Rockettes cancel Christmas… ALL Friday’s shows are stopped after show members were hit by COVID

The world-famous Rockettes have been forced to cancel the remainder of their Christmas Spectacular shows at Radio City Music Hall after production members were hit with COVID-19 on Friday as cases in New York City continue to climb.

‘We regret that we are unable to continue the Christmas Spectacular this season due to increasing challenges from the pandemic,’ a press release stated.  

The Rockettes, who have been a beloved holiday staple enjoyed by kids and adults since 1933, are the latest not be able to return to the stage anytime soon because of the resurgence of the virus and the new Omicron variant. 

Nearly eight percent of COVID tests are coming back positive and the positivity rate from December 9 to December 12 has doubled from 3.9 percent to 7.8 percent, said Jay Varma, senior public health advisor to Mayor Bill de Blasio.    

Earlier on Friday, the production team behind the Rockettes said it was canceling just its Friday shows.

‘We regret to announce that the four shows scheduled for today, Friday, December 17 have been canceled due to breakthrough COVID-19 cases in the production,’ they said on Friday afternoon. 

‘We apologize for the inconvenience, and will make announcements about future shows as soon as possible,’ MSG Entertainment said in a statement. 

They later announced the cancellation of all shows. 

People talk with the staff member of Radio City Music Hall after cancellations of the Rockettes performance due to COVID-19 cases

A screen shows the cancellations of the Rockettes performance due to COVID-19 cases

The news comes as a heavy blow to the theatre industry.

It was unclear how many tickets had been sold, but the theatre had a seating capacity of almost 6,000, and four shows could be performed a day. 

In 2019, the show’s eight-week run grossed about $100 million. It was cancelled in 2020.

Broadway only reopened in September, and was hoping for a successful Christmas season to go some way to compensating for the devastation of 2020 and the first half of 2021.

In a typical year, tourists account for 65 per cent of Broadway ticket sales, CNBC reported.

Tourists also provide a huge boost to the city’s economy as a whole, spending on transportation, food and hotels. 

Frequent cancellations, especially during the peak holiday season, could deter these travelers from scooping up tickets for fear that the performance will get called off before curtain time. 

The Christmas Spectacular is not the only production that has fallen victim to COVID.

Major Broadway shows including Hamilton, Moulin Rouge The Musical, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Ain’t Too Proud were forced to go dark this week after at least one of the members of the cast or crew tested positive for the virus, ABC 7 News reported.  

The Radio City Rockettes are the longest-running precision dance company in the U.S. 

Founded in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, they have performed at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan since 1932.

The 90-minute show features more than 140 performers and an original musical score, and combines singing, dancing, and humor with traditional scenes. 

The popular production has been performed since 1933 when the Music Hall presented lavish live stage shows along with the latest Hollywood feature films.

Tickets for Friday performances, which were scheduled for 11 am, 2pm, 5pm and 8pm will be refunded at the original point of purchase, the statement added.   

Disappointed fans could be seen outside the venue getting their refunds, including one tourist who broke down in tears on he sidewalk out of frustration.

‘It just feels like we’re back at the start of the pandemic and my anxiety is really bad,’ she told Fox 5. 

‘It feels like I have nowhere to go that’s safe and shows keep getting cancelled.’ 

Tickets for Friday performances which were scheduled for 11 am, 2pm, 5pm and 8pm will be refunded at the original point of purchase

People stand in front of Radio City Music Hall after cancellations of The Rockettes performance due to COVID-19

A woman becomes emotional outside Radio City Music Hall after Friday’s The Christmas Spectacular shows were cancelled

The cancellation comes one day after the city announced they were sending inspectors to Radio City Music Hall following reports the venue was not enforcing the vaccination rule for kids ages 5-11.

The city currently mandates that children require proof of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to gain entry into restaurants, theaters and public entertainment spaces.  

‘Everyone’s got to follow this mandate,’ Mayor Bill de Blasio said. ‘It’s a serious mandate and it’s a very simple mandate.’

New York City has emerged as a potential early Omicron outbreak site.

Long lines are currently being  seen across all five boroughs as people wait to get tested, despite the city being 81.5 percent fully-vaccinated, with 16.5 percent of residents also having their booster.

Unvaccinated people are being hit especially hard by this surge, with official city data showing that 804.46 out of every 100,000 testing positive for the virus during the week that ended on December 5 – nearly doubling from 415.99 cases per 100,000 a week earlier.

According to city data, 96.81 our of every 100,000 vaccinated residents tested positive that week.

The city is also now recording 53.75 new COVID cases per every 100,000 residents every day, according to official data – a 26 per cent increase from the 42.59 figure being reported only two days ago.

Varma also said that 7.8 percent of Covid tests in the city were coming back positive on December 12, a two-fold increase from the 3.9 percent figure recorded only three days earlier.

While it will take around a week to find out how many of these cases are of the Omicron or Delta virus strains, either way, cases are spiking in America’s densest city at a rate not seen previously.

CDC experts have previously estimated that 13 per cent of new COVID infections in NYC and neighboring New Jersey are being caused by Omicron – way above the national average of around four per cent. Both states are now set to become the epicenter for COVID in the US for the second time, and offer the rest of the US an insight of what to expect in the coming weeks.

This surge also comes just 11 days before strict mandates announced by de Blasio earlier this month go into effect on December 27, and days after a new statewide mask order began enforcement on Monday.