By Kenneth Jones
01 Nov 2012

	Houston Street on Nov. 1
	Photo by Matthew Blank

The Manhattan blackout south of 38th Street began Monday night, coinciding with Lower Manhattan flooding that lapped at the East and West Village and the Battery, near the World Trade Center. Consolidated Edison cut power to some neighborhoods in anticipation of the disaster, and still other neighborhoods lost power due to a transformer explosion on East 14th Street on Monday.

If you held tickets to cancelled performance on or Off-Broadway, inquire at point of purchase about refund or exchange policies. If hold tickets to shows in the coming days, and you struggle with transit issues or trouble at home due to the hurricane, inquire about exchange and refund possibilities at point of purchase. 

TheBroadwayLeague.com has information about Broadway refund/exchanges. We've also included it at the end of this article.

The announcement about Broadway's full restoration on Nov. 1 came at 5:30 PM Oct. 31 from Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The Broadway League: "As of tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 1, all Broadway shows are back up and running and all regular schedules have been resumed in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The show must go on, and Broadway shows are doing just that. As of tomorrow, all Broadway shows are playing as scheduled. We are aware that some of our fans are still unable to get to the theatre, and our thoughts are with them. For cooped-up New Yorkers and out-of-town visitors who are staying in hotels and can't get home, now is a great time to see a show!"

Producers in recent days have been offering discounts and incentives to attend Broadway shows during these days when subway service has been cut. Some bus service returned at 5 PM Tuesday to non-flooded parts of town.

Partial restoration of some Manhattan subways above 42nd Street began the morning of Nov. 1. People wanting to go between Brooklyn and Manhattan, and Queens and Manhattan, have to rely (in the short term) on buses, bridges, taxis and cars. Some bridge and tunnel service to New Jersey has been available. Thousands of New Yorkers — including Broadway theatre practitioners — walked several miles to get to work on Wednesday, Oct. 31.

On Wednesday afternoon, actor Patrick Page, now in Broadway's Cyrano de Bergerac at the American Airlines Theatre, posted this on Facebook: "Curtain going up on the matinee of Cyrano. So proud of my cast. Some of them walked three hours to get here today. Others came in despite homes and families without power, heat or hot water. We are Broadway."

Actor Joel Hatch, of Broadway's Annie, at the Palace Theatre, posted this on Facebook: "Everyone in the Annie cast made it in to do our matinee. Several cast members walked in from Queens. Many adventures reported but…The show must go on!"

For updates about New York City mass transit service, visit mta.info.

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