'Broadway is back': New York celebrates return of hit shows

People queue outside the Richard Rodgers Theatre for tickets to see the musical 'Hamilton', near Times Square in New York on September 14, 2021

Broadway celebrated the return of some of its biggest musicals on Tuesday after an 18-month coronavirus shutdown, a landmark moment in New York's post-pandemic recovery.

"Hamilton," "Wicked," "The Lion King" and "Chicago" were all resuming performances, to the delight, and relief, of the industry and theater lovers.

They checked into a hotel opposite the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where Hamilton is showing, so Milanoski could get in line for a ticket at 5:30 am (1030 GMT), some 14 hours before the curtains were due to go up.

"I love this show so much. I've seen it 11 times. The energy today is going to be great," Milanoski told AFP.

September 14 was the date former governor Andrew Cuomo said Broadway would re-open back in May.

Theater fans said they felt safe returning to indoor performances knowing that everybody was vaccinated despite concerns about the highly infectious Delta variant.

Around the corner at Broadway's ticket booth in Times Square, 65-year-old Angela Mecca agreed, pointing to a badge on her bag that read "fully vaccinated, slightly intoxicated."

- 'We missed it' -

"We try to come every year to catch a couple of plays so that it's opening back up is wonderful. We missed it. There's no excitement like this," she added.

Coronavirus has killed 34,000 people in New York City.

But officials and theaters are confident that New Yorkers, and those who can visit, are desperate to watch live theater again.

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