Theatre in the shadows

In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the US, we postpone our series on show-specific websites for some news from New York's theatres. Peter Filichia's column on BroadwayOnline speaks volumes.

September 14

Pretty much all of New York's theatres were closed down on Tuesday, the day of the attack, and Wednesday for both matinee and evening performances. Most Broadway performances resumed Thursday evening, dimming their marquees prior to performances. Among them Urinetown, which had been scheduled to open that evening. The opening has been postponed until September 20th. Ticket holders for September 11th and 12th performances of Broadway shows are entitled to refunds or exchanges.

Off- and off-off-Broadway performances are more problematic, with many of the theatres located in the closed areas of Manhattan.

A number of theatres and performers around the country have dedicated performances for disaster relief.

As reported by BroadwayOnline, Actors Equity spokesman David Lotz reports, "no one we know was injured or killed, thank God."

BroadwayOnline also reports that all League of American Theatre Owners and Producers productions were dark on September 11, except for "the national tour of Contact in Salt Lake City, UT, which did so at the request of the governor and mayor, who felt it was important to show that things were operating normally."

As reported in numerous locations, the Roundabout Theatre Company's scheduled Broadway production of the Steven Sondheim/John Weidman musical, Assassins, has been indefinitely postponed. In a press release the authors write:

Assassins is a show which asks audiences to think critically about various aspects of the American experience. In light of Tuesday's murderous assault on our nation and on the most fundamental things in which we all believe, we, the Roundabout, and director Joe Mantello believe this is not an appropriate time to present a show which makes such a demand.

Michael Riedel in the NY Post has an article entitled, "Broadway Braces," about an emergency meeting of theatre owners and producers regarding the effects of the attack on theatre.

TDF reports no loss of life at its World Trade Center TKTS location.

Most of the theatre websites have returned to a semblance of normalcy with only a few nods to the catastrophe -- notes in the news areas and, for example, the replacement of the usual American Express banners on Playbill's pages with a Salvation Army banner.

Go To Page: 1