The New York City Ballet announced Tuesday that the remaining performances of The Nutcracker ballet were canceled because of positive COVID tests among the performers, in yet another changing winter event in the city as it is hit by another spike in COVID cases.
Recent restrictions of vaccine requirements for those eligible or a negative test for children helped the group successfully perform dozens of shows before it was forced to shut down performances for the second straight year.
Last year was the first year since its 1954 inception that the ballet was not performed, as it was canceled before it began due to COVID.
"While New York City Ballet had hoped to resume performances this evening, we have made the decision that continuing to perform at this time would not be in the best interest of the NYCB community, whose health and safety is our number one priority," NYCB Executive Director Kathy Brown and Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford said in a statement. "We are extraordinarily proud of everyone who safely came together to present 30 beautiful performances of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker in recent weeks, and we are also very grateful to the thousands of people who attended."
The announcement came on the same day as the decision to halt performances of The Music Man on Broadway because its star, Hugh Jackman, announced he tested positive for COVID.
Sutton Foster, Jackman's co-star in the play, tested positive last week but performances were scheduled to continue with her understudy until Jackman tested positive as well, delaying performances until at least the new year.
Last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that Friday's New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square will be "scaled back" because of the spike in COVID cases the city is currently experiencing.
Attendance will be limited to about 15,000, down from the usual number of around 58,000, and all those attending must be fully vaccinated and wear a mask during the ball drop ceremony.
NYC Mayor-elect Eric Adams and Times Square Alliance president Tom Harris both supported de Blasio's decision to alter the famous celebration to allow it to continue in some fashion with more safety precautions in place.
The famed ballet by George Balanchine, a staple of the winter performing arts season in New York, was scheduled to present performances through Sunday at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater.
Ticket holders for canceled shows will be able to receive a full refund or make a tax-deductible, charitable donation to the ballet in the amount of the value of their tickets.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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A 2020 graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor's degree in Journalism, Aaron has worked as an assigning editor ... Read more
