-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.backstage.com/news/ny/nyn19991208110141.asp Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.backstage.com/news/ny/nyn19991208110141.asp">B ackStage.Com: News</A> ----- B’way Dark New Year’s Eve By Robert Windeler While greater Times Square teems with an estimated one to two million outdoor revelers the evening of Dec. 31, they will find precious little to do indoors in the area should the weather turn cold or they just tire of waiting for the 2000 ball to drop. “Broadway is closed; all shows have cancelled their performances,” a spokeswoman for The League of American Theatres and Producers confirmed to Bac k Stage—even “Waiting in the Wings,” which producer Alexander Cohen earlier had said would buck the trend and go on. Actors’ Equity earlier had agreed to forego the contracted penalty for the lost performance, but they and the other performance unions now have agreed to substitute an extra matinee or other performance before or after New Year’s to make up for the lost New Year’s Eve show. Penalties paid to the unions for cancelled shows could have doubled any show’s losses for the evening, which traditionally feature inflated ticket prices. The replacement performances “are all different,” the league spokeswoman said. “The Lion King” will hold a matinee performance the afternoon of Fri., Dec. 31, instead of that evening. Virtually all office buildings and many restaurants in the area will be closed all day Friday, an informal survey showed, in anticipation of the biggest New Year’s crowds ever at what has become the world-wide focus of year-turning celebrations. Tens of millions of people throughout the world, in whatever time zone, watch the ball dropping at the former Times Tower at the intersection of Broadway, Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. Yet the “live” crowds at Times Square may prove to be less than anticipated. Many area hotels have not sold out of their so-called “Millennium Eve” packages, and private apartments on the rental market for the long New Year’s weekend have proved a complete bust, realty sources said. [The new millennium actually begins Jan. 1, 2001.] As further evidence that many will be staying home or otherwise celebrating quietly despite the hype, the long-touted, three-star gala scheduled for ten blocks south of Times Square, at the Javits Center, has been cancelled. Promoter Steven Leber had hoped to downsize it to a less grand venue, but the withdrawal of Sting before the cancellation of Celebration 2000 insured that that was not going to happen. The two remaining headliners will resurface under their existing contracts with Leber. The blind Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who was paid a reported $3 million, will now sing at the Nassau Coliseum. Aretha Franklin, the third star, will perform somewhere live for the ABC television cameras. ABC had the rights to the Javits gala, and will send a crew to Long Island to shoot Bocelli’s segment. Despite the dampened enthusiasm for the turn to 2000, the Times Square area is expected to be inaccessible for many hours before and after midnight on Dec. 31. The decision to close most theatres was taken after the New York Police Department requested the measure in the interests of public safety. An estimated total Broadway audience of 40,000 would have been entering and leaving the theatres this New Year’s Eve. A usual New Year’s Eve crowd in the 1980s and 1990s has been estimated at 500,000. (Earlier estimates were later discredited as inflated.) Traditionally, New Year’s Eve at a Broadway show has been a festive way to celebrate, in black-tie dress. While most Broadway productions had not previously announced their plans for this Dec. 31, “Chicago” had begun to sell tickets for that night more than 22 months ago, at $200 each in the orchestra. Full refunds have been given to “Chicago” ’s Dec. 31 ticket-holders, and patrons were offered complimentary tickets to another performance of the musical, with a choice of dates. The move could result in the loss of as much as $250,000 in ticket income at the 1,500-seat Shubert Theatre. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © 1999 Back Stage and BPI Communications Inc. All rights reserved. BPI Electronic Media includes Billboard, Adweek, Amusement Business, The Hollywood Reporter, MC, Mediaweek, BPIQ, PDN, Editor & Publisher, The Bookseller, and Film Journal. Sites hosted by Telescan Inc. 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