The obstacles facing national touring companies have proved insurmountable in the time of COVID-19, and there will be no Broadway Series in Pittsburgh in 2020.

With the year-long postponement of Tony Award-winning best musical “Hadestown” and the cancellation of “Beautiful — The Carole King Musical,” that leaves the return of “Hamilton” at the beginning of January as the next possible PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh show.

While this does not come as a surprise, it does come as another blow to audiences and Pittsburghers whose livelihoods depend on a thriving Cultural District — which includes up to 2,800 patrons in Benedum Center seats, garages flashing “FULL” in neon and restaurant reservations with late seating only.

Sharon Eberson

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There is no timing for when that will happen again, and it might be that theater as we have known it will never return, even if a vaccine guarantees safety in numbers once again.

Until then, the ghost light  — the light that remains illuminated on a stage, after all the others are turned off — will remain on at the Benedum Center.

Marc Fleming, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s vice president of marketing, communications and Broadway programming, said in a statement, “even as the region enters into the green phase, our Benedum Center ghost light will remain on duty around the clock for now.”

The 2020-21 touring season, announced by the Trust with fingers crossed on March 30, was previously revamped on May 29. “Ain’t Too Proud” was pushed from an August arrival until next summer, with “Hadestown” next in line to open the season.

Pittsburgh would have been the second tour stop overall for the musical, which means rehearsals and the building of sets may not have even begun as COVID-19 continues its deadly course through the United States.

With more than 122,000 dead and cases tallying in the millions, federal and local governments continue to grapple with how best to protect the health of citizens while keeping businesses and people’s livelihoods afloat.

Live performances, particularly touring musicals, may come through the other side of the deadly virus known as the first to close and last to come back.

These days, it’s hard to imagine having to prepare for a new city from week to week, each with different, mandatory health regulations.

The Broadway League, which lists 24 tours ready to activate, told the Los Angeles Times that they would launch or relaunch on a "case-by-case basis ... in conjunction with each venue.”

The Times’ article mentioned the early closure of “The Band’s Visit” as a case in point: “So ‘Frozen,’ which was playing in Portland, Ore., when the pandemic closed the Keller Auditorium, could restart at a different time than ‘The Band’s Visit’ ... left in suspended animation at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh.”

Movie theaters have recently announced reopenings with safety measures, but live theater — particularly large-cast musicals — have more than their share of limitations for alleviating health concerns. To list a few:

•. The gathering of more than 250 people is still not allowed in Pennsylvania. Even if that were financially feasible, the entry and exit flow of patrons would vary from venue to venue.

•  Intermissions are a particular problem, both for crowd control and sanitary measures for bathroom visits.

•  Social distancing for performers and musicians, particularly in a crowded orchestra pit, is rarely possible.

•. If wearing a mask is required, how is that enforced?

•. Will audience members have the ability or willingness to pay an average of $150 or more for premium shows such as “Hamilton?” That may vary from city to city, too.

•. The union that represents 51,000 professional actors and stage managers is still holding up a figurative stop sign, even where there is a green light to reopen.

The Actors’ Equity Association has not budged from its stance that members should not come back until “the virus is under control.” On April 21, Equity  declared that members may only return to work when the union deems it safe to do so. Since then, the union has been working with public health consultant Dr. David Michaels to develop a plan, which has not materialized.

Bolstering the cautious approach is the “deeply alarming” surge in COVID-19 cases in Texas, after a widespread business reopening, said Gail Gabler, Western Regional director of Actors' Equity Association.

Michael Kaiser of the Kennedy Center told The Washington Post’s Peter Marks that “the arts sector has to be looking at conditions 18 months ahead,” even if a vaccine materializes.

It seems the one person flying in the face of convention is his lordship, Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The composer of “Evita” and “The Phantom of the Opera” has announced he will run a series of reopening tests, based on South Korean protocols, at the London Palladium this month.

The UK went into lockdown in mid-March, and has seen more than 42,600 deaths.

Closer to home, we wait and hope that locally produced shows and national tours will be back onstage in the not-too-distant future.

In “Hadestown,” based on the Greek myth of lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, the former prepares to journey through hell to rescue his beloved, singing, “Wait for me, I'm coming, too” -— an apropos song for the current situation if ever there was one.

Fleming, however, said another lyric from the award-winning musical has been on his mind as he looks forward to bringing “Hadestown” to Pittsburgh. It is a song of hope, in which Orpheus sings:

“Let the world we dream about be the one we live in now.”

Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com; Twitter: @SEberson_pg. 

First Published: June 24, 2020, 2:00 p.m.