Playbill: New York City is currently under a blizzard warning, as one-to-two feet of snow is expected to fall beginning Sunday morning February 22, and into February 23. In the face of warnings of whiteout conditions and officials urging New Yorkers to limit travel during the snowstorm, the Broadway League has announced that all Sunday evening shows are cancelled, including the final performance of the original Broadway cast of Operation Mincemeat.
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So I know that this article is trying to paint this idea that the evening shows were closed as this kind of crazy thing but if I'm being completely honest I think it's fucking absurd that they didn't close the matinee as well. I understand the fact that Broadway is a commercial entity that requires people to fill their seats every night in order to make money, however the fact that they're willing to continue even when there have been travel advisories is kind of wild. I think there's this big sentiment of “The Show Must Go On” and I really think it's been distorted in a way to be able to write off any safety concerns ever. like yeah sure a show should go on if something small goes wrong and we should just keep going but if it's a major safety concern no, the show should not go on. We are not curing cancer, we are not stopping world hunger, we are making art. If that art needs to stop for a day because of people's safety it should. But I guess we live in a capitalist society where we can't do that so yeah I guess the show needs to go on for the shareholders.
This storm was crazy to watch from a distance. Once New York City Public Schools were shut down by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, I realized the true extent of what was about to happen in New York City. When the major winter storm happened here in Pittsburgh, there were similar levels of shutdown, but New York is kind of a different beast because of how well the city is run, so the storm was about to be really bad. Also, Broadway shutting down was another major sign that the storm was really significant, as it seems like the mentality of ‘the show must go on’ is quite prevalent within New York City theatre. Though, I was under the impression that some shows did in fact go up that night, but perhaps I was incorrect. I wonder if there are any union regulations that apply to the weather, as I imagine they would have some kind of role.
I am so glad Broadway made this decision with this storm, especially considering with last storm they forced their performers, crew, and staff to come in even with them receiving almost a foot of storm. During this show, people in the audience and on the show staff reported it was only about 10% full, with only about 200 folks in the audience. Regardless of this, they still forced everyone to come in during an emergency situation and terrible weather just to perform for 200 people. This just is not right to do to anyone whatsoever, people lives, especially with how unstable the conditions are during a snow storm, to act in a for-profit theatre on Broadway. While one show cancelled will definitely make them lose money, they should without a doubt be willing to protect their actors and crew instead of being worried about losing some money, people should always come first.
It makes me happy to know that these shows were cancelled due to the inclement weather conditions that occurred that day. With New York getting most likely over a foot of snow, the conditions would have been very dangerous to go out in, let alone find a way to get to work. I get that the subways would have most likely still been running, but there are still a number of people who would have put themselves in danger if these shows were not cancelled. I get the fact that it will ultimately lead to audience members needing refunds and other general management needs, but how are you going to expect an audience to show up in a foot of snow? I am glad that they put safety first, and I hope that they continue to do so when it is necessary, and the weather permits it. This is also especially important because even though New York is built for the cold, something tragic could happen to someone's building, or the power may go out. Many other possibilities could happen as a result of a blizzard.
What was crazy was I actually knew someone in the city during this storm and he was literally stuck there till the storm was over. Overall this was a great decision on Broadway's end and it definitely kept people safe because knowing how expensive some Broadway show tickets can be I know people would have braved the storm so they wouldn't waste all the money they spent on their ticket. As soon as Mamdani started shutting things down I knew that big things like Broadway would shut down for the storm too and even if that wasn’t their plan I feel like Mamdani would have made them shut it down for public safety anyway. I really wasn't expecting New York City of all places to get like a foot of snow either. I knew that Massachusetts would be hit hard by snow because during storms like that in the past were always really bad but I had never heard NYC basically shut down for a storm.
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