Back in March, the actress Patti LuPone was starring in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Company” on Broadway. She and the show’s producer Chris Harper were entertaining guests in Ms. LuPone’s dressing room when they got a shock. Cynthia Nixon, the actress and political activist, told them she’d come to the show that night “because I wanted to do something fun before the city is locked down.”
Ms. LuPone and Mr. Harper had not heard the phrase “locked down” before, but it chilled their blood. The next day, at a meeting…