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John Gore Organization Lays Off Employees Due to Coronavirus

John Gore Organization, the Tony-award winning production company being “Dear Evan Hansen” and “The Band’s Visit,” has laid off roughly a hundred employees. The staffers had previously been furloughed, but with Broadway’s shutdown continuing for months, the cuts have now become permanent.

John Gore Organization also owns The Broadway Channel and Broadway.com, two leading sources of news on the comings-and-goings on the Great White Way.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have laid off a number of previously furloughed employees,” said Lauren Reid, chief operating officer of John Gore Organization, in a statement. We very much look forward to the day when theaters re-open and audiences and staffers can return.”

Broadway theaters have been dark since the coronavirus pandemic hit New York City in March, a shutdown that’s resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue and tens of thousands of lost jobs. The theater industry has been decimated as a result — last year, Broadway took in a record $1.8 billion and supported an estimated 96,900 jobs. The Broadway League previously said that theaters will remain shuttered until January.

There were 31 musicals and plays running when Broadway went dark earlier in the year. Already, three shows — Disney’s musical “Frozen,” Martin McDonagh’s play “Hangmen” and Edward Albee’s revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” with Laurie Metcalf — have announced they won’t return when Broadway reopens. Other productions, like Neil Simon’s revival of “Plaza Suite” starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, have delayed their openings into the new year.

John Gore Organization’s credits include the acclaimed 2018 revival of “Angels in America,” “The Humans,” “War Horse,” “Spring Awakening,” and “Memphis.”

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