Don't want to wear a mask? Please do it for Hugh Jackman

After a decade of steady growth, Broadway's revenue has taken an apparent hit in the last two years.

Last month, in a much-celebrated moment of public discipline during a backlash with a corporate cast, a woman in the audience asked to put her mask back on, refused, then waved her hand, mocking instructions to let air in and put it over her eyes. Patti Lupone wasn't on stage and told him to get out. As hatched in the lab that produced the legend-resistant organisms – and unlike nearly everyone else in western Manhattan – this man is immune to Patti Lupone's wrath. With a defiant shout, he announced, "I'm paying your salary." A member of the theater's COVID security team continued to escort him out of the building.

According to the actress, the woman should have been fired as soon as it became clear that she would not be wearing the mask. "It shouldn't be up to me," said Lupone.  On Tuesday, the Broadway League, a trade association, announced that owners and operators of all 41 Broadway theaters would enforce an optional mask policy starting July 1, right at the start of the 2022-23 season.

Charlotte St. League President Martin doesn't even pretend to justify the decision with statistics in his written statement. "Millions of people enjoy the unique magic of Broadway while watching the recent 75th Tony Awards ceremony," he began, ignoring that "watching" is usually done at home.

"Are they afraid of losing an audience?" asked Lupone, pointing out that the cast and crew behind the scenes still needed masks. "I do not know." Nearly a dozen Unions are involved in running the theater industry and have pushed for strict safety rules since the pandemic began.