The Classic Stage Company’s production of “Assassins,” the Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman musical, became the last show to be canceled due to the coronavirus, announcing Tuesday it would cancel the remaining performances.
The Off Broadway musical, which began previewing in November and ran for approximately 12 weeks, was slated to run through January 30. short statement, Classic Stage Company said this week’s handful of remaining performances had been canceled due to “positive COVID-19 testing within the company.”
Sondheim, who wrote the music and lyrics for “Assassins,” passed away on November 26, adding resonance to the revival’s timing and causing a spike in demand that made the show one of the toughest tickets in New York this winter. On the night Sondheim died, theatergoers flocked to the Lynn F. Angelson Theater—which played “Assassins”—and other Sondheim venues, including the Broadway theater that played a revival of “Company,” saying they were attracted to it. to the locations and sought a way to commemorate the songwriting titan.
The production, directed by John Doyle, was completely sold out before Sondheim’s death; in the aftermath, the number of people regularly participating in a digital lottery hoping to score $15 tickets skyrocketed, with about 5,000 people coming in on some days hoping to grab one of the tiny theater’s 196 seats.
All ticket holders will be refunded for the cancellations, the company said.
