Swing Joined: 8/26/11
I know the show must go on... but they will be playing to empty houses. People will simply not be able to get there. Subways will like be shut, no taxis, falling trees in the burbs, and falling scaffolding in the city, heavy rain and wind are going to cause accidents and traffic jams. Ugh... what a mess.
For many people the PoP is Ticketmaster and contacting them is useless
Just read that the buses and subways are shutting down at noon tomorrow. We'll see if that affects the Broadway League's decision to go on.
If they cancel, it's going to be at the last possible minute, because you can't undo a cancellation if the storm turns or weakens unexpectedly.
As it gets closer, especially as they make the call whether to shut down the MTA or if Bloomberg orders a shelter-in-place, that's when I would expect the notices to start coming in.
Broadway Star Joined: 9/13/09
Hopefully Ticketmaster comes around and makes exceptions to their no refund or exchange policy. If not, some consumer advocate or politician should get involved and fight for the little guy. There are some things that can not be controlled, weather is one of them
Obviously not the same thing as a Broadway show, but when I was at the supermarket today, one of the employees was telling me the fire marshal came in last night and told them they have to close on Sunday. I would imagine the decision to cancel might come from the city and not the Broadway League.
Swing Joined: 8/26/11
Intertesting.. .the fire marshall could certainly close down all the theaters if they didnt feel they could adequatly protect them and the people inside!
As long as everyone is safe, actors and fellow BWW posters.
The problem in this scenario with Ticketdisaster is that their call center that handles Broadway is somewhere in the midwest, far away from the storm. They have no idea what's going on, and come across as unaccommodating.
In contrast, Telecharge's offices are right here in the city. They get what's happening.
I wonder if MTA's canceling of all service tomorrow at noon will cause theatres to close.
Broadway Star Joined: 7/20/07
The MTA has announced that the LAST RUN on subways, buses, and trains will begin at Noon on Saturday. After those final runs there will be NO SERVICE until further notice.
This is from ABC EYEWITNESS NEWS posted on their site just now.
Quite likely, Jane. Even if some theatres have made provisions to house actors, are they housing crews? Ushers? Box office personnel? Door personnel?
Leading Actor Joined: 7/28/07
The Broadway League will wait to be TOLD to cancel performances by the City or the State otherwise they will have to pay for people's tickets. If they cancel, they owe patrons a refund. If the government shuts them down, they don't owe anyone anything.
Updated On: 8/26/11 at 01:48 PM
I understand about refunding patrons. Do they expect all employees to either walk or take taxis to work, though?
Leading Actor Joined: 7/28/07
The shows will do anything that they can to stay open including risking some employees not making it in to work. I'm certain that they are doing everything that they can to instruct people to plan and to provide accommodation etc. if required. I worked on a show many years ago in Boston and a blizzard came through. The show refused to cancel and the theater owners refused to cancel because if one cancelled they would owe the other the losses. Waiting for the Mayor or the Governor to "call it" is what is going on now. If the storm track continues, consider that a given.
They are all really stupid if they all try to stay open and try to run the shows. All of the sporting events around here have been postponed or moved up to earlier in the day.
Just cancel them.
Updated On: 8/26/11 at 02:35 PM
There are now mandatory evacuations, on top of the transit system being shut down tomorrow noon.
These shows won't be running on Sunday.
The roles of Sally Durant Plummer & Phyllis Rogers Stone will be played by Bernadette Peters.
The Hurricane has already been downgraded. The National Weather Service is reporting that the winds will be up to 85 mph. Nasty weather, for sure, but not a total wipe out hurricane. By the looks of things, it will probably be a tropical storm when it gets to the city.
That said, if no one can even make it into town for the shows, how the hell are they going to go on?
I doubt it'll weaken to a tropical storm by Sunday morning.
And it's not a catastrophic-level hurricane, but it doesn't need to be to do significant damage to this area. A category one could easily cripple the city for several days.
Tropical Storms can devastate and flood--and NYC is very saturated right now. Not trying to add to the paranoia, but this is serious stuff.
Videos