Broadway's 'Aladdin' goes dark for days as it battles virus

Disney Theatrical Productions said it will cancel Friday's performance of 'Aladdin' and all shows until Oct. 12 after 'additional breakthrough COVID-19 cases were detected.'

Disney Theatrical Productions said it will cancel Friday's performance and all shows until Oct. 12 after "additional breakthrough COVID-19 cases were detected."

The show reopened Tuesday following some 18 months of being shuttered due to the pandemic, but was forced to close Wednesday when breakthrough COVID-19 cases were reported within the musical's company. It restarted Thursday but Friday proved too much. In many ways, the temporary closure proves that the monitoring system is working.

"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," Dr. Blythe Adamson, the epidemiologist working with Disney Theatrical Productions, said in a statement.

So-called breakthrough infections are detected in vaccinated people and tend to be far less dangerous than those unvaccinated.