The Arvada Center has canceled the final nine performances of its holiday musical “Elf” after three members of the fully vaccinated creative team, including the lead actor, tested positive for COVID-19, Director of Communications Marcus Turner confirmed today.

All of those performances were essentially sold out, which means the Arvada Center will lose out on about $230,000 in ticket revenue to finish a rough year when, like most area arts organizations, it was slowly crawling back from the pandemic shutdown. The Arvada Center posted a loss of just under $1.2 million at the end of the last fiscal year.

Still, Turner called the decision to cancel all remaining performances “the morally responsible thing to do.”

About 4,500 ticket-buyers were notified of the decision on Thursday afternoon, Turner said.

The entire cast and crew of “Elf,” all of whom were required to be vaccinated, has been tested for COVID on a weekly basis since rehearsals began in November. Thursday’s results showed that actor Josh Houghton, who starred as Buddy (Will Ferrell’s role in the source film) and two backstage team members tested positive.

In accordance with CDC guidelines, all three immediately entered into a 10-day quarantine – meaning the lead actor would not be able to perform for the rest of the show, which was scheduled to end next Thursday (Dec. 23), regardless.

Thursday’s performance was immediately canceled while the Arvada Center’s executive team considered its options, including putting Houghton’s understudy into the leading role and continuing performances.

Meanwhile, all members of the cast and crew were asked to undergo an additional PCR test, which is considered “the gold standard” for COVID testing, according to the Harvard Health Review. But the decision was made to cancel the rest of the run on Friday even before those results came back.

“This was not an easy decision,” said Turner. “We are looking at a substantial revenue loss. But we don’t want to put any of our actors or crew or patrons or volunteers in a position where they feel like it might be unsafe for them to participate in our programming. Health and safety really is our No. 1 concern.”

Turner said the team also considered the potential consequences if the performances were to continue and there were further infections. He noted that Houghton, who lives in Chicago, will have to remain in quarantine here in Colorado through at least Dec. 26.

“If anyone else were to test positive, they would have to go straight into quarantine, too, and that would mean they can’t spend the holidays with their families, either,” Turner said. “It certainly doesn’t feel right or just or moral to do that to anyone.”