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Broadway Stars Slam Actor Chad Kimball for Saying He'll Disobey COVID-19 Safety Orders

Broadway Stars Slam Actor Chad Kimball for Saying He'll Disobey COVID-19 Safety Orders

The Broadway community is slamming Tony-nominated actor Chad Kimball for saying that he will disobey the governor’s orders for COVID-19 safety.

Washington’s Governor Inslee just announced restrictions on religious services.

“Religious services will be limited to whichever is smaller: 25% occupancy indoors or fewer than 200 people. Choirs, bands, and ensembles won’t perform during services, but soloists will be able to. Facial coverings will be required for congregation members, who won’t be allowed to sing,” the governor’s office announced.

Chad wrote on Twitter, “Respectfully, I will never allow a Governor, or anyone, to stop me from SINGING, let alone sing in worship to my God. Folks, absolute POWER corrupts ABSOLUTELY. This is not about safety. It’s about POWER. I will respectfully disobey these unlawful orders.”

For those that don’t know, Chad had his breakout role on Broadway while playing a cow in Into the Woods. He later received a Tony nomination for the show Memphis and most recently was starring in the Tony-winning musical Come From Away until the Broadway shutdown.

Chad was one of many Broadway actors who tested positive for coronavirus back in March, right when the pandemic was hitting New York City badly. Broadway shows have been shut down since March 12, 2020 and they will be closed until at least May 30, 2021. There’s still a chance the shows will go dark even longer than that.

Members of the Broadway community, including many well-known stars, are calling out Chad for supporting a dangerous view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The community is working hard to make sure we can end the pandemic and people in the live theater industry can safely go back to work after months and months of hardship.

Sharon Wheatley, who was in the original Broadway cast of Come From Away with Chad, tweeted, “I respectfully totally and completely disagree with you. I respectfully feel you are very much on the wrong side of this. I FaceTimed with you when you had Covid, Chad. You were very sick. I remember. It scared me. I love you like a brother, but I disagree with you. ♥️”

Tony nominee Eva Noblezada, married Broadway stars Patti Murin and Colin Donnell, Billy Eichner, and many more have called Chad out on Twitter.

Read all of the tweets below. While some of them didn’t name Chad directly or reply directly to his tweet, they seemingly are all about the actor.

Click inside to read tons of reactions from Broadway stars…

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Photos: Getty
Posted to: Broadway, Chad Kimball, Coronavirus