NY1 On Stage follows Open Jar Studios and other Arts Organizations who are fighting to bring Broadway back to life.
Prototype approval process for the NYC/EDC.
Approved Prototype washable Level 1 gown.
The BROADWAY RELIEF PROJECT is a coalition built from the Broadway Community, commissioned in late March 2020, to help the NYC/EDC build over 2 million gowns to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and shortage of PPE.
Through putting to use the skills of the teams who are normally building thousands of costumes for Broadway shows, and over 400 members from the Broadway community, we proudly partnered with the City of New York and the NYC/EDC (Economic Development Corporation) to create PPE for the front line workers.
In 59 days, the project, headquartered at Open Jar Studios, built over 51,000 gowns, which went directly to the public hospitals of NYC to assist the fight against COVID-19.
In addition to creating PPE for hospitals, the project has also designed and currently manufactures masks for singers, The Singer’s Mask, being used by over 100,000 music makers worldwide.
Art Will Find A Way.
IN THE NEWS:
NEW YORK TIMES: Feature Story
VOGUE MAGAZINE: Feature Story
BROADWAY RELIEF PROJECT: TEAM HIGHLIGHT
Mondo Morales (Stitcher from the Broadway Relief Project)
Heather Stanley (Stitcher)
Robin L. McGee (Project Manager)
APRIL 23, 2020
“Tonight at 7pm when the uplifting cheers and applause echo through the streets of New York. If you notice that it’s a little quieter, that there are fewer claps, just know it’s not because you have lost support. It’s just that there are hundreds of hands across the city that are busy at their machines making you what you need to stay safe and healthy so you can continue your important life saving work. “
Heather Stanley/ Broadway Relief Project
THE BROADWAY RELIEF TEAM
NOTE FROM JEFF WHITING: President of Open Jar Studios
Formed in March of 2020, The Broadway Relief Project is a coalition of Broadway costume designers, tailors, stage managers, actors and other Broadway professionals to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and build PPE for the frontline workers in the New York City Public Hospitals.
Almost overnight we transformed Open Jar Studios, a 50,000 square foot Broadway rehearsal space, into an essential business - a PPE factory to create medical gowns. We enlisted the skills of the teams who are normally building thousands of costumes for Broadway shows, and over 400 members from the Broadway community to partner with the NYC/EDC (Economic Development Corporation) to create PPE for the doctors and nurses of New York.
In the first 59 days of the crisis, we worked together to create over 51,000 medical gowns which went directly to the front-line hospital workers. In addition to creating PPE for hospitals, the project also manufactures specialized safety masks for singers, production crew, and instrumentalists, being used by over 100,000 music makers worldwide.
We also produced the very first live entertainment since the start of the pandemic with the Broadway Relief Concert Series, featuring solo concerts of Broadway stars to an in-person socially-distant live audience which was also live-streamed around the globe.
In addition to having found a way to contribute solutions during the pandemic, it’s also been thrilling that The Broadway Relief Project has been able to create over 400 jobs for theatre professionals during this difficult time when our industry has been completely shut down.
Those who work in live theatre are hard-wired to deal with the unexpected where anything can happen on the stage, so it is no surprise to me that the Broadway community has rallied together through The Broadway Relief Project to work to find solutions for the health and safety of New Yorkers. I’m incredibly proud of the Broadway Relief Project team and to work side by side with some of the greatest problem-solvers on the planet.