Moulin Rouge! the Musical was canceled last night because of staff members’ breakthrough coronavirus infections as the audience waited in their seats, according to the New York Post.
“A number of other Broadway shows canceled performances this week over breakthrough coronavirus cases, but the decisions were made before the audiences were seated,” said the Post.
Tina, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hamilton, Mrs. Doubtfire, Freestyle Love Supreme, Ain’t Too Proud and Little Shop of Horrors all canceled at least one show because of COVID, according to the New York Times.
Just walked from Cipriani on 42nd, thru midtown via 6th Ave, ending at 79th & Broadway.
Every CityMD, MedRite, and GoHealth had lines around the block for Covid tests and pop-up testing kiosks have surfaced on nearly every block.
Ominous, but oddly reassuring. #NYC #Omicron pic.twitter.com/TYO3hO09Uo
— Social✽Fly (@socflyny) December 15, 2021
“In each case, at least one member of the show’s cast or crew tested positive for the coronavirus, and, either because of a lack of enough people to replace those who test positive or a concern about contagion, performances had to be canceled,” wrote the Times.
The number of cases is going up rapidly in New York City, highlighted by a case where a progressive publication’s Christmas party became a COVID super-spreader.
“New York City is averaging more than 3,700 new cases a day in the past week and has an average positivity rate of over 3 percent,” said the New York Post. “Deaths have remained stable, with an average of nine a day, according to city data.”
Still audiences were disappointed that the testing didn’t happen before people showed up at the theater, and they fretted about the city’s overall humor.
Wowowow. Moulin Rouge just canceled the performance tonight while we were already sitting in our seats at curtain time due to positive Covid cases. Welcome back to March 2020…
— Mark Sanderlin (@marksanderlin) December 17, 2021
“Wowowow. Moulin Rouge just canceled the performance tonight while we were already sitting in our seats at curtain time due to positive Covid cases. Welcome back to March 2020…” said Mark Sanderlin via Twitter.
Others worried about the ominous mood in New York as the virus takes over.
“Literally seconds before they were supposed to start and there was a fight in the lobby,” answered Kurt Perry.
“Yikes. I’m really not looking forward to what’s coming next,” echoed Paul Woodson.
