It’s back to the future as we pack into Florida theaters for post-COVID concerts, shows

Howard Cohen
·7 min read

A full house. And at the theater, only the Phantom is masked at the opera.

What will concerts, shows and theater feel like next year? According to those in the know, it’ll be pretty much as if COVID never happened.

That means full capacity and no face coverings.

The acts are back. Are the fans ready? Let’s look into the future to find out.

It’s May 2022 and touring Broadway road shows are filling the stages of Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

Director Timothy Sheader’s new production of “Jesus Christ Superstr” is at the Arsht in May 2022. Feels like a rock concert again as Mary Magdalene still ponders her feelings for Jesus in the classic ‘70s musical. (“I Don’t Know How to Love Him.”)

“Pretty Woman: The Musical” just followed the evergreen “Cats” into Broward Center’s main stage in Fort Lauderdale and we turn to our seatmate and compare Julia Roberts from the 1990 movie version to the actress on stage. We can’t help ourselves. It feels so good.

Regional theaters have also resumed mainstage productions after operating at about 30% of capacity for smaller, family-friendly shows with ticket holders undergoing temperature checks and face coverings.

Christie Prades as Gloria Estefan in the National Tour of “On Your Feet!” that is scheduled for January 2022 at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables.
Christie Prades as Gloria Estefan in the National Tour of “On Your Feet!” that is scheduled for January 2022 at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables.

That’s why, in January 2022, you just enjoyed the portrayal of Gloria Estefan in Actors’ Playhouse’s full assembly production of “On Your Feet!” with an opening night cast party in the lobby, no less, and the social distancing rules that still guided the revamped theater with November’s season opening “Middletown” are finally relaxed, said the Miracle Theatre’s spokeswoman Brooke Noble.

She’s not alone.

“Our volume of activity is expected to ramp up beginning in September 2021 with the expectation of returning to 100% capacity seating for our performances in our venues in early fall,” said Kelley Shanley, Broward Center president and CEO.

The return to a new normalcy is thanks to the increasing number of vaccinations and the decrease of community spread. And the Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents live stage performers and workers, having signed off on allowing its members to resume productions under revised safety guidance.

“We anticipate that most aspects of the live performance experience will return to normal, but if we have learned anything from this crisis, it’s that there is no crystal ball,” Shanley said. “We have to maintain our organizational agility and respond to situations and expectations as they change.”

Live Nation, the major promoter that presents the biggest names in musical entertainment, declined to gaze into the crystal ball a year into the future “given how unpredictable things could be next week or even tomorrow.”

As concerts returned to the South Florida landscape as the CDC relaxed guidelines for fully vaccinated people, fans packed the 4,000-capacity Coffee Butler Amphitheater in Key West to see Sammy Hagar & the Circle perform on May 23, 2021.
As concerts returned to the South Florida landscape as the CDC relaxed guidelines for fully vaccinated people, fans packed the 4,000-capacity Coffee Butler Amphitheater in Key West to see Sammy Hagar & the Circle perform on May 23, 2021.

But as anyone who attended the packed, mostly maskless, 4,000-capacity Coffee Butler Amphitheater in Key West for Sammy Hagar & the Circle’s May 23 performance can tell you, concerts are back. Pretty much, the way you remember them.

By spring 2022, the Jonas Brothers would have already played their three October Florida amphitheater concerts in West Palm Beach, Tampa and Jacksonville. Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin co-headlined two October dates at downtown’s Miami’s FTX Arena (you may know it by its so-2021 name of AmericanAirlines Arena).

By the time you’re seated inside the FTX — still the home of the Miami Heat — on April 28, as Elton John says hello again to his rescheduled Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, you’ve almost forgotten all the Zoom tours and livestreamed events you endured to get to this moment. In fact, it feels more or less the way it did three years earlier when Captain Fantastic last played the tour in South Florida. Beer in one hand and $40 concert T-shirt in the other.

That’s by design — and dependent on the majority of Americans getting fully vaccinated.

“We have learned a lot about how to connect in a virtual world, how to deliver meaningful programs for both entertainment and education, and how to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment,” Shanley said.

“While these new skills may present additional opportunities for us to connect with audiences and deliver on our mission, we also know that human beings long to witness live performance in person, to connect with the artists and with each other in a shared experience. That desire will endure.”

Digital vaccine passports? Testing requirements? What the future of travel looks like

Coming concert highlights

Enrique Iglesias in concert.
Enrique Iglesias in concert.

Here are some of the concerts coming to South Florida. Most are on sale through Ticketmaster:

▪ Rolling Loud Festival features A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott, Post Malone and others. July 23-25. Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens.

▪ Yngwie Malmseen. July 23. Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale.

▪ Dave Matthews Band. July 30-31. iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre. West Palm Beach.

▪ Kings of Leon’s When You See Yourself Tour. Aug. 3. iTHINK.

▪ Korn and Staind. Aug. 5. iTHINK.

▪ Alanis Morissette with Garbage and Liz Phair. Aug. 28. iTHINK.

▪ Lolita Flores. Aug. 20. The Filmore at Jackie Gleason Theater Miami Beach.

▪ Lady A’s What a Song Can Do Tour with Carly Pierce. Aug. 21. iTHINK.

▪ The Struts’ Strange Days Are Over Tour. Sept. 1. Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale.

▪ Thomas Rhett’s The Center Point Road Tour. Sept. 3. iTHINK.

▪ The Black Crowes Present Shake Your Moneymaker. Sept. 7. iTHINK.

▪ The Alan Parsons Live Project. Sept. 8. Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale.

▪ Maroon 5. Sept. 23. iTHINK.

▪ Geoff Tate Empire 30th Anniversary Tour. Sept. 24. Broward Center.

▪ Spyro Gyra. Sept. 28. Broward Center.

The cover of Lindsey Buckingham’s self-titled album, due Sept. 17, 2021. The former Fleetwood Mac guitarist performs Sept. 30 at Fort Lauderdale’s Parker Playhouse.
The cover of Lindsey Buckingham’s self-titled album, due Sept. 17, 2021. The former Fleetwood Mac guitarist performs Sept. 30 at Fort Lauderdale’s Parker Playhouse.

▪ Lindsey Buckingham. Sept. 30. Parker Playhouse.

▪ David Bisbal’s Gira En Tus Planes Tour. Sept. 30. The Fillmore Miami Beach.

▪ Guns ‘n Roses with Mammoth WVH. Oct. 2-3. Hard Rock Live, near Hollywood.

▪ Dead & Company. Oct. 6. iTHINK.

▪ Harry Styles’ Love on Tour. Oct. 8. BB&T Center, Sunrise.

▪ Zac Brown Band’s The Comeback Tour. Oct. 9. iTHINK.

▪ Maluma’s Papi Juancho Tour. Oct. 9. FTX Arena (formerly AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami.

▪ Justin Hayward—Nights. Oct. 9. Broward Center.

▪ Alice Cooper with Ace Frehley. Oct. 10. iTHINK.

▪ Pablo Cruise. Oct. 10. Parker Playhouse.

▪ The Monkees Farewell Tour with Micky Dolenz & Michael Nesmith. Oct. 12. Parker Playhouse.

Jonas Brothers, from left, Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas. The group has three Florida concerts in October 2021 in Jacksonville, Tampa and West Palm Beach for which “Freedom Week” tax holiday would apply if tickets purchased July 1-7, 2021.
Jonas Brothers, from left, Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas. The group has three Florida concerts in October 2021 in Jacksonville, Tampa and West Palm Beach for which “Freedom Week” tax holiday would apply if tickets purchased July 1-7, 2021.

▪ The Jonas Brothers Remember This Tour. Oct. 17. iTHINK.

▪ Boz Scaggs Out of the Blues Tour. Oct. 20. Broward Center.

▪ Enrique Iglesias & Ricky Martin. Oct. 22-23. FTX Arena.

▪ Top of the World — A Tribute to the Carpenters. Oct. 23. Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.

▪ The Psychedelic Furs Made of Rain Tour. Oct. 27. Revolution Live.

▪ Jason Aldean Back in the Saddle Tour. Oct. 29. iTHINK.

▪ Luke Combs What You See Is What You Get Tour. Oct. 30. BB&T Center.

▪ Patti Labelle. Nov. 14. Arsht Center, Miami.

▪ Bruce Hornsby. Nov. 14. Parker Playhouse.

▪ Marc Anthony. Nov. 19. FTX Arena.

▪ Chris Stapleton’s All American Road Show. Nov. 20. iTHINK.

▪ Carlos Vives’ Despues de Todo Vives Tour. Dec. 4. FTX Arena.

▪ The Temptations and Four Tops. Dec. 4. Broward Center.

▪ An Intimate Evening with David Foster. Dec. 7. Broward Center.

▪ Village People 40th Anniversary Tour. Dec. 11. Parker Playhouse.

▪ Dianne Reeves: Christmas Time Is Here. Dec. 17. Arsht Center.

▪ Andrea Bocellis. Dec 18. FTX Arena.

▪ Johnny Mathis. Jan. 26, 2022. Broward Center.

▪ Norm Lewis. Jan. 30. Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.

▪ Paul Anka — Sings Sinatra. Feb. 22. Broward Center.

▪ Gino Vanelli. Feb. 27. Parker Playhouse.

▪ Little River Band. March 5. Parker Playhouse.

▪ Chris Botti. March 11. Parker Playhouse.

▪ Andre Rieu. March 13. BB&T Center.

▪ The Weeknd. March 29-30. FTX Arena.

▪ Jazz in the Gardens. March 2022 TBA. Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens.

▪ Bad Bunny El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo. April 1-3. FTX Arena.

▪ Justin Bieber. April 13. FTX Arena.

Elton John at Sunrise’s BB&T Center on his Farewell Yellow Brick Tour on March 16, 2019.
Elton John at Sunrise’s BB&T Center on his Farewell Yellow Brick Tour on March 16, 2019.

▪ Elton John: Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. April 28. FTX Arena.

▪ Ana Gabriel. May 7. FTX Arena.

▪ The Doobie Brothers’ 50th Anniversary Tour featuring Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald, Pat Simmons & John McFee. June 2.

Touring Broadway road shows

Live Broadway productions poised for a South Florida comeback

Miami

“Dear Evan Hansen” cast members Stephen Christopher Anthony and Jessica E. Sherman.
“Dear Evan Hansen” cast members Stephen Christopher Anthony and Jessica E. Sherman.

▪ “Hairspray” Dec. 28-Jan. 2. Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami.

▪ “Dear Evan Hansen” Feb. 15-20. Arsht.

▪ “Anastasia” March 22-27. Arsht.

▪ “Jesus Christ Superstar” May 31-June 5. Arsht.

▪ “Hadestown” Dec. 6-11, 2022. Arsht.

Fort Lauderdale

▪ “Come From Away” Nov. 3-14. Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

▪ “The Prom” Dec 14-19. BCPA.

▪ “Tootsie” Jan. 11-23, 2022. BCPA.

▪ “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations Feb. 8-20. BCPA.

▪ “Disney’s Frozen” March 9-20. BCPA.

▪ “Cats” April 5-10. BCPA.

▪ “Pretty Woman: The Musical” May 4-15. BCPA.

▪ “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” June 17-19. BCPA.