Stepping out of the Handbasket

What’s it like when you first step out of the handbasket?

A notification came up in my Facebook feed a couple of days ago. It was a picture I took with my wife as we sat in the Walter Kerr Theatre just before the curtain went up on “Hadestown” two years ago.

It was the last weekend Broadway was open before everything went to Hadestown in a handbasket.

Seeing this picture, I immediately recalled how strange it was walking around NYC that evening. The city was as crowded as ever, but nothing felt quite right.

A few people were in masks (we weren’t), and I was already becoming aware of maintaining some distance from others. We intentionally ate an early dinner at a small restaurant away from Broadway and Times Square.

The show was amazing and being there became a touchpoint as the last “normal” thing we did before everything shut down. We had no idea we wouldn’t be back in the theatre for a long, long time.

Fast forward two years (though there was nothing fast about it) to a wedding we attended this weekend on Long Island. In person, unmasked, a beautiful ceremony, fantastic reception with great food, drink, and dancing. Everything from hitting traffic on the Belt Parkway to staying in a hotel to being at a big party with more than 150 people felt so… normal.

Like the way it used to be.

Tentatively or boldly, we’ve taken our first steps out of the handbasket.