Broadway Show Canceled Last Minute With Audience in Seats Due to COVID Case in Company

A Broadway show was canceled at the last minute on Thursday night, while viewers were still in their seats, due to a positive COVID-19 test among the show's staff.

A spokesperson for Moulin Rouge! The Musical confirmed to Newsweek that the abrupt cancellation of Thursday night's show was because of a "late-in-the-day positive test result in the company."

The musical is currently playing at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in Midtown Manhattan.

Deadline reported that audience members were waiting for the show's music to start when they were told notified of the cancellation.

A photo posted on Twitter by epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding showed audience members leaving the show after the cancellation.

Twitter user Mark Sanderlin wrote, "Wowowow. Moulin Rouge just canceled the performance tonight while we were already sitting in our seats at curtain time due to positive Covid cases. Welcome back to March 2020…"

On Friday morning, the Twitter account for Moulin Rouge! The Musical also announced that tonight's performance "has been cancelled due to the detection of positive COVID test results in the company."

"The show is expected to resume on Saturday, December 18th at 2:00 PM at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 W 45th Street). Ticket holders for tonight's performance will be contacted by their point of purchase," the musical's twitter account said in a subsequent tweet.

Several other Broadway shows have been forced to cancel in recent days due to positive COVID-19 tests, including Tina—The Tina Turner Musical, Ain't Too Proud and Hamilton.

"Tonight's performance of TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL (Thursday, December 16 at 7pm) is being canceled due to the detection of a limited number of positive covid test results within the Broadway company," the musical's twitter account said.

Ain't Too Proud announced on Twitter that it was canceling Tuesday night's showing due to a "breakthrough COVID-19 case."

"The wellness of our cast, crew, and guests is of the utmost importance. We apologize for the inconvenience, and all tickets will be fully refunded at the point of purchase," the announcement said.

Similarly, on Friday, Hamilton's Twitter account said that tonight's showing was also canceled due to "breakthrough COVID-19 cases."

According to data from the New York City Department of Health, the city's COVID-19 positivity rate, newly confirmed cases and new hospitalizations are all increasing over the past week. In the past week, the city has reported 2,899 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 810 probable cases. The data also shows that over the past month, the city is seeing a daily average COVID-19 positivity rate of 3.93 percent.