Leaky roof at Arsht forces evacuation during performance

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Water leaking through the roof of the Adrienne Arsht Center put a damper on a smash hit musical performance.

Rain water fell through the roof and into the lobby of the Adrienne Arsht Center just as the second act of The Lion King began on Sunday night. Crews spent Monday morning working to make repairs.

A 7News viewer sent in video of the water streaming from the roof onto the lobby floor. "The water was coming from the light fixtures, like, you know, where the bulb is," said Jorge Blanco.

"From like the fourth floor all the way down to the lobby," said one woman.

Eleven-year-old Kiara Tamargo was among the 2,000 people at the sold-out performance when an alarm went off. "All these flashing lights just come on, and everyone had to leave," she said.

"An alarm went off, and they stopped everything, and they told us, 'Calm down, we're just checking to see why the alarm went off,'" said another woman. "And then they came back and told us that there was flooding in the lobby."

The show had to be canceled because of the leak. A storm that may have contributed to the leak blew through South Florida with such force it also caused flooding along Northwest 20th Street, as well as knocking down two trees onto 79th Street in Miami.

The Arsht Center says a drain line that takes water from the roof down to the street sprung a leak, but they did not know how it could have happened. "I couldn't answer that question except that we're currently evaluating the situation, and we'll know more in the future," said Scott Shiller of the Adrienne Arsht Center.

New tickets will be issued for those who want to see the show again, but that's no consolation for others who were left out in the rain. "It stopped at "Hukuna Matata," so we didn't see where he is all grown up. It sucks," said one disappointed show-goer.

Officials are asking those who had tickets to Sunday night's interrupted show to contact the Arsht Center box office at 786-468-2337. They are offering replacement tickets to any show until the final date on June 10. If you are from out of town or cannot make any of the make up dates, the Arsht Center says they will work to make it right.

The next performance of The Lion King will go on as scheduled on Tuesday, at 8 p.m., Arsht Center officials confirmed.

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