The Winter Garden Theatre will host the star-studded Broadway revival “The Music Man”, which begins Dec. 20, and Hugh Jackman couldn’t be more excited, despite the fact that other theatres were shut down by the coronavirus.
Jackman, 53, and Tony winner Sutton Foster (46) will not be waiting in the wings for the preview. However, other shows on The Great White Way had to close their doors due to rising COVID cases in New York City and the surging Omicron variant.
He posted a video to Instagram Monday, “I just arrived at theater, and it’s our first preview tonight,” It feels like a long time, even though I don’t know how many years or months this date has been in my mind. It is so amazing to be in this position, and it is so rewarding. I can’t wait to share this show.
The Jerry Zaks-directed production of “The Music Man” was originally scheduled to hit Broadway in September 2020. However, it was delayed by the COVID-19 shut down.
Many performances of “Wicked,” Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” and “Ain’t Too Proud” have been cancelled due to sick performers and crew with COVID. Despite the fact that Christmas week is Broadway’s busiest time of year, performances of “Hamilton”, “Aladdin”, and “MJ” were canceled for the remainder of the week.
Monday’s announcement by Hamilton was that performances between Dec. 20 and 26 will be canceled. This is due to multiple positive COVID tests within the cast.
“In an ongoing effort to ensure that our cast, crew, and audience are well-being, this week’s Hamilton performances on Broadway were canceled due to COVID-19 breakthrough cases,” reads the Twitter statement. Hamilton’s entire team sincerely apologises for any disappointment or inconvenience caused.
A statement was also issued Monday by Disney’s Aladdin musical, stating that performances between Dec. 21 and 24 were canceled.
“Through our ongoing rigorous testing protocols,” additional breakthrough COVID-19 instances have been detected in the company of Aladdin Theatre,” the tweet stated. It also added that safety and well-being of cast and crew is our highest priority. All ticketholders will receive refunds.
New York City is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious Omicron variant. This latest wave of Broadway cancellations follows a recent surge in Broadway cancellations. New York State set a new record with more than 21,000 positive cases in one day.
After an outbreak in the house that left cast members and crew “fearful,” “Saturday Night Live,” also decided to abandon a live audience for the weekend and instead chose a clip show with the help of Tom Hanks, Paul Rudd and Tina Fey.
