Entertainment News, Legit News, Media - Variety: The rain stopped. The power came back on. Broadway and Off Broadway are up and running again. But there are still plenty of lingering questions regarding the aftermath of Oct. 29's superstorm Sandy on the legit industry.
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I find it interesting that this article compares the losses that Broadway is facing now to the losses that it faced during the time of 9/11/2001. Did Hurricane Sandy really do that much damage to the theatre business on Broadway?
On another note, I think that what this article points out about the timing of this storm is correct and a strong point. I think that this storm was very poorly timed and that it was detrimental to the newly-opened shows on Broadway. The first few weeks of a Broadway show are the ones where it is starting to reach audiences and the word is starting to spread... Having one or part of one of those weeks essentially lost can damage the word of mouth effect that comes from audiences seeing previews. I hope that this does not largely affect any show that is open.
It is so easy to forget the long-term consequences of huge disaster such as Sandy. Without direct involvement, it is hard to remember how damaging a storm of that caliber can be. Yes, it's passed, but it left a trail of wreckage in its wake that will take months to clean up - the city can't magically heal overnight simply because the storm itself is gone. The people of New York are still struggling to clean up the mess, to get their lives back in order and stand firmly on their feet again. So dealing with that, what would make them consider of have the desire to go see a Broadway show? This really must be a huge blow to the productions on and off Broadway, and I hope they all can pull through okay.
Huge crises and national issues have a habit of stealing word of mouth away from theatrical productions and other projects. I think this also provides a good example for when that hard deadline of opening becomes flexible - and at what cost. The loss of momentum and struggling local audience base is compounding to affect the box office for these productions' entire runs.
The article does point out a positive outlook, with the holiday season coming there will be an increase. However I think that the holiday season approaching is probably putting the city of New York into that much more of a rush to prep for tourists, not just to help out broadway. I wonder how much Sandy will deter potential tourists from all activities this winter.
I do think the timing of Sandy is at least a little bit fortunate. Had a storm like Sandy occurred earlier in the hurricane season, it would have been a lot longer until the holidays- Thanksgiving to New Years, when the New York theater industry typically does extremely well in ticket sales because of the number of visitors to the city (which will not likely be depressed due to Sandy recovery for the tourist areas being mostly complete).
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