David Byrne has announced a limited run of American Utopia: Unchained performances on December 28th–30th and January 1st–2nd at the St. James Theatre on Broadway. The decision to pivot to a new format for this week followed breakthrough COVID-19 cases in the crew.
“Several members of our company, band, and crew—who are fully vaccinated—have tested positive for COVID,” said Byrne in a video filmed from the American Utopia stage. He went on to explain that those who have tested positive, luckily, are not experiencing severe symptoms and that they are isolated at home according to CDC guidelines. With that said, Byrne and the rest of the healthy American Utopia crewmembers have decided to pivot.
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“Rather than canceling our shows, we’re looking at this as a kind of opportunity to, well, honor our commitment to the audiences who are coming in the coming weeks and creating something special,” he continued. “We’re going to do a show that, well, we’re just going to come up with a show … This is our opportunity to make lemonade from COVID lemons. You could call this unplugged, you could call this unchained if you like. It will be something, unlike anything we’ve done before.”
Tickets for David Byrne’s American Utopia: Unchained are on sale now. Dates include one showing on December 28th and 29th, two showings on the 30th, and one showing on January 1st and 2nd. It is currently unclear how long the Unchained format will last. Head to the official American Utopia website for tickets and more information and watch David Byrne’s video statement below.
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