A new musical adaptation of Mrs. Doubtfire on Broadway will shut down for nine weeks following a recent surge in coronavirus cases, with a producer telling The New York Times the show would be doomed otherwise. The production will go dark beginning Jan. 10, with a current plan to reopen its doors on March 14, a response to the Omicron surge unrivaled on Broadway so far. Battling both breakthrough cases in the cast and depleted audience numbers, veteran producer Kevin McCollum said that without the hiatus, Mrs. Doubtfire would be forced to close within three weeks over a lack of funds. “My job is to protect the jobs long-term of those who are working on Mrs. Doubtfire, and this is the best way I can do that today,” he said. “I can’t just sit idly by when there’s a solution, albeit unprecedented and painful.” All 115 cast and crew members will be out of a job for that period. Mrs. Doubtfire had had just three preview performances in March 2020 when the first wave of the pandemic forced the Great White Way to shutter its doors. It officially reopened on Dec. 5, just days after the Omicron variant was first detected in New York.
