Exploring the Broadway Pandemic Shutdown through Transformation, Hermeneutics, and Arts-Informed Narrative Inquiry

Abstract

The unprecedented 18-month pandemic shutdown of Broadway was extraordinary in that was much longer than any other shutdown of Broadway, affected not only work but also living arrangements, occurred during a slurry of political upheaval, and challenged factors of self-identity. The primary reason for this research was to understand the effects this shutdown had on the lives of five Broadway professionals. This research relied on the combination of three adult learning theories: a) perspective transformative learning (Mezirow, 1978/2003; 1997; 2000), b) communicative action (Habermas, 1984; 1991), and c) hermeneutical understanding (Dilthey, 2002; Gadamer, 1980; Ricoeur, 1977). Special focus was paid to the first phase of the disorienting dilemma in the transformative learning theory, the ideal speech situation inside the public sphere in communicative action; and the extended-extended understanding of visual, spatial, and movement text as part of the hermeneutical understanding. In addition, this research built upon the understanding and use of arts-based and arts-informed research by defining and clarifying a distinction between the two (Barone & Eisner, 2012; Saldaña, 2016). Data was collected in an arts-informed narrative inquiry (Kim, 2015) way in which the five participants provided a song and dance number that represented their experiences of the 18-month pandemic shutdown. Seven themes, or scenes, resulted from the data. The data were described in an unusual way in that it was reported through a novella-script that integrated actual quotes by the participants as if they were in the same space communicating with one another. Additionally, a musical theatre fairytale with a little fairy guide was used to aid in hermeneutical understanding for this community. This journey through this research has provided insights into the effects of a remarkable global shutdown, the importance of a safe space for members to speak freely, and using art in a protective way inside that safe space.