New York Mayor reveals plans to open New York '100 per cent' on 1 July

The Great White Way might be on its way out of lockdown!

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio announced on TV today that he plans to have the city "fully reopen" on July 1, with no restrictions on restaurants, retail, or any other business. He added that the city will be "ready for stores to open, for businesses to open, offices, theaters, full-strength."

Citing the massive and speedy vaccine roll-out as cause for optimism, De Blasio's comments will be sure to spark excitement in theatregoers, most of whom have been deprived of a live experience in many moons.

As previously reported, De Blasio is developing with the Broadway community to manage crowds before and after shows, and will open pop-up Covid testing sites in the area of the major theatres.

We also expect the Broadway production of UK musical Six to be one of the first shows to reopen, with the piece having teased exciting plans earlier this week. It is likely that the majority of Broadway won't be back before September, but at least this gives a big boost to confidence levels.

All eyes are on the New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who has already started to ease capacity limits on stadiums and concert venues.

The vaccine roll-out in the US is relatively meteoric – as of Thursday, more than 54 per cent of all US adults have received at least one dose, and nearly 38 per cent are fully vaccinated.

This side of the Atlantic, the majority of restrictions are currently set to be eased from 21 June, with socially distanced theatre able to return from mid-May.