By Anthony Chase
Word on the rialto is that COVID-19 has claimed another theatrical casualty. The pandemic makes the climate just too dicey for Shea’s 710 Main to present Kinky Boots or Once on this Island this season. All is not lost, however, as both shows have been moved to next season. If all goes well, Once on this Island will be the 2022 Curtain Up! show.
Theaters seem to be reaching for that balance between hiring understudies and postponing, with the variables including cost of production and size of the cast.
To help soften the blow of the delay, ticket holders are being told that there’s more in store for 2022-2023 at Shea's 710 Main, including a second chance to see MusicalFare’s marvelous sold out World War I musical, All is Calm, and an opportunity to take in Ken Ludwig’s daft and delightful stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, presented by All for One productions.
Murder on the Orient Express premiered at McCarter Theatre Center for the Performing Arts in New Jersey in 2017 where it was directed by Emily Mann, and was presented at the Hartford Stage Company the following winter. The original cast included Allan Corduner, Veanne Cox, Julie Halston, and Max Von Essen. This is the one wherein Hercule Poirot, the world's most celebrated Belgian, solves a murder on the titular luxury train, which has been stranded by snowfall in Croatia.
We should probably expect further adjustments as the the pandemic continues to create uncertainty.