For a second day this week, a performance of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical" has been canceled.
The Saturday matinee of the musical at Minneapolis' Orpheum Theatre will not go on as slated because of COVID-19, according Dale Stark, a spokesperson for Minneapolis' touring Broadway presenter the Hennepin Theatre Trust.
On Thursday, both the matinee and evening performances were canceled after several cast members fell ill.
Curiously, while some performances, namely matinees, have been scrubbed, others have continued apace.
Stark explained Friday that because of the vocal rigors of a tour like this, two actors alternate in the lead role. That practice helps to preserve the voices and bodies of the well-trained actors. The vocal demands are too great, Stark said, and too damaging for today's trained actors to do safely.
Additionally, because actors in the show understudy one another and cover multiple roles, one person going out upsets the whole balance. But multiple actors in the company have been ill at the same time, swamping their ability to cope.
The producers of "Tina" are working to fly in and rehearse alumni performers from the Broadway company and elsewhere until the actors become healthy enough to perform again. The is show is slated to end March 12.
Refunds and exchanges will be accommodated at points of purchase.
