Give My Regards To Broadway
Alright, since I started these Friday ditties I’ve tried to keep it upbeat in downbeat times. And hey, this is a good one from the New York Times.
Bruce Springsteen is back on Broadway with his one man show. Jim Barry is back too. We all know who the Boss is, but who the Christ is Jim Barry?
Jim Barry is a 65-year-old grandfather from Staten Island who has worked as an usher at the St. James Theatre, where Bruce is having his run, for twenty years. He’s thrilled to be back roaming the aisles with his how ya doins and glad to see yas.
It takes Barry two hours to get to work some days, but he always arrives early. Back in March it was his 20th anniversary of working at the theatre. Everything was still closed, but Jim and his girlfriend went into Times Square and posed for pictures in front of all 41 theatres on Broadway.
Springsteen’s gig may be a one man show but Jim Barry is among 75 staffers who are coming back to work at the St. James after a year and a half. That’s a great development. More Broadway shows will return in August and September, bringing thousands back to work—and millions back in seats. In the season before COVID-19, 14.8 million people saw a Broadway show.
Leave it to the Boss and Jim Barry to get things rockin’ again.