A massive blackout hit New York City’s Upper West Side just before 7 p.m. on Saturday (July 13), forcing Broadway shows to cancel performances for the evening. But that didn’t stop the casts of popular shows like Hamilton, Hadestown and Waitress to take their music to the streets of NYC.
As seen in the fan-caught videos below, cast members of Hamilton serenaded a crowd from the windows of Rodgers Theater, while André De Shields, who plays Hermes in Hadestown, sang a blackout-themed version of the show’s opening song, “Road to Hell.” Meanwhile, the cast of Waitress also sang to theater-goers in the streets just before the show’s official cancellation for the evening.
The power failure left thousands of New Yorkers trapped in subway cars, elevators and in street traffic. Power began returning at about 10 p.m. and was fully restored by midnight. The outage was initiated by a transformer fire that started at West 64th Street and West End Avenue, according to the New York City Fire Department.
In addition to numerous Broadway shows, Jennifer Lopez was also forced to cancel and evacuate her concert at Madison Square Garden. She will return to MSG on Monday.
See how more Broadway musical casts brought a little light to the dark streets of NYC in the tweets below.
@cnn @HamiltonMusical was cancelled due to the blackout. The cast sang to us from above the Rodgers Theater in NY. It was awesome! pic.twitter.com/HV6cf1tTzG
— Antony (@lemonfuzz) July 14, 2019
When the NYC #blackout hit the Walter Kerr tonight, André and the company had to take this party to the streets! (–: @misskimizzo) #Hadestown #Broadway pic.twitter.com/oZTW3gaimm
— Hadestown (@hadestown) July 14, 2019
The cast of @WaitressMusical entertaining stalled theatergoers outside during the NYC blackout. (via @meganrgaffney) #Blackout #NYCBlackout pic.twitter.com/vLLnAcKV8D
— Dave Quinn (@NineDaves) July 14, 2019
Impromptu performance #broadwayblackout @wecomefromaway pic.twitter.com/PfHYZeFJ6v
— Chad Kimball (@chadkimball1) July 14, 2019
I guess this is what they call a New York moment. After being trapped on the F for an hour because of the power outage I emerged to see dark restaurants & traffic lights, civilians directing traffic, & an evacuated Carnegie Hall concert happening in the street. #nyc #Blackout pic.twitter.com/3p9UWtRrel
— Briallen Hopper (@briallenhopper) July 14, 2019
How @RockOfAges handled the #NYCblackout, tonight! The show must go on, right?! —— pic.twitter.com/ixsWsjOnL8
— Michael Mahany (@MichaelMahany) July 14, 2019