'Mrs. Doubtfire' goes on Broadway hiatus because of Omicron variant surge

Unfortunately, we couldn't leave Omicron in 2021.

The infectious COVID-19 variant is still surging across the country, and as a result, Broadway's production of Mrs. Doubtfire will begin a hiatus Jan. 10 and isn't scheduled to return to New York City's Stephen Sondheim Theatre for two months.

"The first few months of a brand new Broadway show are an extraordinarily delicate and important period of time," Mrs. Doubtfire producer Kevin McCollum explained in a statement, per Deadline. "With the pervasiveness of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Mrs. Doubtfire would have to close permanently if the production didn’t take drastic, pro-active measures."

"Out of concern for the potential long-term employment of everyone who works on Mrs. Doubtfire, and the extended run of the show, we have decided that following the January 9 performance, the production will close for nine weeks, returning on March 15," McCollum continued.

This follows a run of temporary Broadway cancellations in late December—including The Music Man, which canceled all performances through Wednesday (Jan. 5) after leading man Hugh Jackman tested positive for COVID (h/t Playbill).