For millions of people around the world, nothing says “New York” more than the theater district. Together with London’s West End, Broadway is rightly seen as the global standard for live stage productions.

That’s not going to change any time soon, but whenever live performances are able to resume it will take the theater industry time to recover from The Year of Corona.

Significantly, the recovery process could actually benefit locals and international aficionados, Lively McCabe Entertainment’s Michael Barra told Fortune magazine.

Barra’s predictions include consolidated performers’ unions and more Broadway-style content available online (think Disney+’s production of Hamilton). Barra also said the theater industry will become less centralized on traditional hot spots as industry patrons and professionals -actors, producers, musicians, directors – become less willing to migrate to New York or London and focus rather on creating quality performance opportunities in previously off-the-beaten-track locations

For New Yorkers, who previously accounted for just 35 percent of theater audiences, decreased global travel and a years-long period of economic recovery is likely to mean that local theaters will choose to shutter some big-name, long-running musicals in favor of plays and shows that locals have yet to see.

In order to reach out to local audiences, Barra said theaters are likely to shutter… some of the biggest shows of recent years in order to re-start with fresh content. 

“[Local theaters] long-running musical productions, which may have exhausted their tristate audiences, in favor of recently opened musicals, star-vehicle plays, and special limited-run and concert events,” he said.