Major Broadway Play Cancels Its Opening Night at Last Minute

One Broadway show canceled its opening night before it even got fully underway. According to Broadway World, the opening night for The Collaboration was canceled at the last minute. The show was forced to postpone its opening date after a member of the cast tested positive for COVID-19. 

The Collaboration was set to have its opening night on Tuesday. However, COVID-19 put a damper on its plans. The production released a statement about the delay, saying, "Due to a positive COVID case in the company, the producers of THE COLLABORATION have canceled tonight's performance on Broadway. Performances will resume on a date to be announced." Deadline offered further information about the production. According to the outlet, The Collaboration has canceled performances through Dec. 23. It is expected to resume on Dec. 26. 

The Collaboration stars Paul Bettany, Jeremy Pope, Krysta Rodriguez, and Erik Jensen. The production centers on two famous artists, Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, played by Bettany and Pope, respectively. The two artists work together on an exhibition that is described as one of the most talked about collaborations in the history of modern art. Tuesday's opening of The Collaboration was set to be its American premiere, as the play previously ran from January to March 2022 at the Young Vic Theatre in London. 

Broadway has been a little out of sorts as of late. In addition to The Collaboration's opening night delay, several productions have been axed in recent weeks. Both K-Pop: The Musical and Ain't No Mo are set to come to an end after relatively short runs. Although, Ain't No Mo did receive a brief extension after a major push from star and creator, Jordan E. Cooper. He said after the Dec. 15 show when he learned that it was set to close earlier than expected, per Playbill, "I wasn't gonna take it without a fight. I put out a call to action to the community to help us out because we didn't get a chance to find an audience before we got our closing notice. And I put an action out for everybody, to tell everybody, to go and buy tickets for everybody, to see what we can do beyond Ain't No Mo'. It's so much bigger than Ain't No Mo'." Other Broadway productions, including Into the Woods and Almost Famous, are also set to close with their runs set to come to an end in January.