COVID-19 outbreak forces cancellation of Titanic The Musical
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- An outbreak of Covid-19 has forced the Milwaukee Rep to cancel the final week of its performances of the musical Titanic.
CBS 58 Sunday Morning reported on the preparations for the musical in March. It was scheduled to run through May 14, but the Rep says those remaining shows won't happen.
There are so many Covid cases among the cast that understudies can't cover the roles.
"Every job is precious and special, no matter how long you have the contract for so to hear that it just all went away like that…it was heartbreaking," said Emma Brooks, who plays Kate McGowan in the show.
Brooks says the cast was informed of the cancelled shows Tuesday morning. "It's a tough pill to swallow. My family was coming to see the show this weekend and now they can't," said Brooks.
Wisconsin health officials say due to a recent rise in COVID-19 cases, there could be future event cancellations ahead across the state.
"Some events aren’t necessarily being cancelled for fear of how many people are going to get really sick, they're being cancelled because a lot of the people that are in those events have COVID," said Dr. Jeff Pothof with UW Health.
Pothof says there's likely more disease activity than the numbers show because of decreased public testing. He says more people are testing at home and likely not reporting results to health officials.
In the months ahead, he encourages people to think about their individual risk when making event plans.
Dr. Pothof says if you feel sick, always get tested.
Brooks says while disappointed, she always felt safe in rehearsals and shows and said there's likely not much that could have been done to avoid this.
A statement from the Rep's artistic director Mark Clements says "it crushes us that we are unable to finish out the run of this truly remarkable production."
Those who purchased tickets to the show will get a refund.
Ticket holders with any further questions are asked to contact [email protected] or 414-224-9490.