Photo: Walter McBride/Getty
Waitressis the latest Broadway musical meet its demise amid another COVID-19 surge.
After nearly 1,500 performances, the beloved show announced its abrupt cancellation Thursday, just two weeks before their limited engagement was set to conclude, revealing that members of the company and crew tested positive for coronavirus.
“We are heartbroken to announce thatWaitresson Broadway will be closing effective immediately,” the musical announced in astatementon Twitter.
“With only two weeks of performances remaining and due to positive cases of COVID detected in the company and crew at the Barrymore Theatre, the decision has been made to curtail the engagement which was scheduled to run through January 9.
Sara Bareilles, who wrote the show’s music and lyrics and has played the protagonist Jenna, paid tribute to the show after its cancellation. “This is a gut punch of the highest degree. Thank you for everything. This cast. This company. This community. May we all be so lucky. Forever I love you,” shewroteon Twitter.
Producer Barry Weissler also released a statement on behalf of himself and wife/co-producer Fran. “It has been such an honor to bringWaitressto Broadway,” he wrote. “We feel so blessed to have been able to continue playing when Broadway returned in September of this year. We are heartbroken that the COVID virus won’t allow us to finish our glorious scheduled run.”
Based on the 2007 film starringKeri Russell,Waitressfollows Jenna, a waitress and pie chef in the American South who feels trapped in an unhappy marriage after becoming pregnant. She plots her way out, going for the grand prize in a pie contest.
Ciara Renée opened up to PEOPLE earlier this weekabout her run as Jenna, leading the Broadway run’s final cast, which was made up of all Black leads for the first time in the show’s five-year history.
“I’m playing a real person, and there is a different sort of skill set required to do that as opposed to playing the magical, mystical minority that I’ve done many times,” she said.
Renée, 31, is no stranger to abrupt Broadway cancellations, after her run as Elsa in the stage musical adaptation of Disney’sFrozenwas cut shortdue to the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.
Broadwayhas been hit againin recent weeks, with the producers ofJagged Little Pillannouncing Monday that the showwill not reopen, after they initiallycancelled several showsdue to a surge in positive COVID-19 cases in its company.
Matt Murphy
Hamilton,Aladdin,The Lion KingandMJ, the Michael Jackson musical, have called off performances through Christmas. Additionally,Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,Freestyle Love Supreme,Mrs. Doubtfire,Ain’t Too Proud to BegandTina: The Tina Turner Musicalhave cancelled shows.
It’s not just Broadway that’s been impacted, as Radio City’sChristmas Spectacular Starring theRadio City Rockettesalso went dark for the remainder of the season due to a surge in cases.
RELATED VIDEO: Waitress Is Celebrating a ‘New Broadway’ with All-Black Lead Cast in Its Final Weeks
Cases of COVID-19 areon the risein the United States and around the world as the delta and omicron variants continue to spread at rapid rates. On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said43 people across 22 stateswere identified as having the omicron variant in the first eight days of December.
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
