On Saturday night, New York City faced an unexpectedly eventful evening as a massive power outage hit Manhattan's Upper West Side at 6:47 p.m. for five hours. Many events had to be canceled last-minute, including all of the evening's Broadway shows, but that didn't stop many of the actors to take the music to the streets.
The casts of "Hadestown," "Rock Of Ages," "Waitress" and "We Come From Away" all offered impromptu performances for stranded ticket holders and passersby on 42nd Street.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">When the NYC <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/blackout?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#blackout</a> hit the Walter Kerr tonight, André and the company had to take this party to the streets! (: <a href="https://twitter.com/misskimizzo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@misskimizzo</a>) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hadestown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Hadestown</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Broadway?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Broadway</a> <a href="https://t.co/oZTW3gaimm">pic.twitter.com/oZTW3gaimm</a></p>— Hadestown (@hadestown) <a href="https://twitter.com/hadestown/status/1150220920872755200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2019</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Outside of the Walter Kerr Theater, André De Shields, who plays Hermes in the 2019 Tony-sweeping musical "Hadestown," led his castmates in a blackout-themed version of their opening song, "Road To Hell." Complete with a guy on horns, call-and-response lyrics, dancing crowds and sirens wailing in the background, it was quite the exuberant N.Y.C. moment. New Yorker and Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda even retweeted the video, writing; "André freestyling during the Blackout is everything I love."
The charismatic De Shields earned Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in the new Broadway play, which is based on Greek mythology and was created from the GRAMMY-nominated concept album of the same name by singer/songwriter Anaïs Mitchell.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How <a href="https://twitter.com/RockOfAges?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RockOfAges</a> handled the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NYCblackout?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NYCblackout</a>, tonight! The show must go on, right?! <a href="https://t.co/ixsWsjOnL8">pic.twitter.com/ixsWsjOnL8</a></p>— Michael Mahany (@MichaelMahany) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelMahany/status/1150218806574419968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2019</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Just around the corner, Michael Mahany of "Rock Of Ages," the musical powered by classic '80s music, led his castmates in a raucous rendition of one of their numbers/the classic bar anthem, Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'." Mahany, who plays the amazingly named roles of Joey Primo/Strip Club DJ/Sleazy Producer in the play, tweeted the video out, writing, "How @RockOfAges handled the #NYCblackout, tonight! The show must go on, right?!"
Car horns pepper the pedestrian-enhanced performance, as good Samaritans take to the roads to direct traffic. And they say New Yorkers don't care about each other?
The Twitterverse shared more videos of joyful moments during the blackout, including actors from "Ain't To Proud: – The Life and Times of The Temptations" singing "Happy Birthday" from out of the windows of their theater. The casts of "Waitress" and "We Come From Away" joins the crowd of fans outside to also bring the music to masses; you can watch these three videos below.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Oops my bad I guess it was <a href="https://twitter.com/AintTooProud?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AintTooProud</a> thanks guys!!!</p>— Antony (@lemonfuzz) <a href="https://twitter.com/lemonfuzz/status/1150493669495070721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2019</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr">Impromptu performance <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/broadwayblackout?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#broadwayblackout</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/wecomefromaway?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wecomefromaway</a> <a href="https://t.co/PfHYZeFJ6v">pic.twitter.com/PfHYZeFJ6v</a></p>— Chad Kimball (@chadkimball1) <a href="https://twitter.com/chadkimball1/status/1150197499514249217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2019</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The cast of <a href="https://twitter.com/WaitressMusical?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WaitressMusical</a> entertaining stalled theatergoers outside during the NYC blackout. (via <a href="https://twitter.com/meganrgaffney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@meganrgaffney</a>) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Blackout?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Blackout</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NYCBlackout?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NYCBlackout</a> <a href="https://t.co/vLLnAcKV8D">pic.twitter.com/vLLnAcKV8D</a></p>— Dave Quinn (@NineDaves) <a href="https://twitter.com/NineDaves/status/1150197829161431040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2019</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
All of this sounds a lot more fun than the experience of the almost-3,000 subway passengers who had to be rescued by the MTA, and almost as fun as Kulture's first birthday party that Cardi B says stayed lit sans lights.
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