Hugh Jackman, who’s starring as Professor Harold Hill in “The Music Man” on the Winter Backyard Theater on Broadway, introduced on Tuesday that he had examined constructive for the coronavirus.
“I simply needed you to listen to from me that I examined constructive this morning for Covid,” Jackman mentioned in an Instagram video. “My signs are like a chilly: I’ve a scratchy throat and a little bit of a runny nostril, however I’m high-quality. And I’m simply going to do every part I can to get higher, A.S.A.P., and as quickly as I’m cleared, I’ll be again onstage.”
Shortly after Mr. Jackman posted his video, “The Music Man” introduced on Instagram that each one performances can be canceled by means of Saturday. Tickets may be refunded or exchanged the place they had been bought. Performances will resume on Sunday, and Mr. Jackman will return to the present on Jan. 6.
A number of different Tony winners star in “The Music Man” alongside Mr. Jackman: Sutton Foster as Marian Paroo, Shuler Hensley as Marcellus Washburn, Jefferson Mays as Mayor Shinn, Jayne Houdyshell as Mrs. Shinn and Marie Mullen as Mrs. Paroo.
Preview performances for “The Music Man” started on Dec. 20, with opening evening scheduled for Feb. 10.
Whereas “The Music Man” has managed to remain open, different reveals haven’t. The New York Metropolis Ballet introduced Tuesday that it was canceling its remaining performances of “The Nutcracker.”
The producers of “Ain’t Too Proud,” a jukebox musical concerning the Temptations, additionally introduced on Tuesday that their present will shut on Jan. 16. The present has not run since Dec. 15, citing coronavirus instances. It’s planning to renew on Tuesday, Dec. 28, and hoping to run for 3 extra weeks earlier than closing for good.
Final week, the musicals “Jagged Little Capsule” and “Waitress,” in addition to the play “Ideas of a Coloured Man” introduced that they’d closed with out a lot as a farewell efficiency — all had been already on hiatus due to coronavirus instances amongst forged or crew.
The efforts of “The Music Man” to remain open had simply been highlighted on Thursday evening, when the actress Kathy Voytko, a swing and an understudy for Marian Paroo within the musical, crammed in for Ms. Foster, who had Covid, on the final minute. After the present, the actress and dancer Katherine Winter posted an Instagram video of Mr. Jackman praising understudies and swings as “the bedrock of Broadway.”
“Kathy, when she turned up at work at 12 o’clock, may have performed any of eight roles,” Jackman mentioned on the curtain name. “It occurred to be the main girl. She came upon at 12 midday at this time, and at 1 o’clock she had her very first rehearsal as Marian Paroo.”
Because the coronavirus and its Omicron variant unfold, understudies and swings have gotten extra necessary than ever: Reveals are counting on them to step in for sick or unavailable leads.
“That is unprecedented,” Mr. Jackman continued. “It’s not solely taking place right here on the Winter Backyard, however throughout Broadway. This can be a time we’ve by no means recognized.”