David Byrne's American Utopia resuming with modified show during Omicron surge

After being postponed by COVID, David Byrne‘s American Utopia returned to Broadway this fall for its second run, but more recently they’ve again been forced to cancel shows as the Omicron variant surges and multiple company members have tested positive. Byrne has now announced that instead of remaining shut down until the whole company is out of isolation, they are going to resume the show in modified form, starting on Tuesday, December 28 at St. James Theatre.

“Fortunately, the vaccinated band members and crew who have tested positive don’t have severe symptoms and are staying home following the CDC guidelines,” Byrne says. “Unfortunately, they can’t come to the theatre for the next week or so, which means we’ve chosen to make some creative changes to enable us to put on a show. What we are doing could be called ‘Unplugged,’ or maybe ‘Unchained.’ We are adding some songs by Talking Heads as well as songs from my solo catalog, that will supplement songs already in American Utopia.”

“I know it’s going to be a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ experience, that will only be seen for a few performances,” Byrne continues. “We are ready to have a good time!”

Tickets are on sale now through April of 2022.

Jagged Little Pill, meanwhile, recently ended its Broadway run because of the Omicron surge, along with Waitress and Thoughts of a Colored Man. Several shows cancelled performances because of breakthrough COVID cases, as well.