As the pandemic restrictions have subsided in the early parts of 2022, Broadway has still experienced quite a few delays, and sadly, closings. 

Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man, which stars Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman, has seen its portion of delays as well. The Music Man revival was originally set to open in 2020, but due to COVID shutting down Broadway The Music Man was not able to open promptly. 

In December of 2021, The Music Man was finally able to grace the Winter Garden Theater’s historic stage during previews. The musical was yet again a Broadway hit! The cast was hit with positive covid tests, and all the usual Broadway delays in this time of uncertainty. 

But even after all the difficult years of struggling to produce a musical in the midst of covid, lights shined bright on Foster and Sutton as they and the rest of the cast were able to finally open on February 10, 2022. 

“There were a lot of ups and downs…Parts of it felt like, ‘Maybe we’ll never get there.’ And here we are,” Jackman told reporters after the show on February 10, 2022. 

Philip Boykin, who plays Olin Britt, was also filled with excitement and gratitude for the opening night.

“Hallelujah, we’ve made it,” Boykin said.

Even though there have been a few bumps in the road, Broadway continues to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The Music Man has officially gone down in history as the musical that made it through the longest shutdown that the bright lights of Broadway has ever seen.