(Bloomberg) -- At the Longacre Theatre, where Diana, a musical about “the People’s Princess,” is in previews for a March 31 opening, a growing number of people are getting in on the act behind the scenes.

“They’ve doubled or tripled the cleaning crew,” director Christopher Ashley said before rehearsal on March 11. “You’ll be sitting down to work and see them wiping things down.” 

“There’s Purell everywhere,” he says. “There are no backstage guests. Any vendors who come to the building have to answer all of the same questions you would in a hospital kind of interview: ‘Have you traveled internationally? Do you know anyone who’s traveled internationally?’ The theater owners and the producers are doing everything they can to create as much healthy security as they can in what is admittedly a crazy world.”

And so the curtain rises on Broadway in the time of the new coronavirus. 

Beefing up procedures and staff to germ-proof theaters—and the people inside them—is one measure owners are taking to ensure that the “show must go on” holds true. Stage door visits and autograph signings have been canceled at some shows, while others are monitoring the situation. 

So far, business as usual has been steady at many Broadway box offices, even though attendance at Disney’s three family-friendly musicals, The Lion King, Frozen, and Aladdin, dropped significantly, according to figures for the week that ended on March 8. But theater executives are bracing for the impact of Covid-19 on New York City tourism, the major source of revenue for the Great White Way. “Between 60%-70% of business comes from outside the tri-state,” says Charlotte St. Martin, president of the trade group the Broadway League, referring to New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. 

Faced with the specter of empty seats, producer Scott Rudin cut the price to $50 on all remaining seats at The Book of Mormon, The Lehman Trilogy, To Kill a Mockingbird, West Side Story, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? from March 1 -29. Other bargains, including two-for-one specials, are being discussed at other shows.

The question within the theater world is what happens if Broadway houses are forced to shutter, as some cultural institutions and sporting venues have in other countries? Could simulcasting or digital streaming, the technology used for BroadwayHD, be a viable option for reaching audiences when many people may not feel safe coming into a crowded theater? 

Theater owners declined to respond to a request for comment, deferring to St. Martin. “We have not really discussed that as an alternative,” she says. “Our union contracts are so prohibitive. I’d never rule out any possibility. But it would require a lot of negotiations with the unions for actors and musicians. And union discussions aren’t quick.”

“The coronavirus is a big thing,” says St. Martin, who recalls when Broadway theaters briefly went dark after Sept. 11 and Hurricane Sandy. “But we’ve endured and survived every big thing.”

Still, union hurdles and high costs are only one obstacle, she says. “Many of our seasoned producers have concerns about livestreaming because they believe that part of the magic of theater is seeing it in a theater.”

Kevin McCollum, producer of such hits as Rent and In the Heights, as well as two new musicals in preview, Six and Mrs. Doubtfire, says livestreaming “is never a substitute, even when there’s no virus. I talk only for my shows. It’s not an alternative; it’s an additive.” 

Sue Frost, producer of Come From Away, concurs. “I don’t look at streaming as an alternative,” she says. “That’s not what Broadway is.” 

“Broadway is a huge financial engine for New York,” Frost says. “It’s not in anybody’s interest to shut us down. … Right now we’re being strategic about ticket pricing as we always are, and we’re focused on keeping our company and audiences as safe as possible.”

Back at the Longacre, Ashley, the director, finds comfort in diving deep into work with the cast and crew. “Everybody shows up for rehearsal every day and for the performance at night. I think everyone is delighted to have a passion project.”

To contact the author of this story: Joe Dziemianowicz in New York at thejoedshow2018@gmail.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Rovzar at crovzar@bloomberg.net

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