Joffrey Ballet	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.	Postpones all remaining performances in the 2019–20 season, including Don Quixote
Hong Kong Ballet	United States	Part of U.S. tour cancelled.
Madison Ballet	Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.	2020 Spring season cancelled, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Martha Graham Dance Company	New York City, New York, U.S.	Postpone all performances through 20 June.
National Ballet of Canada	Toronto and Ottawa, Canada London, England	2020/21 season revised; World premieres of MADDADDAM and Karen Kain's Swan Lake postponed to November 2020 and June 2021 respectively; North American premiere of Victoria postponed to June 2022; Karen Kain 50th Anniversary Celebration Gala postponed to 24 November 2020; tour engagements in Ottawa and UK cancelled.
New York City Ballet	Lincoln Center, New York City, New York, U.S. Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, England	2020 Spring Season, including premieres of new works, and tour engagements at London cancelled.
Northern Ballet	London, Leeds, Sheffield, Cardiff, Leicester, Newcastle and Milton Keynes, England Edinburgh, Scotland	All tour engagements through 30 May 2020 cancelled.
Pacific Northwest Ballet	McCaw Hall, Seattle, Washington, U.S.	All performances through 12 June 2020 cancelled, including Giselle.
Paris Opera Ballet	Paris, France	All performances through 14 July 2020 cancelled; Eleonora Abbagnato's farewell performance delay to autumn
The Royal Ballet	Royal Opera House, London, England	All performances through 22 July 2020 cancelled.
Royal Ballet of Flanders	Antwerp, Belgium	Performances cancelled through 7 July 2020.
San Francisco Ballet	War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, California, U.S. Four Seasons Centre, Toronto, Canada	A Midsummer Night's Dream closed after opening night, will return in the next season; Remainder of 2020 season cancelled, along with company premiere of The Seasons; Appearance in Toronto cancelled.
Scottish Ballet	New York City and Washington D.C., U.S.	Remainder of U.S. performances cancelled, along with U.S. premiere of The Crucible
The Washington Ballet	Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., U.S.	Performance through June 2020 cancelled; world premiere of Julie Kent and Victor Barbee's Swan Lake postpone to May 2021.

Orchestra

Most orchestra performances have been cancelled or postponed.

Impacted orchestra performances

Companies	Location	Details	Source
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra	Lighthouse, Poole; Great Hall, University of Exeter, Exeter; Portsmouth Guildhall, Portsmouth; and Symphony Hall, Birmingham, England	Productions including Elektra, and Arabian Nights cancelled.
Boston Symphony Orchestra	Seoul, South Korea Taipei, Taiwan Hong Kong Shanghai, China	Asian tour cancelled.
Carnegie Hall	New York City, New York, U.S.	All rehearsals and performances cancelled until 31 March.
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra	Symphony Hall, Birmingham, England	All concerts cancelled until mid-April 2020.
Cleveland Orchestra	Linz and Vienna, Austria Paris, France Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Europe and Middle East tour cancelled.
Dragonball Symphonic Orchestra	United States Tour	All North American performances cancelled
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra	Osaka and Tokyo, Japan Daejeon, Seoul, Chuncheon and Gwangju, South Korea	Japan and South Korea shows cancelled.
Johann Strauss Orchestra	United States	Remainder of U.S. tour cancelled.
Los Angeles Philharmonic	Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California, U.S.	All performances until 31 March cancelled.
National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain	Lighthouse, Poole, Dorset, England and The Anvil, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England	Spring residency concerts cancelled
New York Philharmonic	David Geffen Hall, New York City, New York, U.S.	All performances until 31 March cancelled.
Philadelphia Orchestra	Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	All events and rehearsals until 23 March cancelled.
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra	Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, England	All events in the Philharmonic Hall and Music Room cancelled.
Royal Scottish National Orchestra	Glasgow, Scotland	All concerts cancelled until 29 April 2020.
London Philharmonic Orchestra	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Essen, Düsseldorf, Munich, Frankfurt, and Hanover, Germany Vienna, Austria	European tour cancelled.
National Symphony Orchestra	Japan	Japan shows cancelled.
Orchestre de Paris	Philharmonie de Paris, Paris, France	All concerts cancelled.
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne	Salle Métropole, Lausanne, Switzerland	March concerts cancelled.

Opera

Most opera productions have been cancelled or postponed.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Impacted opera productions

Companies	Location	Details	Source
Bavarian State Opera	Munich, Germany	All performances cancelled until 19 April.
Dutch National Opera	Stopera, Amsterdam, Netherlands	All performances cancelled before 1 June 2020, including world premiere of Ritratto
English National Opera	London Coliseum, London, England	All performances up to 23 May 2020 cancelled.
Los Angeles Opera	Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S.	Performance of Roberto Devereux cancelled.
Metropolitan Opera	Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, New York	All rehearsals and performances cancelled until 31 March.
Opera Holland Park	Holland Park, London, England	June–August 2020 season postponed.
Opera North	Grand Theatre, Leeds, England	All public activities cancelled or postponed until 30 April.
The Royal Opera	Royal Opera House, London, England	Productions including La bohème cancelled.
San Diego Opera	San Diego Civic Theatre, San Diego, California, U.S.	All performances cancelled.
Seattle Opera	McCaw Hall, Seattle, Washington, U.S.	All events until 31 March cancelled.

Festivals

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Impacted festivals

Shows / company(ies)	Location	Details	Source
Edinburgh Fringe Festival	Edinburgh, Scotland	2020 edition cancelled
Holland Festival	Amsterdam Netherlands	Attempting to convert to online event
Hong Kong Arts Festival	Hong Kong	2020 edition cancelled
Oerol Festival	Terschelling, Netherlands	2020 edition cancelled

Adaptations

Individual actors, such as Patrick Stewart and Sam Neill, entertained from isolation in order to "...be in this together and that this has to take the form of being apart", as Neill described his contribution of comedic relief. Stewart, a trained Shakespearian actor, broadcast himself reading one sonnet each day via Instagram, readings described as "more than light entertainment, they’re moments of connection". The Sydney Theatre Company commissioned actors to film themselves at home discussing, then performing, a monologue from one of the characters they had previously played on stage. The filmed version of the stage musical Hamilton, though originally scheduled for an October 15, 2021 theatrical release, but was later moved up to July 3, 2020 exclusively on Disney+, as announced by the show's creator Lin-Manuel Miranda on May 12, 2020.

The original West End of Mamma Mia!, reunited via a group video call, sang "Thank You for the Music" in tribute to NHS and a cast member with coronavirus. Miranda, and the cast of the musical Hamilton (including original performers Leslie Odom Jr., Anthony Ramos and Renée Elise Goldsberry) reunited on John Krasinski's Some Good News to surprise a nine-year-old girl named Aubrey who was a "superfan" of Hamilton but was unable to see the show due to the coronavirus. They also sang "Alexander Hamilton" for Aubrey.

Many ballet companies ran classes via Zoom to their dancers which were also broadcast. Ballet dancers, including principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, James B. Whiteside and Isabella Boylston, as well as the artistic director and a lead principal dancer of the English National Ballet Tamara Rojo, offered live classes on social media.

Musicians had performed at-home concerts during quarantine.

Meanwhile, due to the closure of productions and the simultaneous shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) several theatre costume departments – notably that of the Berlin State Opera – converted to creating face masks.

Some professional performing arts companies have released previously recorded productions, including:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Company	Type(s)	Work(s)	Medium	Ref.
Andrew Lloyd Webber	Theatre	Weekly broadcast	YouTube
London Palladium	Theatre	The Wind in the Willows	Own website
Phoebe Waller-Bridge	Theatre	Fleabag	Soho Theatre and Amazon Prime Video, donation required
National Theatre	Theatre	Weekly broadcast	YouTube
Royal Shakespeare Company	Theatre	6 productions	BBC iPlayer
Shakespeare's Globe	Theatre	40 productions	Own website
The Australian Ballet	Ballet	Biweekly broadcast	Own website
Bolshoi Ballet	Ballet	Six ballets, one a week	YouTube
Dutch National Ballet	Ballet	Weekly broadcast	Own website
English National Ballet	Ballet	Weekly broadcast	YouTube
Hamburg Ballet	Ballet	Five ballets	Own website
New York City Ballet	Ballet	Twice a week broadcast	Facebook and YouTube
Northern Ballet	Ballet	1984	YouTube
Paris Opera Ballet	Ballet	Weekly broadcast	Own website
The Royal Ballet	Ballet	Biweekly broadcast	YouTube and Facebook
		Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words	BBC iPlayer
Royal Danish Ballet	Ballet	6 ballets	Own website
Royal New Zealand Ballet	Ballet	Weekly broadcast	Facebook
San Francisco Ballet	Ballet	Weekly broadcast	Own website, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram
		Romeo and Juliet	Lincoln Center's YouTube and Facebook
Stuttgart Ballet	Ballet	Weekly broadcast	Own website and YouTube
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater	Dance	Weekly broadcast	Own website
Martha Graham Dance Company	Dance	Weekly broadcast	YouTube
Sadler's Wells Theatre	Dance	Weekly broadcast	Facebook and YouTube
Berlin Philharmonic	Orchestra	600 orchestral concerts performed over 15 years	Own website
Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris	Orchestra	Weekly broadcast	Own website
Seoul Philharmonic	Orchestra	Symphony No. 3, Eroica by Beethoven	YouTube
Berlin State Opera	Opera	Daily broadcast	Own website
Dutch National Opera	Opera	World premiere of Ritratto	Own website
Metropolitan Opera	Opera	Daily broadcast	Own app
Paris Opera	Opera	Weekly broadcast	Own website
The Royal Opera	Opera	Biweekly broadcast	YouTube and Facebook
Cirque du Soleil	Circus	Weekly broadcast	YouTube

Impacts

Budgets and employment

See also: Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the closures, revenues for cultural organisations reliant on ticket sales were expected to cause devastating effects upon revenues, with consequent impacts upon organisational staffing, and on independent artists and professionals. This is due to the fact that the arts and culture is a sector of national economies characterised by particularly a high proportion of self-employment. For example, by the 20th of March the Cirque du Soleil had laid off 95% of its workforce and closed traveling circus performances operating in seven countries, Performing arts fair such as Hong Kong Arts Festival were cancelled.

Arts and culture sector budgetary and employment reports from individual countries included:
Australia. Opera Australia – the nation's largest performing arts company – temporarily stood down nearly all its staff amid speculation it would also need to sell major assets in order to avoid bankruptcy. By the 23rd of March, 255,000 cultural events had been cancelled with an estimated revenue loss of $A280 million, self reported through the crowdsourced website ILostMyGig.net.au.

USA. As the pandemic spread and closures became the standard not the exception, institutions started publishing expected revenue shortfall calculations. For example, by the end of March: the Metropolitan opera expects to lose US$60 million in revenue.

In parallel to museum sector layoffs, staff began to unionise, even though "Social distancing orders prevent the in-person meetings required to sign the cards required to file for union elections. Meanwhile, on 18 March and in response to the rapid rise of online performances during the closures of performance spaces, the Actors' Equity Association – the union announced a new "streaming media agreement" available to productions in areas with physical distancing regulations in force, for "select producers to capture and make a performance available online for one-time viewing to ticket buyers. A planned performance of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore via videoconferencing software was cancelled at the last minute due to a dispute between the theatre producers and the union. The AEA argued that during a time when almost everyone in the arts is going without a regular pay cheque and is worried about their health care, "it's deeply sad to see that some employers will still ask Equity actors to work without the protections of a contract." The theatre producers argued that "cyberspace" is not within the AEA's jurisdiction nor "...should free online-only experience, in which actors participate from the safety and comfort of their own home on teleconference, without rehearsal or admission price," be subject to the Off-Broadway agreement.

Financial aid

With the extensive financial disruption across all areas of the economy, many governments announced fiscal stimulus and economic bailout packages which included specific resources for the arts and cultural sectors. Equally, various charities and industry bodies raised funds to support their sector.

Arts and culture sector financial stimulus packages from individual countries included: Australia. In March, a petition of over 50 arts and culture organisations (including peak bodies from the music, dance, visual arts, museums, writers' and indigenous arts groups) requested a financial aid package "...to a value of 2% of the $111.7 billion [cultural and creative] industry". Furthermore, it requesting the Prime Minister "...issue a public statement recognising the value of our industry to all Australians" and noting that the industry had not yet recovered from the impact of the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season. Separately, Live Performance Australia, "the advocacy body for the live performing industry" had requested $850 million for its sector.

Instead of the $2.2billion requested in the petition, In early April the federal government announced a package of $27million in specific Arts funding – $7 million for the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program, $10 million for Regional Arts Australia's regional arts fund, and $10 million for Support Act,"the charity that provides financial support and counselling to people in the music industry". It also expanded unemployment assistance in response to the pandemic – dubbed JobKeeper – however it specifically excluded "freelancers and casuals on short-term contracts, or who have worked for a series of employers in the last year". Given arts sector's high reliance on short-term contracts, a large proportion of arts and cultural sector professionals were ineligible for the scheme.

UK. Arts Council England announced £160 million would be made available for arts organisations, including £50 million for organisations it does not usually fund and £20 million for individual and freelance artists.

USA. In late March the United States federal government announced a $2 trillion economic stimulus package in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. It included: "$75 million for the National Endowment for the Arts and $75 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities, which can pass on the money to institutions that need it. Another $50 million was designated to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which distributes funds to museums and libraries. Some Republicans criticized US$25 million in relief funding that was allocated for the Kennedy Center as wasteful spending.