Entertainment pauses for respect, caution

By Times staff reports

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 12, 2001

One major awards ceremony was canceled and another was postponed. Concerts from Los Angeles to the Tampa Bay area were called off. Theme parks and movie studios closed. All Broadway shows were canceled. And TV networks pushed "reality" shows off their schedules to chronicle a reality few could imagine.

Those were among the reverberations in the entertainment world from Tuesday's terror attacks in New York and Washington.

Emmys on hold; Latin Grammys over

The prime-time Emmy Awards, scheduled for Sunday night at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, were postponed indefinitely "out of respect for the victims, their families and all fellow citizens," said Jim Chabin, president of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

"We will set no new date until we find out the extent of this tragedy and the national mourning that's going to take place."

Also postponed was nearly a week of celebrity receptions and other events leading up to the show.

The Latin Grammys, scheduled for Tuesday night in Los Angeles, were canceled "due to unimaginable events," a written statement said.

After the attacks, workers outside the Forum hurried to dismantle the elaborate stages. Officials of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences said the show, which originally was to have been held in Miami, would not be rescheduled.

"It's over," show spokeswoman Barb Deeghan said. "That's it. It's canceled."

Concerts

Two concerts scheduled for the Tampa Bay area Tuesday were postponed.

Janet Jackson's performance at the Ice Palace was rescheduled for 7:30 tonight. Jackson's management, Clear Channel Entertainment and the Ice Palace said the decision was in the best interest of all parties.

The Cowboy Junkies performance at Tampa Theater also was postponed. A new date will be announced.

Among concerts affected around the country, Madonna called off her performance in Los Angeles, the scheduled second of four at the Staples Center to conclude her Drowned World tour.

Theme parks

Disney closed its Orlando and Southern California theme parks, water parks, shopping areas and affiliated sites near the parks "to be cautious," director of corporate communication Michelle Bergman said.

Disney hotels remained opened.

Universal Studios, Sea World Orlando and Busch Gardens in Tampa also closed, as did Universal Studios in southern California.

Disney spokeswoman Christine Castro said Tuesday afternoon that the company was considering whether to open Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris as usual today.

Movies

Nearly all major movie and TV studios in Los Angeles were closed, including Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The lone exception was Buena Vista Pictures, owned by the Walt Disney Co.

"None of our buildings are closed," Bergman said. "People have the option to come in and work, and of course, they have the option to stay home."

In Canada, the Toronto Film Festival, North America's largest, was shut down.

In other movie news, Paramount Classics announced that the planned Sept. 28 release of Edward Burns' romantic comedy, Sidewalks of New York, has been postponed. An e-mail from the studio's publicity department said: "Due to the tragic events, Paramount Classics has decided to push back Sidewalks of New York until a tentative date of Nov. 22." The film's title and comical tone are possible reasons for the change.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's new movie, Collateral Damage, may be affected by Tuesday's events. It stars Schwarzenegger as a fireman avenging his wife and child killed in a terrorist bombing.

Warner Bros. executives were unavailable for comment. Publicist Diane Gursky in Miami said many of the executives had been expected to return to Los Angeles on Tuesday from the Toronto Film Festival until all U.S. flights were canceled.

From N.Y. to L.A.

All Broadway shows were canceled in New York and box offices at the theaters were closed indefinitely, said Jed Bernstein, president of the League of American Theaters and Producers.

Also in New York, Fashion Week, which began Friday for the spring collections, was called off. There was no word on whether the remaining shows would be rescheduled.

The New York City Opera canceled its gala opening night performance of The Flying Dutchman on Tuesday. The offices of the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic were closed as well.

Many of the landmark attractions on the Las Vegas Strip, including the Eiffel and Stratosphere towers, were closed. But gambling continued at all resort casinos, and the evening's schedule of headliner entertainment remained on.

Theaters in Los Angeles canceled shows. All courthouses in the city were also closed, forcing delays in several cases, including a preliminary hearing in the child-abuse case against comedian Paula Poundstone.

TV

CBS pre-empted Big Brother 2 to continue coverage of Tuesday's events, and the premiere of Fox's new reality series Love Cruise was postponed until Sept. 18 so the network could stick with news coverage.

Other cancellations included tapings for The Tonight Show With Jay Leno at the NBC studios in Burbank, Calif., and Late Night With Conan O'Brien in New York. The Leno and O'Brien shows will be dark the rest of the week, NBC officials said.

- Times pop music critic Gina Vivinetto, film critic Steve Persall, performing arts critic John Fleming and staff writer Sharon Fink contributed to this report.

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