♪ caroline: from the bloomberg headquarters in new york, and caroline hyde. romaine: i bostic. taylor: am taylor riggs. the huge concert is being planned for central park. romaine: it is supposed to mark the recovery from the pandemic. the planned months in advance. we know that this come back could be bumpy with the surgeon the delta variant and an unvaccinated part of the population complicating.

we will focus on how the entertainment industry specifically is trying to bounceback -- movies, concerts, broadway, all in the midst of concerns about the resurgence in covid. carolyn, let's start with this concert in central park. a lot of big names and a lot of people. caroline: your friend from the boston pops will be there, isn't he? john baptist. we will see if he has as great an outfit as he had. ll cool j, jennifer hudson, she is aretha franklin in the film, but we have got not just musicians, but done them and will be in the lineup. wycliff john -- a bit of a blast from the past, carlos santana. who does not love carlos santana? [laughter] taylor: think about the outer events. caroline: where is megan thee stallion?

where are some of the newer acts? taylor: i am not cool enough for this conversation. [laughter] pass the baton to romaine. romaine: the deputy editor of bloomberg pursuits rights a lot about the entertainment industry. let's start off with what is going on, the central park concert. i have gotten emails from various concert venues, and all of them have schedules for the fall. they will have people indoors in concerts, at least that is the plan. is that the plan? >> still the plan. as you guys know, this is an evolving situation. the festivals by and large are still happening, and the demand by customers has been extraordinary. you saw the pictures from lollapalooza a couple of weeks ago, people were ready to have a good time and listen to some

live music, especially if it is outdoors. bonnarroo usually happens in june and it was rescheduled for labor day weekend and it is already sold out. coachella is already sold out for 2022 and they have not even released the lineup yet. taylor: wow. it brings up the issue of, early seeing for outdoor events? the same demand for indoor events? or people discriminating against what events, depending on that location? >> it really depends. the indoor venues, it is really a case-by-case basis, sometimes city by city. jason isabel is thinking of doing a big tour of the country, and requiring vaccinations for his concerts. there were certain venues who

pulled out because they couldn't guarantee that their clientele would go for that. other acts, some may be a little older -- stevie nicks was scheduled to some dates this fall, both canceled. so it really is dependent, a case-by-case basis. as you guys have reported, cases in louisiana, especially new orleans, have been going up and now jazz fest has been canceled. caroline: it is so sad how little certainty we have about any of these things. not just in the u.s., we are seeing it worldwide and in europe, glastonbury for example canceled, but already people trying to buy into the next year. is anything new being developed to try to ensure the artists or the events are protecting

themselves? james: that is a good question. it is something we have not looked at but we certainly could. when you think about it difference between outdoor music festivals versus, say, broadway, it is a very different ballgame for broadway, obviously, indoors. "lion king" is scheduled to open in september 14, "hamilton ,♪ there will be recurring vaccines. 65% of their clientele are tourists. they say sales have been brisk, but masking is difficult when you start looking at it that way . taylor: very interesting perspective. james gaddy, deputy editor of bloomberg pursuits, really

leaving us in a good note. we will have more on the reopening of broadway, what does it look like, can they still proceed? over next guest overseas various broadway theaters, we will speak to him on how they plan to head of the delta variant. will this is bloomberg. ♪ the tourists come? this is bloomberg. ♪ -- will the tourists come? this is bloomberg. ♪

caroline: the lights are never supposed to go down on broadway, but of course, the pandemic force them to do just that. after more than a year, burger is ready to lift up the curtain. i spoke to my next guest about how the delta variant affected their plans.

>> it certainly played into our decision to require vaccinations and masks, because all along, we have stressed that we would not reopen unless we felt that the audience and the casting crew would be safe -- and the cast and crew would be safe. clearly, we are working with their own epidemiologists and listening to the science and making our decisions based on that science. caroline: let's talk more about broadway. it is starting to open up. some of the first showings happening this weekend. james nederlander is with us, president of the nederlander organization. nine theaters on broadway. you are the perfect voice to talk to us about how optimistic you are, how much people want to be coming back to broadway? james: extremely optimistic. there is some gigantic advances

for some of these shows, a lot of tickets being sold. i just came back from los angeles where we just opened "hamilton." people had no problem with masks, with show their i.d., whether they are vaccinated, or negative covid tests. everyone is really thrilled to be back. look, if you have a negative covid test, you show your vaccine, you have a mask. if you are under 12, you show a negative covid test. come on,, alter broadway. we have all been dashcam on -- come one, come all to broadway. romaine: one question that was brought up by our previous guest a good portion of the customer base are tourists particularly international tourists. we know that international tourism is nowhere near where it was before the pandemic. how does that affect things?

james: we are finding a lot of tri-state people buying tickets. to be honest with you, hamilton has a $37 million advance. that is pretty darn good. a lot of them are tri-state, local people who just want to get out. let's go see something live. caroline: meanwhile, one of the big events for marketwatchers, that being jackson hole, it is meant to be happening next weekend is going virtual due to the recently elevated covid-19 risk in wyoming. the federal reserve bank saying it is moving there in-person economic symposium to a virtual one. we are going virtual in terms of big economic events, jimmy. are you bracing yourself? what do you plan to place for uncertainty if you see a

lockdown? do you have insurance? what is your new reality? james: right now everything is going forward. all the conversations i have had, it is full. . steam ahead reality wise. we will just go ahead and have the best protection possible for people going to the theater. no one can predict what will happen in the future, so right now, it is all systems go. taylor: this brings up what we heard from jackson hole, we have heard this from here -- from airlines, from expedia and other booking websites, that people are waiting to book until the last minute because they're getting canceled. planning is getting shorter and shorter. how does that affect your operations when people are not looking things only until a few days before. does that change the way you have to plan? james: no, actually. that is very interesting.

in our study, we find people normally purchase tickets 24-48 hours in advance. we found it that way pre-covid. like i said, "hamilton" has had a gigantic advance for quite a long time out, and other shows are doing quite well -- "wicked ," "lion king," they are tracking excellent. caroline: i am curious. romaine: after you, we will talk to someone from the music guild. i am curious about the performers themselves. they have not been working at the same capacity they would have pre-pandemic. with regards to their response to coming back to their workplace effectively, the stage, what their general response has been, have you heard any feedback from this focus on what they need to feel

comfortable? james: backstage is a whole another world. everyone is vaccinated, everyone has masks. they are as comfortable as possible. we are trying to protect everyone from the backstage to the front stage. they are excited to go back to work and get in front of an audience. caroline: tell us the stories people want to tell at the moment. everyone loves the hamiltons and the land kings. but hamilton itself was a shift. it hasn't just been a health crisis, it has been an economic and social crisis as well. the storytelling on broadway and a new theaters, is it changing? james: i don't think so. it is always what is on stage, whether it is a play or a musical. i think people know quality. and quality -- the cream rises to the top. storytelling has not changed.

just think maybe the marketing and advertising has changed, with the advent of the internet and streaming, things like that. but if it is good, people will come and see it. romaine: jimmy, really great to get your insight. jimmy need a learned -- james nederlander of the nederlander organization, talking about the return to broadway and the return to shows. the return to jackson hole, that symposium in wyoming was supposed to take place in person starting next week. apparently that will now be virtual, according to a headline crossing their wares right now. let's bring in our bloomberg's economic correspondent, michael mckee. what was the main reason they pulled back on this? michael: apparently the incidence of covid has accelerated dramatically in teton county, wyoming. the county has gone to a code red which impedes the ability to

have meetings in large numbers so they were forced to go to a virtual format. they will host it via zoom on august 27, friday. looks like they will cut off the saturday portion of it. no doubt. in the kansas city fed, and those of us who were going or going to be really disappointed. taylor: the irony of this is economists are gauging their ripple effect on the economy from delta, in a statement saying that "you can get a hotel refund." the hotel now is no longer going to have visitors. local restaurants, drivers, will no longer have visitors. so you will be seeing, on a small scale at least, some of the ripple effects on a pullback on the economy. michael: that is what is going to be happening around the country in various areas. we are not seeing lockdowns as

such, but we are going to be seeing some of these kinds of interruptions. the question becomes if you are a tourist can you see this news, you not go out to grand teton national park or ted jackson, wyoming? if you are in new york and you see raising case numbers, do you not go to a restaurant? that is the question. it will be interesting to see what jay powell says. one presumes he will address resume meeting on whether the fed is now going -- he will address the zoom meeting on whether the fed is going to taper, until he gets a better view of what is going to happen with the economy. caroline: kaplan has changed his tune slightly around the delta variant, around tapering and pulling back on the stimulus. do you think you might see that echo in the next couple of days? michael: i think you will.

obviously nobody will be speaking over the weekend that i know of but we may have some people saying something similar that they want to taper they want to get back to normal, but if the disease progresses, they will have to take another look at it. it was something they said in their statement after the last meeting. the progress on the economy depends on the virus. they had hoped vaccine would improve things, but obviously not. taylor: just seeing this again, the in-person shift to a virtual format. it comes as we were just talking about the big reopening of new york this weekend, the return to broadway. you wonder if there is any sense, from an economic perspective, of living through this virus. if you are vaxxed and masked, do we still have to pull back, or do we learn to eventually live with it as people from, say, the

ceo of expedia have come out and said we need to? michael: it would be great if we had an answer to that, taylor. the problem is that the medical community seems to be divided on this. not because they totally disagree, but because they don't have enough information. it appears from a number of studies that vaccination protection does erode some. and the delta variant being what it is, has broken through in more cases than they expected. it still seems to protect people from hospitalization and serious disease, but if you get a breakthrough case, you can infect somebody else. so at this point we don't know whether or not we will be able to get out from underneath this. it will

in varying settlements, contract payouts, health insurance for our members. those have allowed them to survive. in addition, our organization

has worked with one of our sister unions, the states directors and choreographer society, to engage in a panel of experts to put together what we call our playbook on returning to the stage and returning to the performing arts safely. because of it has been such a moving target obviously over these last many months, we are now on our fourth revision of that playbook. first couple of weeks we put out special guidance related to the delta variant. prior to that was a special guidance related to vaccination status. we continue to roll with the punches and try to work with our employers to keep the momentum of getting our folks back to work going. taylor: are you concerned about some of the latest headlines, it delay particularly in indoor performances, that it could be another setback?

griff: of course, we are concerned about that. we remain hopeful. we believe there is pent-up demand for performance and we're hoping we can work our way through this situation with delta variant and that audiences will return. our members are artists. it is their job, and also their passions. for seniors and especially for dancers, an 18 month hiatus is a significant chunk of an artist's career to lose so they are anxious to get going,. romaine: that is a great point. you talk about an industry where basically you need to perform in order to get paid more or less. i am curious how you have advised these artists during the economic downturn here, during the closures, with regards to not only managing their own financial situation, but dealing

with this and preparing themselves to actually come back to the environment. griff: that is a great question. as i have said, the primary thing that our members have been able to do as a union collectively is to bargain with their employers for financial help during this period. . that has come in different forms, whether it is in relief payments or, in many cases, particularly with our dance companies, we worked with them to find ways for them to actually work. to do digital work at home to keep some income coming in. in terms of mental health, we have an extensive covid resource page on our website that is promoted daily. many of those resources have to do with mental health, particularly referring our members to organizations like the actors fund which is a nonprofit specifically geared

towards performing artists. so those are the kinds of things that we have worked on to try to sustain our members. caroline: we want to thank you so much for giving us some of your time today, griff. we wish you well and we wish your members well. we want to get back to watching amazing things like your dancers. griff braun, director of organizing and outreach at the american guild of musical artists. the news seems to be negative. we are getting headlines. apple is not returning to work until later. we hope they have a great event this weekend in new york city, but you have to feel for them. romaine: and there is an issue with the inconsistency in the message, and the inconsistency of covid, but how do you buy a plane ticket three months out in this environment, or a broadway ticket. i know that james nederlander

saying that some people are doing it in 48 hours, but a lot of us like to plan ahead. taylor: and maybe what it does to some, telling people that even if you are vaccinated, you can't do it, what messaging is it giving people who are still on the fence? we will debate it all another day. this is bloomberg. ♪

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