The Show Goes On, in Search of a Return to Normalcy

As the curtain went up on Broadway after two days of canceled shows, the lights around New York’s Times Square dimmed for about a minute Thursday night in honor of the victims of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.

Some productions opened with tributes, including a moment of silence at “Les Miserables.” Others opened with speeches. Cast member Danny Mastrogiorgio of “Contact” said: “Our nation goes on. Our city goes on. And as tradition has it, our show also goes on. America will triumph.” Most shows planned to conclude with the singing of “God Bless America.”

Jed Bernstein, president of the League of American Theaters and Producers, estimated Broadway theater losses at $5 million to $7 million for the two days of dark houses. But, he said, many shows are likely to recoup some of the money because not all ticket-holders will seek refunds.

Apart from epic blizzards, only the death of President Kennedy in 1963 has ever darkened the Great White Way. And feelings were mixed on both sides of the footlights Thursday as performers and audiences made their way back to the theaters.

“I’m not sure if it is the right time,” said Patrick Wilson, star of “The Full Monty.” “But we can’t give any more power to these people who have altered our lives. As Mayor [Rudolph W.] Giuliani says, we’ve got to get back to normal. And if people can pull themselves away from their television sets and all the sadness and come into the theater to have a few laughs, then I’m happy to be part of that.”

At the TKTS discount ticket booth in Times Square, Peter and Hazel Spotswood of South Yorkshire, England, were hoping for a chance to see “The Full Monty.”

“Everybody is carrying on, so I thought we should too,” Peter Spotswood said. “But I don’t think any show can take our minds off the horror.”

In the cancellation line outside the St. James Theatre, home of the Tony Award-winning show “The Producers,” more than 200 people queued up, hoping for a chance to see the sold-out production. About 150 obtained tickets. Usually only about a dozen canceled seats are available on a given night.

In a speech before the show, one of the producers, Rocco Landesman, dedicated the performance to fellow New Yorkers lost in the tragedy. “Each and every one of you tonight is saying, ‘I’m not afraid,’ ” he said. “Laughter is a very legitimate response to events that are unspeakable, which are to us incomprehensible.”

In Los Angeles, the sold-out Madonna concert at the Staples Center went on as scheduled Thursday night. Hand-held metal detectors were used at every entrance, causing concert-goers to wait in line about 30 minutes. The pop superstar announced earlier Thursday that she would donate a portion of the proceeds from her three final Staples Center shows to a fund for victims of the terrorist attacks. That gesture could be a substantial one; performances at similarly sized venues on the tour have been grossing about $2 million each. Her final show on Saturday was added after her Tuesday concert was postponed because of the attacks.

In Burbank, a private jet carrying Los Angeles Opera artistic director Placido Domingo landed Thursday afternoon, allowing the tenor to make it to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to sing in “Queen of Spades.” On Tuesday, Domingo had been en route to New York from Los Angeles when his plane was diverted to Columbus, Ohio, when all air traffic was grounded in the wake of the attack.

Domingo’s odyssey paled in comparison with that of Los Angeles Opera principal conductor Kent Nagano, who is slated to conduct Saturday afternoon’s opening of “Lohengrin.” Because of the uncertainty facing international travelers to the U.S., Nagano began a journey Thursday at about 2:30 a.m. in Frankfurt that took him through Munich, Mexico City, then on to Tijuana. Opera officials were unable to find a car service that would agree to pick up Nagano at the Tijuana airport. Desperate, opera representatives called Domingo for advice. The tenor called his son in Tijuana, and Pepe Domingo offered to pick up Nagano himself and drive him to his hotel in Santa Monica.

Meanwhile, performing arts venues throughout Southern California reported a significant drop in attendance for most Wednesday shows.

At the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, 1,708 ticket-holders showed up for “The Lion King,” down from normal Wednesday attendance of about 2,600. Box office sales for the nearly sold-out shows were light Tuesday and Wednesday, officials said.

About 600 people showed up at the Shubert Theatre in Century City to see “Kiss Me, Kate.” That theater seats about 2,100.

New York producers also will be closely monitoring attendance at their shows. Bernstein described the resumption of performances as the theatrical equivalent of being the first prime-time TV show to break away from broadcasting news of the crisis. “It’s our way of getting on with it,” he said.

That will not be the case, however, for “Assassins,” the Stephen Sondheim musical that was to open Nov. 1 on Broadway. The show, about presidential assassins, was postponed “in light of Tuesday’s murderous assault on our nation,” said a statement issued by the producers, the Roundabout Theatre Co.

Another show, “Zulu Time,” canceled performances that had been set for Sept. 21-Oct. 9 at the Roseland in New York. The experimental performance art piece created by Peter Gabriel and Robert LePage deals with terrorists and other people at an international airport.

“Tale of the Allergist’s Wife,” the Charles Busch comedy currently running on Broadway, responded to the recent turn of events by changing flippant lines about terrorism uttered by one of the characters.

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Contributors to this story included Times staff writers Robert Hilburn, Greg Braxton, Geoff Boucher and Don Shirley, who reported from Los Angeles. Correspondent Patrick Pacheco reported from New York.