Thursday, October 3, 2024

Broadway: Is COVID Back? “Sweeney Todd” Stars Affected, Plus Britney Spears Jukebox Musical Shutting Down

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Before I get to COVID, let me remind you I told you the Britney Spears jukebox musical, “Once Upon a One More Time,” was doing terrible business and would close soon. Now they’ve announced a closing date of September 3rd. The show got terrible reviews and was a bad idea. Britney, who lives in her own world anyway, never came to see it. Of course, she was busy with a third divorce. But New York in the summer heat? No way.

COVID — is it back on Broadway? “Sweeney Todd” stars Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford have it, and this started last week. The result is “Sweeney Todd” — with excellent understudies — still dropped to 79% capacity and by around $350,000 at the box office. There’s definitely a feeling that COVID is sneaking back in through the stage door. Twitter/X account @Broadwaycovers is full of listings of standbys who are filling for ailing featured performers this week in shows like “Wicked” and “…& Juliet.”

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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