Broadway has officially closed its doors through June 7, but now, even national Broadway tours are feeling the burn amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The national Broadway tour CATS announced this week that its shows will no longer move forward this year. Originally, the show was slated to run through June 2020 before the outbreak. However, cast member Donna Vivino shared the news that “the show must NOT go on.”
“Official word our tour is closed today,” Vivino wrote in a Facebook post. “I instinctively knew on March 11th that I would be singing “Memory” as Grizabela for the last time with this beautiful cast. I felt it. I still feel I may never get to sing on a stage again to be honest.”
She continued, noting that she’s “heartbroken but not surprised.”
A production representative told BroadwayWorld that the 2020-21 non-equity tour will launch as previously planned this fall.
The Broadway production, which originally opened in 1982 at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre, ran for 7,485 performances over 18 years. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and is currently the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history.The 2020 tour is the first tour of the first-ever Broadway revival.
Amid the pandemic, Broadway seamstresses, actors, and other theater personnel are joining forces in New York City to help those in need.
