LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020E11
health and the health of our
loved ones is paramount,”
he said. “We recommend
that we follow the social dis-
tancing guidelines that the
state of California has is-
sued, whether through lim-
iting the size of events or
postponing them all to-
gether.”
Government officials
should also recognize that
nightlife is a livelihood for
many people, he added, and
a particularly vulnerable
one in this time. “Many
within our community rely
on nightlife as their sole
source of income,” he said.
“We also call on the state to
provide assistance to mem-
bers of the service commu-
nity and to call for an end to
any evictions during this cri-
sis.”
On Tuesday, outside the
longtime Hollywood club
the Hotel Cafe, which serves
as a hub for singer-songwrit-
ers, Alissa Torvinen and
Jean Baptiste had just seen
a set by Sunny Ozell. Both
said that they were acutely
aware of the virus’ spread.
“I’m a germaphobe, so
this is hard,” Baptiste said.
Torvinen added that
both she and Baptiste have
become hyper-vigilant
about cleanliness. “If we are
eating, we wash before we
eat. We both have these hos-
pital wipes and we wipe
down our phones and we
wipe down our door handles
after we wash our hands.”
Asked if they’d be attend-
ing any big music events in
coming months, both of-
fered a firm no.
“With situations where
people are traveling in and
out from different places,
you can’t risk it,” Baptiste
said.
Torvinen added that the
day before she sent what she
called “a DIY Purell kit” to
her grandmother in Florida,
who was braving the out-
break to see a concert by
pop crooner Josh Groban.
But they still had a sense
of humor about it all. Bap-
tiste quipped that “I don’t
think there’s going to be any
coronavirus at a Josh
Groban concert.”
Public health officials
would probably disagree,
though. As the week went
on, the bad news rolled in.
The NHL season was called
off. Tom Hanks and Rita
Wilson announced they’d
contracted coronavirus.
The U.S. government’s re-
sponse felt less than reas-
suring to many people, to
say the least.
The jokes got harder to
make.Industry worries
L.A. concert industry
professionals were particu-
larly starting to feel nervous.
At the Brite Spot diner in
Echo Park on Thursday
morning, Phil Riehl was
waiting for the call that
might determine the rest of
his year of work. He’s the
stage manager for Bon Iver
and Childish Gambino and
has a European arena tour
with Bon Iver planned for
the spring.
For big tours, insurance
would help cover some of the
costs of any disruptions, he
said. But for local clubs and
their working-class venue
staff, or for artists without
the backing of big firms, the
loss of tour dates could be a
slow-rolling disaster for
their livelihoods.
“It’s at the cusp of being a
bigger worry. Big shows will
have insurance, but for
small clubs that need to
keep their doors open, this is
the last thing they need,”
Riehl said. “Artists are re-
sponsible for a lot of people’s
jobs. If shows start getting
canceled, then tours get
called off and the dominoes
start to fall.”
He’d been helping
friends find temporary work
in clubs when their interna-
tional tours were affected.
But he understood the pre-
dicament that artists, man-
agers and everyone else is in
right now.
“A tour bus is like a cruise
ship on wheels,” he said. “No
one has experience dealing
with a pandemic on tour. Do
artists want to take that
risk?”
Entertainment compa-
nies are trying to figure that
out now. Kristen Jaconi, di-
rector of the risk manage-ment program at USC’s
Marshall School of Business,
expects the concert industry
to be immediately affected
by coronavirus.
“It’s going to have a sig-
nificant economic impact on
sectors like entertainment
and travel, where it’s all
about social cohesion and
opposite of social distance,”
she said.
She predicts that, as co-
ronavirus roils social spaces,
there will probably be at
least a temporary shift to
digital life and cocooning at
home. For now, packed
nightclubs may start to feel
more dangerous than entic-
ing.
“Companies will have to
be inventive in moving
things onto virtual spaces,”
she said. “When you see a
soccer game played with no
fans, it’s eerie, but it might be
state of play for the next few
weeks.”Reality sinks in
That reality hadn’t set in
fully, though, this week. At
the El Rey on Wednesday, as
the dance-punk band the
Rapture played the first of a
three-night stand, 24-year-
old Dana Salas of Alhambra
tried to brush it off and cut
some rug on the dance floor
regardless.
“I’m not too afraid, it’s
just a virus like the flu,” she
said, echoing the low-key at-
titudes that a lot of fans —
for better or worse — shared
at nightclubs this week. “But
seeing all these people in Al-
hambra with masks on
scares me a bit.”Sam Thorne, 24, from
Pasadena was one of them.
He had a face mask packed
in his bag as he hung out on
the El Rey’s smoking patio.
“We were just being goofy
about it, but then we real-
ized it might actually be a
good idea,” he joked.
Coachella’s cancellation
was the buzz in the room,
and regulars were starting
to make new plans for the
spring. Kevin Costa, 35, had
tickets to attend the festival
next month, but he saw
some silver linings to the
postponement.
“Now it’ll just be less hot
since it’s in October, so that’s
cool,” he said, laughing. “It’s
definitely a problem, but it
doesn’t feel like that a big of a
deal yet.”
As this scary, strange
week ground on, music fans
and venue owners were be-
ginning to grasp the dark
season ahead of them. May-
be younger fans were more
blasé about it all, but at Pip’s
on La Brea, a jazz club in
Mid-City catering to a bit of
an older audience, Curtis
Mitchell was throwing his
60th birthday on the patio.
He was ebullient about his
party but very aware of the
stakes.
The NBA season ending
was a sign that coronavirus
would truly start to affect
daily life, he said. But in a
way, that only made him
more eager to be out with
friends.
“You don’t see anybody
here not hugging each other
or enjoying life,” he said as he
embraced friends passing by
en route to the bar. “Being at
home alone is kind of a pris-
on.”
The club’s owner, Derrick
Pipkin, agreed. Business
hadn’t dropped off yet, he
said, and his club was
packed with dapper jazz
fans dancing like any other
night. But as they ordered
drinks, their eyes were warily
watching a TV behind the
bar with a chyron scroll of
bad news.
“The scariest thing is
that I need people here,” he
said. “Now more than ever,
we need our neighborhood.”Nightlife will
be rocked by
coronavirus
[Nightlife, from E1]‘Companies will
have to be
inventive in
moving things
onto virtual
spaces.’
— Kristen Jaconi,
director of the risk
management program at USC’s
Marshall School of Business,
suggesting a way for the concert
industry to move forwardCORONAVIRUS
“Hamilton” at the Holly-
wood Pantages Theatre has
suspended performances
through March 31, joining the
events all over Los Angeles
that have been canceled be-
cause of the coronavirus.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit
musical, part of the Panta-
ges-Dolby Theatre Broad-
way in Hollywood lineup, as
of Wednesday night had still
been scheduled to begin per-
formances Thursday. Now
the production has initiated
refunds for ticket holders of
21 scrapped performances
and is encouraging patrons
to rebook seats later in the
run, which ends Nov. 22.
The suspension is “in sup-
port of the well-being of the
theater-going public as well
as those who work on the pro-
duction, subject to ongoing
assessment by county or
state health authorities,”
said the statement.
“We take the health and
safety of our patrons, staff
and community seriously
and urge everyone to contin-
ue to follow the guidelines set
forth by public health offi-
cials.” This eight-month en-
gagement of “Hamilton” —
which has won Tony,
Grammy and Olivier Awards
as well as the Pulitzer Prize
for drama and an unprece-
dented special citation from
the Kennedy Center Honors
— is the show’s second stay in
L.A., after a 4^1 ⁄ 2 -month run in
2017.
Jamael Westman and
Nicholas Christopher —
alumni of other “Hamilton”
productions around the
world — lead this production
as Alexander Hamilton and
Aaron Burr, respectively.
Rubén J. Carbajal, Joanna A.
Jones, Taylor Iman Jones,
Carvens Lissaint, Simon
Longnight, Rory O’Malley,
Sabrina Sloan and Wallace
Smith are also among the
principal cast.
The suspension followed
California officials’ overnight
recommendation to cancel
all gatherings with 250 or
more people through March.
The California Department
of Public Health issued a
request for residents to
adopt social-distancing
measures.
In the Northern Califor-
nia, BroadwaySF canceled
performances of its produc-
tions, including “Hamilton”
and “The Last Ship,”
through March 25. The move
came in response to a San
Francisco-wide mandate
prohibiting large gatheringsof 1,000 or more people.
“Harry Potter and the
Cursed Child” performances
will continue as scheduled
but to a capped audience of
1,000 for at least two weeks.
The Curran Theatre, home
of “Harry Potter,” has a ca-
pacity of 1,667, and the venue
said it will contact patrons to
seek voluntarily exchange
tickets for performances with
more than 1,000 ticket hold-
ers.
Cancellations began
throughout the region on
Wednesday. The Wallis
Annenberg Center for the
Performing Arts in Beverly
Hills said that it will pause
shows through the end of the
month, and the Independent
Shakespeare Company will
move its “Macbeth” to the
fall. The Geffen Playhouse in
Westwood also said Wednes-
day that it will not be moving
forward with “Bernhardt/
Hamlet,” which was sched-
uled to begin previews April 7.
Center Theatre Group —
which runs shows at the Ah-
manson Theatre, Mark Ta-
per Forum and Kirk Douglas
Theatre — emailed patrons
on Thursday to say all up-
coming performances of
“The Book of Mormon,” “The
Antipodes” and “Block
Party” had been canceled.
The move also echoes
that of Broadway, which has
closed all shows through
April 12 after an usher testedpositive for the virus that
causes COVID-19. It’s a blow
to the industry, especially as
16 high-profile plays and mu-
sicals were set to open be-
tween Thursday and April 27,
the eligibility cutoff date for
the Tony Awards.
Several productions’
openings have been can-
celed, leaving producers to
strategize whether to open in
the fall or scrap their run alto-
gether. “The Phantom of the
Opera,” Broadway’s longest-
running show and tourist
magnet, may close for good,
according to the New York
Post.
“Our top priority has been
and will continue to be the
health and well-being of
Broadway theatregoers and
the thousands of people who
work in the theater industry
every day, including actors,
musicians, stagehands, ush-
ers, and many other dedi-
cated professionals,” read
the statement from Char-
lotte St. Martin, president of
the Broadway League.
“Broadway has the power
to inspire, enrich and enter-
tain, and together we are
committed to making that vi-
tal spirit a reality. Once our
stages are lit again, we will
welcome fans back with open
arms so that they can contin-
ue to experience the joy,
heart, and goodwill that our
shows so passionately ex-
press every night.”SIMONLongnight as Thomas Jefferson in “Hamilton.” March performances at the Pantages are canceled.
Joan Marcus‘Hamilton’ now on hold
March performances
at the Pantages are
canceled; Broadway to
close for weeks.
By Ashley Lee
Cultural arts hits
the pause button
Two titans of the L.A. arts
scene — the Los Angeles
Philharmonic and Los Ange-
les Opera — confirmed
Thursday morning that they
are canceling performances
in response to the spread of
the coronavirus.
The L.A. Phil canceled
performances and events
through March 31, including
programming for its Power to
the People! festival and its Pi-
atigorsky International Cello
Festival concerts.
Los Angeles Opera can-
celed the Saturday perform-
ance of “Roberto Devereux.”
Other theater closures:
Glorya Kaufman Pre-
sents Dance at the Music
Centeris canceling all per-
formances through March 31.
REDCAT, which presents
experimental performance in
the Disney Hall complex, will
present nothing through
April 12.
A Noise Within’sremain-
ing performances of “The
Winter’s Tale” and “Alice in
Wonderland” have been can-
celed, as well as Noise Now
performances and all other
public events through the
end of April.
Los Angeles Chamber
Orchestracanceled Friday
concerts.
Colburn Schoolin down-
town L.A. has suspended all
in-person instruction, per-
formances and events until
April 13.
The Sorayaat Cal State
Northridge has canceled all
public activity through April- This includes all presented
events, rental events, and
arts education activities.
Boston Court Pasadena
has postponed perform-
ances of “Passion,” which will
resume April 2.
The Long Beach Opera’s
production of “The Light-
house,” set to open in mid-
March, has been postponed
until further notice.
Musco Center for the
Artsin Orange has canceled
all scheduled performances
through early May.
Los Angeles Master
Chorale canceled “The
Fauré Requiem” on March 28
and a gala on April 18.On TV
“The Ellen DeGeneres
Show” producer Telepic-
tures announced that the
talk show will suspend audi-
ence attendance during tap-
ings effective Monday.
All of ViacomCBS’ Enter-
tainment & Youth Brands’
L.A.-based shows, including
Comedy Central’s “Lights
Out With David Spade”and
“Tosh.0”will film without an
audience starting Monday,
according to a spokesperson.
MTV’s “Ridiculousness”
was set to begin taping with-
out an audience as of Thurs-
day.
Syndicated talk show
“Dr. Phil”has indefinitely
suspended its live-audience
tapings on the paramount
lot in Hollywood, which usu-
ally draw 300 audience mem-
bers Monday through
Wednesday. Fellow CBS
Television Distribution pro-
gram “Rachael Ray”taped
Wednesday without an audi-
ence before going on a previ-
ously scheduled week-and-a-
half hiatus, according to a
source with knowledge of the
decision.L.A.-based late-night
shows “The Late Late Show
With James Corden” (CBS)
and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
(ABC) announced that they
would forgo live audiences
beginning Monday. Daytime
talk show “The Talk” will do
the same.
Production on App-
leTV+’s “The Morning
Show,”which stars Jennifer
Aniston and Reese Wither-
spoon, will go on a precau-
tionary two-week hiatus
due to the coronavirus out-
break. The series films on the
Sony Lot in Culver City.
The series was in the early
stages of production on Sea-
son 2.Other
Live Nation Entertain-
ment and AEG Presents,
which overwhelmingly domi-
nate the global concert in-
dustry, on Thursday sus-
pended all touring activities.
Celine Dion and Billie Eilish
are among the artists who
had been scheduled to play in
Southern California in the
days ahead.
PaleyFest, the annual fes-
tival saluting popular TV se-
ries that draws thousands of
fans, has been postponed.
The event had been sched-
uled to kick off Friday at
the Dolby Theatre in Holly-
wood.A wide swath of cancellations
By Times StaffAs the novel coronavirus continues to spread, a new kind of
cancel culture is taking hold in the entertainment industry.
In recent weeks, movie releases, film festivals, concerts and
other events involving public crowds and international trav-
el have taken a hit from the spread of the COVID-19 respira-
tory illness. Here are some of the latest local events and TV
programming affected: