ENTERTAINMENT

All Broadway shows on Saturday cancelled as snow builds in NYC

Mark Kennedy The Associated Press
Published Saturday, January 23, 2016 1:31PM EST Last Updated Saturday, January 23, 2016 2:34PM EST

A group of travel advisors touring Manhattan lower their heads and umbrellas into the wind as they walk along Broadway near Trinity Church during a snow storm on Jan. 23, 2016, in New York. (Julie Jacobson / AP Photo)

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NEW YORK -- All Broadway shows -- both matinees and evening performances -- were cancelled Saturday after New York state officials declared a weather emergency.

A ban on travel in New York and the suspension of public transportation forced Broadway producers and theatre owners to pull the plug only about an hour before 2 p.m. matinees were due to start.

We expect normal operations to resume for tomorrow's Sunday matinees," said Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League, which represents producers.

The storm didn't stop the inaugural three-day BroadwayCon -- sort of like a ComicCon for thespians -- at a midtown hotel. Some 5,000 theatre fans were geeking out on shows and celebrities.

Further north, a Rita Moreno concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center was cancelled.

The last time Broadway took a big weather hit was Superstorm Sandy in 2012. It darkened Broadway for four days and cost more than $8.5 million in lost revenue.