The Broadway production of Skeleton Crew, starring Phylicia Rashad, has announced a second delay.
In a statement shared on Twitter Monday, the Manhattan Theatre Club announced that performances are canceled through Jan. 9 “due to breakthrough COVID cases in the company.” It was not specified which company members tested positive.
Previews are expected to resume on Jan. 10. The show’s Jan. 19 opening night will be rescheduled to a later date.
The postponement marks the show’s second delay. The production had previously delayed its official opening and first announced that performances scheduled for Jan. 1 through Jan. 6 would be canceled due to breakthrough cases before re-upping to Jan. 9.
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Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew centers on a makeshift family of small auto factory workers navigating the possibility of foreclosure. Ruben Santiago-Hudson directs, with Tony winner Rashad, Brandon J. Dirden, Chanté Adams, Joshua Boone and Adesola Osakalumi starring.
Skeleton Crew began performances Dec. 27 at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The production marks the play’s Broadway debut.
The postponement of Skeleton Crew follows other productions temporarily going dark in recent weeks amid a surge in virus cases. Productions including Hamilton, Aladdin, Lion King, Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown, Music Man, Moulin Rouge! and SIX canceled shows through Christmas. Five shows including musicals Ain’t Too Proud, Diana, Jagged Little Pill, Waitress and the play Thoughts of a Colored Man announced the end of their Broadway run in December due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile to avoid a permanent closure, producers behind Mrs. Doubtfire, which opened Dec. 5 at New York City’s Stephen Sondheim Theatre, announced Sunday that the project would go on a nine-week hiatus.
Though the highly contagious omicron variant has caused concerns, Broadway League president Charlotte St. Martin told The Hollywood Reporter that Broadway “absolutely has no plans to shut down” and productions are working with epidemiologists to identify new protocols that may be required through the new year and spring.
— MTC (@MTC_NYC) January 3, 2022
