The Radio City Rockettes have canceled their Christmas Spectacular shows for the 2021 season because of a COVID outbreak among the performers.
“We regret that we are unable to continue the Christmas Spectacular this season due to increasing challenges from the pandemic,” Rockettes showrunners wrote in a statement posted to their official Twitter account Friday.
“We had hoped we could make it through the season and are honored to have hosted hundreds of thousands of fans at more than 100 shows over the last seven weeks. We have loved bringing back this cherished tradition that helps usher in the holiday season in New York City and look forward to welcoming fans back to Radio City Music Hall in 2022.”
The statement notified audiences that their tickets would be fully refunded at the point of purchase.
— Rockettes (@Rockettes) December 17, 2021
The Rockettes had previously canceled all four shows scheduled for the day because of breakthrough cases in the cast of the production, 6ABC reports.
Multiple Broadway shows have canceled performances in recent days because of breakthrough COVID cases in their casts. The Daily Wire reported:
Wednesday’s performance of Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre was canceled suddenly after the audience was seated and waiting for the music to start, Deadline reported.
A spokesperson confirmed to the New York Post that the cancelation was due to “a late-in-the-day positive test result in the company.”
On Friday morning, producers also canceled the performance scheduled for that evening. Currently, the show is scheduled to take the stage again on Saturday, December 18, at 2 p.m.
A slew of other shows, Hamilton, Jagged Little Pill, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Tina, Freestyle Love Supreme, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Ain’t Too Proud have all also canceled performances since December 13 over breakthrough coronavirus cases.
MJ the musical, which is about Michael Jackson, announced Friday that it is canceling all preview performances through Christmas.
“As a result of multiple positive COVID test results within the company, and out of an abundance of caution, MJ is canceling all performances through December 26th. Previews will resume Monday, December 27,” producers said in a statement…
Some shows reopened in September, but the cancelations come just as Broadway’s busiest season gets underway, including the weekend before Christmas, generally a financially crucial weekend for performances.
“At the end of the day, we’ll follow the science, and the science will say, ‘You need to shut down this performance,'” Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League, told the Associated Press on Thursday, via 6ABC. “We anticipated that because they were telling us all along that if more people didn’t get their shots, that new variants would arrive … and guess what? It’s called Omicron.”
Madison Square Garden Entertainment venues, including Radio City Music Hall, where the Rockettes perform, have also begun to require proof of vaccination, 6ABC reported. Children 5-11 are required to show proof of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to gain entry into the shows. The move comes in response to the citywide vaccine mandate imposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio on December 6.
The state of New York also declared a “disaster emergency” amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.