Barry Manilow Tests Positive for COVID Ahead of Harmony Musical Opening Night: 'I Am Heartbroken'

Bruce Glikas/Getty Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow is missing the premiere of his off-Broadway musical after testing positive for COVID.

On Wednesday, the 78-year-old "Copacabana" musician released a statement letting fans know he's contracted COVID and won't be able to attend the New York City debut of his long-delayed musical Harmony, written alongside Bruce Sussman and directed by Tony winner Warren Carlyle, which first premiered in California 25 years ago.

"I am heartbroken to say that I have just tested positive for COVID-19 and won't be able to attend tonight's opening night performance of my new musical, HARMONY," wrote Manilow. "This just might be the cruelest thing that has ever happened to me: 25 years waiting for this show to premiere in New York and I can't attend."

While Manilow won't be in the audience for opening night, he encouraged others to take appropriate safety precautions and keep attending performances in the face of COVID-related difficulties. "Even in the face of this pandemic, we New Yorkers remain the toughest, staunchest people on the planet," continued his statement. "So, put on a mask and go see a show!"

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Sean Zanni/getty Barry Manilow

Prior to Manilow's diagnosis preventing him from seeing Harmony, the production faced multiple delays, as it was meant to launch in 2019 before getting postponed to 2020, and then it was pushed off again due to the pandemic. Ahead of its official April 13 opening night, the musical began previews on March 23 at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's Edmond J. Safra Hall Theatre at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

In 1977, Harmony premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse near San Diego, initially set to be followed by a 2003 Philadelphia production, meant to then launch the musical to Broadway. However, the producers of Harmony reportedly fell short financially, per Variety, and prevented the show from going on. The musical was performed at the Alliance Theater Company in Atlanta a decade later with a planned move to New York, though it didn't end up coming to fruition.

Based on a true story, Harmony follows six young men known as the Comedian Harmonists, who gained a fanbase in 1920s Germany thanks to their polished vocal abilities and unruly stage presence. But after allowing Jewish people to enter the musical comedy group, the Harmonists face a difficult future to come.

In 2020, Manilow released Night Songs II, an album of classic love songs from the Great American Songbook, from "My Funny Valentine" to "I'm Old Fashioned."

He gave an exclusive statement to PEOPLE about the project. "Like Night Songs, this album is filled with great, great songwriting by some of the most talented songwriters ever to put pen to paper," said the musician. "As the art of writing melodies and emotional lyrics begins to disappear, songs like these mean more to me than they ever have. Once again, the album is very intimate. Just me singing and playing piano as if I was in your living room."