Rockettes cancel annual Christmas Spectacular early due to COVID-19

In this Monday, Nov. 25, 2019 photo, Rockette Sydney Mesher, sixth from left, dances during a performance of the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Mesher, who was born without a left hand due to the rare congenital condition symbrachydactyly, is the first person with a visible disability ever hired by New York’s famed Radio City Rockettes. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

by: Sarah Vasile, Nexstar Media Wire

Posted: Dec 20, 2021 / 09:30 PM AST

Updated: Dec 20, 2021 / 08:41 PM AST

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NEW YORK (WPIX) — The famous Rockettes are kicking the rest of their season to the curb.

MSG Entertainment announced Friday that “The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes” will forgo the rest of its season due to “increasing challenges from the pandemic.”

“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,” MSG Entertainment said in a statement. “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.”

This year’s show began on November 5 and was set to run until January 2, 2022.

The “Christmas Spectacular” is a holiday staple in New York City. Known for their iconic kick line, the Rockettes have brought Christmas cheer to New Yorkers and tourists from all over the world since the 1930s. COVID-19 forced the Rockettes to cancel 2020’s “Christmas Spectacular” for the first time in the show’s history.

With the omicron variant in New York City and the holidays nearing, the seven-day average for COVID cases has tripled in the last month, Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi said Thursday. Spiking COVID-19 cases have forced the NFL to reschedule games, upended Broadway shows and thrown Americans’ holiday travel plans into disarray.