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- Sep 30, 2021
AceShowbiz - Broadway's "Aladdin" needed more than a genie and a magic lamp to save the show on Wednesday, September 29 after the night's performance was canceled due to a COVID outbreak.
The show re-opened after the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, September 28 with Kristin Chenoweth among the special guests, and it shut almost immediately after breakthrough COVID cases were detected among the cast and crew.
In a tweet posted shortly before the show was set to start, a spokesperson wrote, "Through our rigorous testing protocols, breakthrough COVID-19 cases have been detected with the company of 'Aladdin' at The New Amsterdam Theatre. Because the wellness and safety of our guests, casts, and crew are our top priority, tonight's performance... is canceled."
"We will continue to provide support to the affected 'Aladdin' company members as they recover," the announcement continued to read.
Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth was quick to react to the cancellation announcement by tweeting, "To the cast and crew I'm praying for you!!!" Just hours earlier, she boasted about watching the Tuesday show. "Had the best time seeing @aladdin," she tweeted. "last night Man genie Thinking I need to audition for the carpet next… Camera with flash: Curtis Brown @disneybroadway."
Bosses at Disney Theatrical Productions - the producers of the show - will announce the status of future performances on Thursday, according to Deadline.
The cancellation marks the first and only confirmed setback for a re-opened Broadway production. Most shows have been shut down for 18 months. "Springsteen on Broadway" kicked off the reopening of theaters in the summer.
