Manny P. here…
Snowstorm Jonas has hit the Great White Way. As a result of the ban on travel in New York, the suspension of public transportation by government authorities, and additional safety precautions implemented due to the severe weather, all Broadway matinee and evening performances on January 23rd were cancelled. Disney Theatrical Productions was the first to cancel, announcing that Aladdin and The Lion King would be closed as snow and wind smashed through Times Square.
Broadway.com customers with tickets to cancelled performances will be contacted with information on refunds or exchanges. If you have tickets in hand, they need to be returned to Broadway.com customer service at the following address: 729 7th Ave., 6th Floor, NY, NY 10019. Shows are currently expected to run as scheduled on January 24th. If you purchased tickets through Broadway.com and are unable to attend today’s performance, call 1-800-BROADWAY. Dozens of shows have agreed to extend a two-for-one tickets deal to make up for lost business after Saturday’s cancellations. Broadway Week, currently in effect, will now run to February. 7th.
The following productions offered exchanges for their shows on January 24th: Beautiful, Aladdin, An American in Paris, Avenue Q, Allegiance, A View From the Bridge, Chicago, Clever Little Lies, China Doll, Curious Incident, Fiddler on the Roof, Fun Home, Finding Neverland, Jersey Boys, Hamilton, King Charles III, Kinky Boots, Les Miserables, Our Mother’s Brief Affair, Matilda, On Your Feet, School of Rock, Misery, Trip of Love, Something Rotten, Shear Madness, Tappin’ through Life, Spring Awakening, The Book of Mormon, The Color Purple, The King and I, The Gazillion Bubble Show, The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked.
A Rita Moreno appearance at Jazz at Lincoln Center was canceled; and Bruce Springsteen postponed this evening’s concert at Madison Square Garden; also suspended were performances at the New York Philharmonic, The Metropolitan Opera, and New York City Ballet. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art were closed for the day. Additionally, weekend movie-going was affected up and down the East Coast by Winter Storm Jonas, which forced theater closures in Washington D.C. and New York, and caused hundreds of theaters to suspend showings. Studio executives said the storm had a major effect on business.
The storm didn’t stop the inaugural three-day BroadwayCon — sort of like a ComicCon for thespians — at a midtown hotel. Some 5,000 theater fans were geeking out on shows and celebrities. And, there was a live audience that braved the weather conditions to enjoy an episode of Saturday Night Live, as they adroitly lampooned the politics of the week and Oscars’ controversy. More than 45 million people, meanwhile, stayed home and watched a video on Facebook of one of the Smithsonian National Zoo’s four pandas frolicking in the snow.
The last time Broadway took a big weather hit was Superstorm Sandy in 2012. It darkened Broadway for four days, and cost more than $8.5 million in lost revenue.
Now sing with me: Oh, the weather outside is frightful…
Until next time> “never forget“
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