For once, the shows did not go on.
In the wake of devastating attacks on New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, producers of all Broadway shows and most Off-Broadway shows canceled performances Tues., Sept. 9. The closure remained in effect through Wed., with most Broadway shows reopening Thurs., Sept. 11. Off-Broadway fared less well after Mayor Giuliani closed the area south of 14th St., where most are located
New York was not the only area to cancel performances after the apparent terrorist actions: other cancellations and closures took place at many venues, including Disneyland and Walt Disney World, professional sporting events, and the Latin Grammy awards.
The attacks began at 8:48 am Tues. morning, when a hijacked jetliner crashed into one of the World Trade Center's twin towers in lower Manhattan. Several eyewitnesses in the area said they heard the plane flying fast and low before it slammed into the northern of the famed twin towers, about one-tenth of the way from the top floor.
Charlie Siedenberg, the press representative of the Paper Mill Playhouse, is an eyewitness to what happened next. When he saw the flaming tower from his New Jersey apartment at 9:05, he told Back Stage, "A minute later, as I was watching, a plane flew into the other tower and exploded." That plane was also hijacked, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) later announced.
Both towers were structurally destroyed, and doomed to collapse within hours. Later that afternoon another building in the complex, the comparatively smaller Tower Seven, also collapsed. It had not been struck by an airplane but was presumably weakened by the falling debris of the other two nearby towers.
Among the thousands of workers at the World Trade Center were employees of the Theatre Development Fund's "tkts" booth. Spokesperson Ben Cameron confirmed that those staffers successfully evacuated the building, saying, "They are shaken and confused, but everyone's fine."
At 9:43, a third hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, DC. More than a day later the government would announce it had credible information suggesting its real target had been the White House. A fourth plane crashed outside of Pittsburgh, leading to speculation that it, too, was headed for a target in Washington.
The coordination of the attacks prompted speculation that the entire country could be under siege, resulting in the cancellation of New York City's primary elections; the closing of the city's subway system, bridges, and tunnels; the grounding of all airplanes across America; and the evacuation of all government buildings in Washington. Consequently, no workers were taking calls at the National Endowment for the Arts, Americans for the Arts, and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.
In addition, Actors' Equity Association canceled its regularly scheduled council meeting and joined the Screen Actors Guild (SAG)/New York and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in closing offices. A spokesperson for SAG's national office in Los Angeles said Tues. afternoon that the union was preparing to shut down that office to do an emergency alert.
The unions also responded to the terrorist tragedies. A. Robert Pisano, SAG's new national executive director/chief executive officer, said, "On behalf of the 98,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild and its staff, our heartfelt sympathy and prayers go to the families and friends of those injured or lost in yesterday's tragic national events. We mourn the loss of our members, their families, colleagues, and the thousands of unnamed individuals."
AFTRA's website also expressed sympathy for victims' families and praise for those responding to the emergency: In a joint statement, John Connolly, AFTRA's national president, and Greg Hessinger, AFTRA's national executive director, stated, "In the midst of such unthinkable loss, we are also grateful to and proud of all the brave individuals who have risked their own safety for the sake of helping others, including firefighters, police officers, medical and emergency personnel, our own AFTRA television and radio news reporters, and countless other selfless humanitarians. An unknown number of entertainment professionals perished in the disasters. One of the first to be identified was Berry Berenson, the widow of the late Anthony Perkins. Berenson, who appeared in such films as "Cat People," "Winter Kills," and "Remember My Name," was a passenger on the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center.
Also on that flight were David Agnell, who created the sitcoms "Frasier" and "Wings," and his wife, Lynn.
Barbara Olson, a frequent political commentator on CNN's "Larry King Live," was on the flight that crashed into the Pentagon. Her cell-phone calls to her husband, U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, alerted the government to the presence of hijackers on the plane.