‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’ cancels performance after nearby Loop ‘disturbance’

A Chicago performance of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” was abruptly canceled Sunday night with little explanation to ticketholders or the public.

The crowd at the Nederlander Theatre was sent home just before curtain and offered refunds or ticket exchanges.

A statement from the show’s producers, Broadway in Chicago (BIC), said the cancellation was “due to an earlier disturbance in the Loop on Sunday afternoon. ... No other Broadway In Chicago productions were affected.” When reached via email, a spokesperson for BIC stated “There was absolutely no incident at the [Nederlander Theatre],” and that there would be no further comment due to the ongoing investigation.

The statement may have been referring to a shooting just before 5 p.m. in the 100 block of North Wabash Street, a block away. Two men were wounded.

The “Letterkenny Live” show (which is not affiliated with Broadway in Chicago) at the nearby Chicago Theatre went on as scheduled Sunday night.

The Chicago Police Department issued a statement to the Sun-Times concerning the shooting investigation: “The Chicago Police Department will not tolerate violence anywhere in this city, including in our downtown area. In light of the shooting that took place in the Theater District, additional resources will be deployed to supplement the 1st District’s regularly assigned patrols. We will continue to monitor the area and work closely with the Cook County Sheriff’s Police to enhance safety in our Theater District.”

It’s the latest unfortunate event for the “Moulin Rouge” tour, which has been continuously disrupted by the outside world. The Chicago run originally was scheduled to begin in December 2020 but was postponed to Feb. 26, 2022, out of coronavirus concerns. The persistence of the Omicron variant later prompted another postponement, to March 19.

Contributing: Darel Jevens, Sophie Sherry, Miriam Di Nunzio