'Aladdin' returns after Broadway performances canceled due to breakthrough COVID cases
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Disney's "Aladdin" returned to the Broadway stage Tuesday night after the show was forced to close due to breakthrough COVID cases.
They lined up outside the New Amsterdam theater Tuesday night, just happy the show they bought tickets for was still on. But nobody was happier than the guy who plays Genie.
"We are so excited tonight, we are back, we are healthy, we are safe, we are just so excited to open our doors again," said Michael James Scott who plays Genie.
Much of Broadway has reopened by now, reviving a two-billion-dollar business in the heart of Manhattan. But Aladdin's journey has been even bumpier, and for this show, tonight was a re-re-reopening.
Aladdin was so big a hit, it took a pandemic to shut it down. It reopened on September 28, but positive breakthrough COVID tests shut it down again -- twice in three days.
As a result, the popular musical was shut down between October 1 and October 10
"We had an opening and a reopening so we're special. I'm just saying," Scott said.
And now, the show has a whole COVID safety team outside the theater checking vaccines and recent COVID tests to make sure everyone who goes inside is as safe as possible.
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"We just got our tickets about four hours ago, you have to have a negative test within six hours. We're just happy we get to go," one woman said.
As always, it is the magic that sustains and renews Broadway. But just now, it's the science that keeps the doors open.
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