Curtain rises on some US shows

The cast of The Producers sang a tribute to the victims

The world of entertainment in the US has begun to show cautious signs of getting back to normal after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on Tuesday.

On Thursday the curtain rose again on Broadway and some pop musicians resumed their tours, after the cancellation of many shows as a mark of respect for the victims.

However most US TV networks, along with the Hollywood film industry, still appear very much focused on the tragic events of earlier in the week.

All 23 shows in New York's famous theatreland Broadway were back on stage on Thursday night.

Madonna resumed Drowned World Tour

These included the award-winning musicals The Producers and The Lion King.

In the world of pop, Madonna went back to entertaining packed audiences on her Drowned World Tour, playing at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Following suit, were the band Earth, Wind & Fire and solo singer Sade.

The five member all-male group the Backstreet Boys were also back performing in Toronto, Canada, despite the death of one their crew members in the terrorist attacks.

Daniel Lee, 34, a carpenter with the quintet, was among the passengers of the American Flight 11.

He was using a break in the band's touring schedule to travel from Boston to Los Angeles to spend time with his pregnant wife.

'Sombre'

Despite signs that some entertainers are trying to get back to a certain level of normality, plenty of others are still holding back.

At least 10 off-Broadway shows have been unable to open because of continued restrictions on the movement of cars and pedestrians in the area.

Destiny's Child: Concerts postponed

Elsewhere, the stoppage is more deliberate with many big name pop stars, including Destiny's Child, Aerosmith and KD Lang, not wanting to go back on stage.

Problems with travelling to, around and out of the US have also made it difficult for some performers to keep to arranged show dates.

But in the main, those not performing are doing so because they, and their audiences, are not in the mood.

Gary Bongiovanni of Pollstar magazine commented: "The country right now is in a pretty sombre mood.

"There aren't a lot of people who are interested in listening to love songs or wanting to party."

Re-think

Concurring with this opinion, all network TV stations in the US continued to broadcast non-stop news coverage on Thursday.

And most decided to hold back on their autumn entertainment schedules until further notice.

In Hollywood, many studios said they were rethinking projects in the pipeline - or even taking completed films back to the cutting room, to remove scenes involving terrorism or shots featuring the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.