
Covid hit Nashville hard. Now the performing arts are staging a comeback
CNN
The performing arts sector contributes more to the US GDP than the commercial airline business does. But since the pandemic hit, it's been facing a tough battle to return to center stage.
The US performing arts industry immediately lost more than half of its jobs; and unlike other hard-hit businesses such as restaurants, bars and barber shops, there was no swift rebound. The live arts suffered some of the deepest rates of job loss and have been among the most stubborn to return, remaining 21% below pre-pandemic levels, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.
The pandemic not only stalled a major economic engine that includes film, TV, theater, advertising, digital streaming and museums, but it also altered career trajectories and set the US arts and entertainment industry back by years.

The White House is making clear it views President Donald Trump’s Friday Oval Office showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as an overwhelming win underscoring Trump’s “America First” leadership, dispatching top officials and allies on the airwaves to amplify Trump’s handling of the situation even as European leaders are putting on a key show of force of unity for Ukraine and its leader.