Perennial hits like “The Lion King” were closed last night, but they will survive the storm. (
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The show must go on.
Unless Sandy comes to town.
Broadway, which grosses more than $1 billion a year and pumps about $30 million a week into New York’s economy, went dark Monday and Tuesday night due to Hurricane Sandy.
Producers were scrambling yesterday to determine whether the casts and crews of Broadway’s 28 shows could make it to work for today’s matinee.
While big stars are chauffered to and from the theater in black SUVs, actors, musicians and stagehands are working stiffs who depend on public transportation.
The Broadway League, which represents producers, polled its members yesterday at 3 p.m. to see if the shows could go on today.
It appears that most will, though as of deadline yesterday a few producers were still having trouble rounding up their cast and crew.
Some shows may not play today.
This is the second time in a little more than a year that Mother Nature has upended the old adage of the show going on no matter what. Hurricane Irene forced Broadway to cancel a weekend’s worth of performances in August 2011, knocking nearly $10 million off weekly receipts.
But Irene was drizzle compared to Sandy, whose after-effects are sure to be felt for a long time.
The only silver lining is that this week traditionally is a soft one for Broadway, with attendance dipping because of Halloween and Daylight Savings Time.
Broadway lost two performances after the attack on the World Trade Center. But by Wednesday night, at the urging of Mayor Giuliani, all shows were up and running — a sign to the world that New York was open for business.
The loss of even one performance can wreak havoc with a show’s finances. Because of steep weekly running costs, most shows make their weekly profit in the eighth performance. Anything less than that, and they’ll have an unprofitable week.
The perennials — “Mamma Mia!” “The Lion King,” “Wicked” — won’t notice the loss.
But marginal shows could be thrown into turmoil. And several of the new shows this season are marginal, barely holding their heads above water before the Hudson overflowed.
“Chaplin, “The Performers,” “Scandalous” and “The Heiress” could, like the Atlantic City boardwalk, be washed away by Sandy.
The loss of one or two performances also has stark consequences for the industries that survive on Broadway — restaurants, parking and taxis.
Take away Broadway shows, and Times Square empties out pretty fast.
Yesterday the TKTS booth at 47th and Broadway, usually a hub of tourist activity, was as desolate as Mongolia.
Off-Broadway producers were also taking stock of their situation yesterday. The blackout below 39th Street means many of the city’s smaller theaters won’t be open for several days.
The Vineyard Theater in Union Square has postponed tonight’s opening of “Checkers,” a promising new play about Richard Nixon and his famous 1952 speech, indefinitely.
Veteran Broadway producers said yesterday that they expect a steep plunge in this week’s box office receipts — perhaps as much as a 40 percent drop from last week’s. Getting into the city could be a nightmare for the next several days, which would pick off one of Broadway’s key constituencies — suburbanites.
Still, there was a sense yesterday that there are enough tourists in hotels to fill theater seats. And if you live in the city, this week might be your best opportunity to see one of the so-called “sold out” shows.
“The Book of Mormon,” anyone?