When last night's Lion King audience returned to their seats after the show's intermission, they probably expected some more tribal music, some more freaky human-animal costuming, and a nice tidy Disney ending to their night at the theater.
What they got was a downpour all over the imagined Pride Lands.
The ceiling of the Arsht Center sprung a substantial leak during last night's storms, interrupting the sold-out performance and necessitating an evacuation of the premises.
So if you woke up this morning with Toto's "Africa" stuck in your head, this is the likeliest explanation.
According to the Miami Herald, the problem occurred when flooding caused a drain line in the roof to leak. Next thing theatergoers knew, water was pouring into the lobby from above.
It's just the most recent event in this year's summer Rainpocalypse, which meteorologists have determined arrived about two weeks early this year. The storm was intense but short-lived; in fact, by the time the audience was evacuated, the rain had almost fully ceased, the Herald reports. In fact, the downpour was estimated at between just 1" and 2" of water.
The theater's conducting repairs, and projects the theater will be back to business as usual by Tuesday for the next scheduled performance of The Lion King. Here's hoping they're doing some upgrades, too. Hurricane season is upon us, after all.
Update: This afternoon, we received this statement from John Richard, President and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center:
Cleanup efforts are progressing as planned at the Ziff Ballet Opera House following Sunday night's drain line leak. The building is safe for patrons and Tuesday evening's 8 p.m. performance of The Lion King will be presented as scheduled. Additional tickets for performances through June 10, including Tuesday evening's show, are now available at www.arshtcenter.org. On behalf of the Adrienne Arsht Center, I would like to thank the partners and institutions who offered assistance during the cleanup efforts today.Follow Cultist on Facebook and Twitter @CultistMiami.
Patrons of the Sunday, May 20, evening show are encouraged to call their original point of purchase or the Adrienne Arsht Center Box Office at (786) 468-2337 to exchange tickets for a future performance of The Lion King.
