Due to positive COVID-19 cases in the company, the Manhattan Theatre Club production of Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew has delayed its Broadway premiere.
Previews, originally scheduled for December 21, are now expected to begin December 27 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Opening night has also been shifted one week and is now slated for January 19, 2022, instead of the original January 12 date.
These dates, as is the case across Broadway as many shows face similar challenges, are subject to change as routine testing continues.The play, the third of Morisseau's Detroit Cycle, tells the story of a tight-knit family of workers at a small auto factory facing foreclosure. It will star Tony winner Phylicia Rashad (Gem of the Ocean, A Rasin in the Sun), Brandon J. Dirden (Jitney), Chanté Adams in her Broadway debut, Joshua Boone (Network), and dancer-choreographer Adesola Osakalumi (Fela!).
Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who recently had his own Broadway premiere of the solo show Lackawana Blues, directs the work. The creative team includes set designer Michael Carnahan (Lackawana Blues), costume designer Emilio Sosa (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), lighting designer Rui Rita (The Velocity of Autumn), and projection designer Nicholas Hussong (On Your Feet!). Original music and sound design is by Rob Kaplowitz, with original songs by Jimmy ‘J Keys’ Keys, and vocal foley work by Chesney Snow. Casting is by Dave Caparelliotis and Kelly Gillespie, and Kamra A. Jacobs serves as production stage manager.
Morisseau is Tony-nominated for the book of Ain't Too Proud, the Temptations bio-musical currently running on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre.