Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda joined New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday at the grand opening of a COVID-19 vaccination center in Times Square that aims to revitalize the city’s entertainment industry.
“We want to meet again and we want to tell stories in the dark,” said Miranda, author and star of the hit musical about Alexander Hamilton. ‘We can’t do that if they don’t feel safe. So the first step in that process is to get their vaccines, and that’s how the next steps will come.
Broadway theaters have been closed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last March. De Blasio has said he hopes the special vaccination sites will help reopen the industry in September.
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The new Times Square vaccination site will be open to theater, television and film workers, the mayor said, underlining the importance of the entertainment industry to life in the city.
“Yes, it is part of our economy. More importantly, it is part of our identity, ”said de Blasio. It is part of who we are and part of our heart. What that means in this city, theater, music, dance, film and television is our expression of all that New York City is. It is our creativity, our heart and our soul. We’re doing something here that doesn’t exist in the same way anywhere else in the world. “
Housed in a former NFL Experience store, the vaccination site will be run by Susan Sampliner, a long-time management company for the musical “Wicked.” Miranda said, “If anyone knows how to get the show on time, it’s the Broadway production managers. So they are in good hands. “