Just a day after resuming performances following breakthrough COVID cases in its company, Disney Theatrical announced that Aladdin will once again shut down this time for two weeks.
Following negative PCR testing ahead of Thursday’s performance that allowed the show to resume, additional breakthrough COVID-19 cases within the company on Friday were detected. As result, the production will shut down for two weeks beginning today, with performances slated to resume on Tuesday, Oct. 12th at 7 p.m.
“Given my evaluation of this real-world data, I believe these positive cases are most likely related to an exposure from one positive case. This 12-day pause allows the Aladdin company ample time to ensure that people with breakthroughs recover, and any other potential breakthroughs are identified before the Aladdin company gathers again,” Blythe Adamson, the epidemiologist working with Disney Theatrical Productions, said in a statement.
“Daily PCR testing allows us the opportunity to detect a positive case before it is contagious,” she continued. “This allows us to isolate it before anyone else is put at risk, as we have done several times with the Aladdin company. Morning and evening swabs collected on Thursday returned highly accurate negative molecular PCR test results for all cast, crew and musicians that affirmed a safe performance environment for our company and audience.”
Tickets for all dates will be refunded. The news follows an earlier decision today by the Broadway League to extend its existing COVID protocols and requirements, agreed upon by all 41 Broadway venues, with no reductions in the vaccine or mask mandates for audiences, performers, backstage crew and theater staff through the end of the year.
Aladdin’s initial shutdown marked the first canceled show since Broadway’s official reopening on Sept. 14, with the Disney Theatrical show also the first production to announce breakthrough COVID cases within its company. The production’s Wednesday performance was canceled due to these initial breakthrough cases.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
