Coronavirus fears close curtain on Hamilton shows, dozens of other S. Fla. cultural events
The national call for “social distancing” spread across South Florida on Friday as fear of the insidious coronavirus began to shut down everyday life at the peak of its touristy winter season.
The region’s big-name entertainment venue, the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, where the smash musical “Hamilton” is the hottest ticket in town, said it would shut down temporarily. So did the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Same with many traditional tourist attractions, such as Miami Seaquarium, Jungle Island, HistoryMiami Museum, and even the biggest destination in the state, Disney World.
Nightclubs and restaurants in Miami Beach did plan to stay open for now — but their occupancy will be limited to less than 250 people.
After states of emergency were declared locally, statewide and nationally, the precautions were being taken to prevent the public’s potential exposure to the virus that causes the flu-like respiratory illness, COVID-19, which is a potentially fatal threat to people with compromised immune systems. As of Friday evening, Florida public health officials reported a total of 46 presumptive coronavirus cases statewide, including 11 in Broward County and two in Miami-Dade County — but those numbers were expected to rise.
The possibility that anyone could be infected was heightened by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s disclosure Friday that he tested positive for the coronavirus, after he may have been exposed to a Brazilian official with COVID-19. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who also met with the same Brazilian official, has been self-isolating at his home since Thursday afternoon while leading the county’s response to coronavirus by telephone and computer. On Friday, he reported he has tested negative for the virus.
In a memo with state-specific guidelines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Florida should cancel all gatherings of 250 people or more and schools should consider extending spring break. Community and faith-based organizations should also consider screening people at gatherings smaller than 250 people, the CDC said. Smaller gatherings that may bring persons together from multiple parts of the country should be canceled.
Those guidelines are the clearest instructions yet about avoiding “mass gatherings” in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the global pandemic.
The region’s legal system also will put much of its business on hold. Nearly all state court proceedings will be suspended for at least two weeks, under an order issued Friday by Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady. The order will temporarily suspend grand jury proceedings, jury selections and criminal and civil jury trials through March 27.
Proceedings already underway “may proceed to completion,” however.
Canady’s decision “is the first time a limit on face-to-face proceedings has been ordered since Florida’s state court system was unified by a constitutional amendment” in 1972, Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters said in a news release.
Federal courts in South Florida will operate under similar constraints over the next two weeks, Chief U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore said Friday. All criminal and civil jury trials scheduled to begin between Monday and March 30 will be continued to a future date, but district judges may complete current trials and continue to hold hearings, conferences and bench trials. Federal grand juries will continue to meet and daily criminal matters will also continue to be handled.
Still, the biggest impact will clearly be to the state’s main economic engine — tourism.
On Thursday night, Orlando’s Walt Disney World, the most-visited tourist destination in the world, announced it was closing at the end of business on Sunday.
Limiting large gatherings is particularly important because of Florida’s large population of older adults, who are particularly susceptible to the coronavirus, the CDC memo states.
The flu-like illness has a morbidity rate 20 to 40 times higher than the seasonal flu in older populations and among people with underlying health issues, Florida’s surgeon general said this week.
In Miami Beach, the capital of fun in South Florida, it’s not so easy to turn off the lights completely. But in accordance with the CDC guidelines, no more than 249 people will be allowed inside any of the city’s social venues under an emergency order signed into law Friday by City Manager Jimmy Morales. The occupancy limit will remain in effect until at least March 19.
Morales signed an emergency declaration Thursday that gives him the authority to enact a series of public-safety measures, such as closing public assemblies and instituting a curfew.
During Friday’s meeting, Morales said he has “no intention” of implementing a curfew, but that he wanted to enact the CDC occupancy limits.
The city’s cultural venues, like the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater and the New World Symphony, have canceled upcoming events indefinitely. But private venues have not been directed to close by the city.
“My concern is that while we’re doing this with our cultural facilities, and we’re seeing a lot of large events canceling, as a tourist economy and as a hospitality economy we have a lot of venues that well exceed 250 persons,” Morales said. “And that’s a high risk area. My thought here is either to say that any facility with over 250 occupancy — that’s a restaurant or a club — can either close or could reduce their occupancy to 249 or below.”
Some of Miami Beach’s most popular restaurants, including Joe’s Stone Crab and Smith & Wollensky, will be forced to reduce their footprint. There are 400 seats available in the Joe’s dining area.
“By Monday, if not sooner, we will have everything buttoned down to 250 or less,” said Joe’s Stone Crab owner Stephen Sawitz in a text message. “Our Take Away is separate and conforms to the city requirements under these trying times.”
Both tourists and locals will have fewer diversionary choices as many notable places are shutting down temporarily. Among them: the Miami Seaquarium and Jungle Island. But other attractions, including Zoo Miami, Lion Country Safari and Flamingo Gardens, remained open as of Friday.
The Arsht Center closed Friday and canceled this weekend’s “Hamilton” shows as part of a broader shutdown of county theaters by Miami-Dade. The move comes a day after the popular musical played in a 2,400-seat theater during a state of emergency called by the county mayor for the coronavirus pandemic. Arsht said Friday it was clearing its calendar of all events through April 5.
In an email Friday afternoon, the Arsht said holders of tickets to canceled shows can receive refunds, exchange tickets for future shows or turn them in for credit to future purchases.
Miami-Dade owns the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, but allowed it to remain open under Mayor Gimenez’s emergency declaration issued Thursday morning shutting down much larger venues, including the Youth Fair and the Homestead Speedway. The Arsht, run by a nonprofit that receives millions of dollars in county funds, went ahead with its “Hamilton” show Thursday night.
It also announced it was not honoring refund requests from ticket holders who didn’t want to sit in a crowded theater at a time when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was urging state residents to practice social distancing and to avoid large groups.
The county’s brief announcement on closing the Arsht said two other county-owned theaters — South Dade cultural center and the Miami-Dade auditorium in Miami — will also close.
In Broward County, the show also will not go on for “Mean Girls.”
In an updated statement Friday, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts announced that all shows at the theater and at Parker Playhouse have been canceled or postponed.
“The well being of our guests, artists, staff and volunteers is of paramount importance,” Kelley Shanley, Broward Center president and CEO, said in a statement. “Our mission is to serve the community through engagement in the arts, and in these challenging times, our community will be best served by postponing our performances.
Performances of Brian Regan, Eric Johnson and the Manhattan Transfer are postponed. Ticket holders are being told to keep their tickets as they will receive updated information on the new performance dates as soon as it is available.
In response to the coronavirus threat, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood is suspending shows at its entertainment venues. That means shows at Hard Rock Live, The Comedy Club and Daer Nightclub & Dayclub are suspended until April 14. Among the canceled headliners: comic Adam Sandler, who was scheduled at the Hard Rock Live Friday night.
On the bright side, at least Miami’s public parks are open — if you don’t mind enjoying nature solo.
All Miami park permits, including for birthday parties, baby showers, youth soccer, baseball and pool training are canceled for the next 30 days to limit the spread of the coronavirus in the community. The city says it also won’t be approving any new park permits, which are generally given to smaller events and gatherings held by families, groups and clubs for at least the next 30 days.
Another casualty of the coronavirus scare: The three popular 5K Corporate Runs, scheduled for April, have been canceled.
The City of Miami has revoked special permits for the 2020 Mercedes-Benz Corporate Run in Miami that was scheduled for April 23.
The races in Fort Lauderdale, on April 2, and West Palm Beach, on April 15, have also been postponed, according to a statement from TeamFootWorks, the South Miami nonprofit that runs the races. New dates have not been determined for the races, which are sponsored by Turkish Airlines.
Recreation, entertainment and restaurants won’t be the only things affected by the threat of the coronavirus.
Miami-Dade is preparing countywide delivery of meals Monday as it shuts down daytime activity centers for seniors and the vital cafeterias that the facilities operate.
After declaring an emergency for the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, Gimenez ordered an indefinite closing of the centers starting Monday. Nursing homes and adult daycare centers remain open. Senior centers are facilities where able-bodied seniors come for food, companionship and activities.
Miami Herald staff writers Bianca Padró Ocasio, Michelle Marchante, Douglas Hanks, Carli Teproff, Connie Ogle and Martin Vassolo, along with Lawrence Mower of the Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau and News Service of Florida, contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 7:58 PM.
