Matt Petosa

Matt Petosa works at the stage door for the Winter Garden Theater. Every day I am greeted by him as I walk into the theater. His kind, wise smile assures me that I am exactly where I’m meant to be and that everything is more than OK. But behind the kind smile and demeanor lies an artist’s soul, and an artist’s eye. He has the ability to recognize the soul of a person, of a place, of a community and the meaning of every moment. On March 13th 2020, the Great White Way went dark for nearly two years, impacting one hundred thousand theater employees from actors to stage hands and ushers. New York City without Broadway felt empty indeed. This shutdown was simply unprecedented. Broadway had stayed open through the Spanish Flu of 1812, two world wars and had only closed down once before for two days after the September 11th attacks. The curtain fell on the longest shutdown in theatrical history. The only shining light that remained was the ghost light on each stage of every house. A beacon of hope in the tradition of ＂The Show Must Go on＂. These photographs represent those dark days.