In advance of the season opening, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT) had decided to postpone its opening production due to rising COVID cases and concern for unvaccinated children.

In advance of the season opening, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT) announced its decision to postpone all performances of DISNEY’S DESCENDANTS: THE MUSICAL, slated to run October 9 – 17, 2021. Guided by a COVID Ad Hoc Committee comprised of representatives from the medical community, members of the TCT Board of Trustees, and staff, TCT had decided it would not be prudent to hold performances given that a vaccine is not yet available for the production’s core audience (children ages 12 and under).

“At The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, there is one thing we know for sure: you can always count on us to keep your children safe. Upon seeing a first-hand increase in the number of children contracting COVID, with the Delta variant on the rise, increasing hospitalizations for children with respiratory conditions, and growing breakthrough cases for vaccinated adults, our COVID Committee feels this situation will likely get worse before it gets better,” says Kim Kern, TCT’s Managing Director and CEO.

Roderick Justice, Producing Artistic Director, echoes that sentiment saying, “Our productions pit the heroes against the villains, and there is no villain more insidious right now than COVID-19 and its variants. We will continue to monitor the local situation and heed advice from our Committee as well as national recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control. We want performances at The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati to be a safe space filled with wonder, not worry.”

As of right now, TCT plans to keep ELF THE MUSICAL JR. on the schedule in December, as well as ROALD DAHL’S MATILDA THE MUSICAL JR. in February 2022 and THE WIZ JR. in April 2022. TCT will continue its slate of touring productions as well as digital programming available online.

Photos by Mikki Schaffner: Pictured left to right: Rhys Boatwright as Jay, Aubrey Jones as Evie, Claire Northcut as Mal, and Thomas Les Smith as Carlos.

Topic COVID

The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati Postpones DISNEY’S DESCENDANTS over COVID Concerns