When New York Governor Cuomo announced the Broadway shutdown on March 12, 2020, audience and industry members alike were looking into an unknown future, with formal predictions forecasting that theatres would be able to reopen in April 2020. But as the shutdown extensions continued to roll out, theatre artists found new ways to create beyond the stage, including virtual performances and starting new businesses.

In 2019, film and stage stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge joined forces to present two separate stand-alone monologues, Sea Wall/A Life at Off-Broadway’s The Public Theater before quickly transferring to Broadway’s Hudson. The limited run ended just a few months before COVID-19 forced the closure of all Broadway theatre.

We stopped going to the theatre March 12, 2020. Within a few days, we turned to the virtual stage. Within a few weeks, we found regular comfort in Zoom readings, split-screen reunions, and remotely produced performances. And over the past 12 months, we learned that the show could go on—in some capacity. On the anniversary of the Broadway shutdown, the Playbill staff (with some assistance from readers) looks back on a year of on-screen theatre.

Following its London debut, Lés Miserables opened in New York City at the Broadway Theatre March 12, 1987. The show, directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird, played 11 previews and 6,680 performances before closing May 18, 2003. The production earned 12 Tony Award nominations, winning eight, including Best Musical. In the time since its premiere, it has been produced in more than 40 countries across the globe and been translated into 21 languages.

On March 11, 1959, the original Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The play, which details the experiences of a Black family in Chicago, was the first by an African-American woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first with an African-American director and one of the first to examine African-American life on the cusp of the Civil Rights era. The production transferred to the Belasco Theatre in October 1959 before eventually closing on June 25, 1960.

In light of the Biden-Harris administration affirming its commitment to the arts in platforms and speeches, a number of theatre professionals gathered virtually to discuss what that could look like—and what they hope to see. Check out Hal Luftig, Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, Victoria Bailey, T. Oliver Reid, and Warren Adams in the video above.

A reopening may be on the horizon, but with theatres still dark for the time being, casting directors are encouraging performers to send in video auditions. Here’s a selection of upcoming Equity auditions around America, in chronological order by submission deadline.

Following its world premiere at Two River Theater and a subsequent Off-Broadway run at Signature Theatre, Be More Chill opened at the Lyceum Theatre March 10, 2019. The production, directed by Stephen Brackett, played 23 previews and 168 performances before closing August 11, earning a Tony nomination for Best Original Score.

Dress Circle Publishing releases of The Untold Stories of Broadway, Volume 4, the latest in a series by theatre historian and producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper, March 9. In celebration of the release, Playbill is presenting exclusive video of stars featured in the book reading each other’s theatrical tales. Check out Tony winners George C. Wolfe and Joe Mantello above.