Broadway Loses a Few Million Dollars During NYC Blackout

Broadway saw its grosses dip slightly this week following the massive blackout in Manhattan that drove performers out of the theaters and onto the streets.

The Broadway League weekly data indicated that Broadway shows lost somewhere between 3-5 million dollars due to the blackout which forced all but three theaters to cancel performances. Last week's shows grosses were at $30,566,473.66, according to the League, but previous weeks averaged around $35 million.

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Attendance numbers were clearly also effected. Broadway saw nearly 45,000 less people in the crowd compared to the previous week, according to the data.

In an example of unshakable, resilient New York spirit -- the casts of the award-winning musical "Come From Away" and "Hadestown" gave impromptu performances to crowds on the street.

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Tickets resaler StubHub also said it offered $500,000 in refunds for canceled shows, which include non-Broadway performances. The company says over 1,500 orders were impacted and none of the shows were rescheduled except for 

Jennifer Lopez's show at Madison Square Garden and Dave Chappelle's show, which will be rescheduled for Sunday, July 21.

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The outage, which knocked out power to nearly 73,000 customers, impacted the area from 40th Street to Columbus Circle, according to the FDNY. Con Edison has said that the blackout was due to backup systems failing.

Photo Credit: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

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