Schumer Discusses Save Our Stages Act On Late Late Show With James Corden

Washington, D.C.— Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) discussed his support for the Save Our Stages (SOS) Act on CBS’s The Late Late Show with James Corden. An excerpt of the interview is available here and a transcript is available below:

CORDEN: I was incredibly impressed by what you did this week where you co-sponsored something that just I'm personally very passionate about—the Save Our Stages Act—which is for anyone who doesn't know is a relief package aimed at helping live venues, Broadway theaters—

SCHUMER: Yeah. Yeah.

CORDEN: Talk about—tell us about the package and why you believe it’s so important.

SCHUMER: Yes, okay. Well, you know, we all know Broadway's closed and that's a horrible thing because it's a big magnet for New York and so many people are employed, average middle class people. But people forget there are these live venues, smaller stages, where young artists who are trying out their talent come. And New Yorkers love this.

You know, New York comes from all over. We have people from all over the country and all over the world. They love to gather, listen to music, dance, be close at these venues. And I was just at one, Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn. We have a ton of them in Brooklyn, and they're great.

And the problem is, at a live venue you almost by definition have to be close. So they were the first to close, and they'll be the last to open. They can't survive. There's no more money. There's the rent. There's the utilities.

So we are proposing in Save Our Stages $10 billion to go to grants for six months to keep these folks going. And God willing, we'll have a vaccine and COVID will recede. and these live stages, these live venues, will be out there bigger and better than ever. They are so part of the heart and soul of New York that we need—

CORDEN: Also these are the places we need—these are the places we're going to need on the other side of this. These venues. These collective experiences.

SCHUMER: Of course. Exactly. Exactly. And, you know, I'm not allowed to do much singing and dancing in public, but at a live venue I feel comfortable doing it. I'm not allowed to do it cause I'm not good at it, James.

CORDEN: Well, I think I speak for all of the bands when I say you're welcome any time to come and sign and dance in any of the live venues, and really thank you for that. It's an incredible thing.

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