NEW YORK, NY.- On Tuesday, Aladdin held its first performance since Broadway closed for the pandemic. On Wednesday, the show was canceled because of several positive coronavirus tests.
Disney Theatrical Productions announced the cancellation just a half-hour before curtain, saying through our rigorous testing protocols, breakthrough COVID-19 cases have been detected within the company of Aladdin at the New Amsterdam Theater.
Disney said it was refunding purchased tickets, and did not yet know whether or how future performances might be affected.
We will continue to provide support to the affected Aladdin company members as they recover, the company said in a statement.
The cancellation is the first missed performance of a Broadway show for COVID-related reasons since theaters started reopening in late June.
But there have been missed shows off-Broadway Second Stage canceled several performances of Rajiv Josephs Letters of Suresh, citing an exposure of COVID-19, and then postponed that plays opening after resuming performances with an understudy. And in Atlanta, a touring production of Hamilton had to cancel a performance because of positive coronavirus tests.
All Broadway companies cast and crew are required to be fully vaccinated, as are all Broadway audiences. When breakthrough cases occur, some productions have been able to keep going with a combination of backstage testing and understudies. For example, Waitress had a positive test in its cast before its first performance, but was able to use testing to determine that the rest of the cast was OK, and then to keep going with an understudy.
Aladdin had been dealing with coronavirus complications in the run-up to its reopening performance. The raucous first night performance, with an audience that included Kristin Chenoweth and the shows composer, Alan Menken, and librettist, Chad Beguelin, featured three understudies. The crowd didnt seem to mind Friend Like Me, the Genies big production number, brought the audience to its feet. Michael James Scott, the actor playing the Genie, stood to the side of the stage, breathing heavily, before shouting to the audience, by way of explanation, 18 months, people! 18 months!
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.