Broadway cautious, but not panicked, as omicron creates virus spike
Broadway’s latest revival is a COVID spike — and it opened to worse reviews than “Diana The Musical.”
After a series of precautionary shutdowns that caused a half-dozen Broadway shows to go dark in the week before Christmas, the plan is to move boldly into 2022 in hope that vaccines and safety protocols keep theatergoers safe.
Musicals and shows that’ve been canceled over Christmas due to the omicron surge include “Moulin Rouge!” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”
Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin said the fact that roughly two dozen theaters are conducting business as usual indicates protocols are working, even as Broadway’s gross income reportedly took a hit of more than 25% during December closures.
“While I don’t have a crystal ball, it is logical to assume that the close of shows is a very hard hit for any show, and certainly for the new shows that have not had time to build an advance sales effort to hold them through the winter,” St. Martin told the Daily News in an email.
“As the winter months are the slowest months for theater in NYC, the holidays help to build enough reserves to cover the losses in the slower months. We are hoping that these closures are short-lived and that we don’t see shows having to close early due to lack of reserves, or audiences.”
It’s not uncommon for shows to close after the season, but St. Martin added, “We hope that will not be the case this year. We need to keep everyone employed, not only in our community, but in the many communities that depend upon Broadway to survive.”
One theatre insider with nearly four decades of Broadway experience compared temporarily shutting down theaters where infections arise to a “circuit breaker” that stops an electrical surge from burning out of control. That showbiz veteran thinks most shows will ride out the storm if the latest COVID spike subsides by the end of January.
“If this is a six- to 12-month shutdown, I wouldn’t make a prediction,” the insider said.
The first show to blame the contagious omicron variant for the end of its run is “Jagged Little Pill,” which called it quits Dec. 17 after an off-and-on two years at the Broadhurst Theater. It opened again in October.
“In light of the extreme uncertainty ahead of us this winter, and forced to choose between continuing performances and protecting our company, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our doors,” producers said in a statement.
The jukebox musical, based on the works of singer Alanis Morissette, won two Tony Awards during its turbulent run. In announcing its closing, producers expressed interest in trying another Broadway run under different circumstances.
Other causalities of omicron were the Tony Award-nominated smash hit musical “Waitress” and the groundbreaking new play “Thoughts of a Colored Man,” which announced its shuttering on Thursday.
“Diana the Musical,” about the ill-fated marriage of the Princess of Wales to Prince Charles, closed last week following a widely panned one-month run at the Longacre Theatre.
While each show will have to fend for itself, there appears to be little fear Broadway won’t bounce back as an institution. The big-money players on the Great White Way are working in lockstep to control not just their messaging, but the spread of COVID.
Tony-winning producer Kevin McCollum’s two current Broadway musicals — “Mrs. Doubtfire,” based on the 1993 movie starring Robin Williams, and “SIX,” a modern retelling of the story of Henry VIII’s six wives — have been disrupted by COVID outbreaks behind the scenes, but continue to take the stage.
McCollum also has a long-running Off-Broadway comedy “The Play That Goes Wrong” — a British import that’s been widely praised on both sides of The Pond — safely packing in audiences at New World Stages.
To ensure the health and safety of our company, tonight's performance of SIX is canceled due to Covid breakthroughs.
We apologize for the disappointment and any inconvenience this may cause. 💜— SIX on Broadway 👑 (@SixBroadway) December 21, 2021
“There’s plenty of live shows running in New York right now, on Broadway and Off-Broadway,” he said.
According to McCollum, Broadway’s resilience and adaptability during the pandemic is a metaphor for how humanity can push through hard times if people work together — a real-life story that might make for a good show someday.
“The wonderful thing about the theater is that you are always learning,” he said. “A virologist is never something I thought about [becoming], unless I was going to do a play about infectious disease doctors, which I’d love to do.”
McCollum says he has no doubt playwrights are already working on Broadway shows about the pandemic.
