Security concerns jangle Broadway, but not enough to keep audiences away

The crowds in the theater district here have been as large and unwieldy as they typically are this time of year. Walk along Broadway or 8th Avenue between 42nd and 50th streets around 7:30 in the evening and you’ll need to navigate your way through a wall of people nearly as impenetrable as the army of holiday shoppers and tourists snapping photos of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

The Broadway League was recently touting “the highest grossing and best attended Thanksgiving week on Broadway in recorded history.” It’s good to know that the coffers are full to bursting, but are the theater owners going to use any of that money to improve security?

New York has been in a state of vigilance since 9/11, but fears of another major incident have been growing since last month’s Paris attacks, for which ISIS claimed responsibility. The recent San Bernardino shooting rampage, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism, may represent a frightening new phase in this battle — the emergence of homegrown jihadists exploiting their knowledge of soft targets.

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When I asked a representative at the Broadway League whether theater owners had made any security changes since the Paris attacks and whether discussions were underway, I was given the following statement from the league President Charlotte St. Martin:

“Broadway is a community and we work together very closely on the safety and security of our theatregoers and employees. In all emergencies impacting security, we closely coordinate our efforts with the NYC Police Department and the security personnel of the Times Square Alliance. Individual theater responses are activated as necessary based upon the direction given by the NYC police and the specifics of the situation. Broadway has extensive security procedures in our theaters and in the theater district with the primary purpose of protecting our theatergoers while attending our productions.”

Broadway is an iconic New York business. Two days after the World Trade Center attacks, Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in a news conference, “The best thing you can do for our city is take in a Broadway show.”

The Broadway League, whose “700-plus members include theatre owners and operators, producers, presenters, and general managers in North American cities, as well as suppliers of goods and services to the commercial theatre industry,” would rather not publicize anything that might call undue attention to the fact that a theatrical venue is as vulnerable as any large gathering place.

To attend a performance of “The Lion King” or “The Book of Mormon” is to hurtle through crowds like a rush-hour commuter at Grand Central Station. Seeing a show at the Hollywood Pantages may entail less walking, but threading your way through the throng is just as tricky. The enclosed space of a theater is inherently vulnerable.

Most New Yorkers I talked with during my recent trip acknowledged the possibility that something terrible could easily happen at a Broadway theater but that this background fear was just part of being an urban citizen in the new millennium.

Some felt that because Broadway remains fairly rarefied when compared with pop cultural attractions, terrorists weren’t likely to target a Broadway show. It’s undoubtedly true, as one friend wryly observed, that most ISIS recruits haven’t heard of Arthur Miller, never mind the new deconstructed revival by Ivo van Hove of Miller’s classic “A View From the Bridge.”

A columnist friend thought the price of Broadway tickets might be enough to keep Broadway theatergoers safe. Wouldn’t it be more economical for a jihadist to spend 12 bucks for the new “Star Wars,” he wondered? Another wag piped up at brunch: “Good luck trying to score a ticket to ‘Hamilton!’”

But the uniformed security agents that were checking bags at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre during a performance of David Mamet’s new “China Doll” starring Al Pacino the day after the San Bernardino atrocity were a reminder of the new normal. So too was the police van conspicuously parked on West 45th near the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, where the new revival of “The Color Purple” with Jennifer Hudson started press previews last Saturday.

There’s not much that can be done to stop a determined terrorist, but that doesn’t mean that deterrence is futile. Theater owners need to do everything in their power to keep their patrons and workers safe. I hope attending a play never becomes as onerous as boarding a flight at the airport, but bag checks and the presence of police officers not only are reassuring but also remind us all to stay alert.

Recall that it was two street vendors who disrupted the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt when they spotted a smoking vehicle and didn’t wait for somebody else to report it. There’s a reason “If you see something, say something” has become a widely disseminated slogan of the Department of Homeland Security.

Perhaps the most long-lasting difference the theater community can make, however, is the reiteration of those values of freedom, tolerance, equality and diversity that President Obama underscored Sunday night in his Oval Office speech to the American people on the subject of the new terrorist threat. It is these values, the president said, that place America on the right side of history and assure our ultimate victory.

A society depends on its artists all the more in an anxious time. Those considering taking in a Broadway show during this holiday season — I’d recommend “Fun Home,” “Hamilton” and the new revival of “The Color Purple,” which opens Thursday — surely won’t mind being a little inconvenienced for the chance of being uplifted as a pluralistic community.

charles.mcnulty@latimes.com

Twitter: @charlesmcnulty