Friday, August 15, 2003

By Dan Majors, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Every August, Bob Schwerin and Chuck Adomites go to New York City for their two-week "theater trip," a crash course of Broadway plays that they've been booking since 1981.

	Bystanders gather in Times Square in midtown Manhattan after yesterday's power blackout in New York. (Dominic Chavez, The Boston Globe via AP)

It's always fun. The only blemish was about 15 years ago when they had tickets to see Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst in Eugene O'Neill's classic "Long Day's Journey into Night." For some reason that they never learned, the performance they were going to see was canceled.

This year's trip began Aug. 4. In the past 10 days, the list of shows they've seen has included "Movin' Out," "Take Me Out," "Exonerated" and "Forbidden Broadway" among others.

Yesterday afternoon, Schwerin and Adomites were sitting in their room on the 15th floor of the Edison Hotel on West 47th Street in midtown Manhattan, right between Eighth Avenue and Broadway.

When the lights went out.

Adomites, 54, of Highland Park, and Schwerin, 60, of Greenfield, exchanged anxious looks as the worst possible scenarios flashed through their minds. And they headed for the fire escape.

Once down on the streets of New York City, they joined the growing crowds of people huddled around car radios, listening to news of the blackout. Then they started walking.

Schwerin is employed here at the Post-Gazette, Downtown. Adomites works for Allstate Worldcargo in Coraopolis. When I spoke to them via cell phone just before 7 p.m., they were in Times Square.

"It's so weird," Adomites said. "The entire city is out on the streets. Everybody's standing outside. And everybody's got a cell phone to their ear.

"I can't believe I'm looking at Times Square and I don't see a single taxicab. ... Oh, wait. I see one."

They said the city was a strange mix of chaos and calm. All the bars and restaurants were either crowded or closed. The two of them expected to have dinner at a sidewalk hot dog cart.

"The strangest thing is seeing Times Square not lit up," Adomites said. "It's just eerie."

Naturally, the show they had tickets for last night was canceled. "Long Day's Journey Into Night" with Brian Dennehy and Vanessa Redgrave at the Plymouth Theater on 45th Street.

"I have the feeling it's going to be a pretty boring night," Adomites said. "Maybe I'll buy a candle and read a book."

Ahh, the bright lights of Broadway.

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