“Christmas Spectacular” was cancelled this year for the first time ever since the show was introduced in 1933. The cancellation comes on the coattails of MSG Entertainment (Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation) who runs “Christmas Spectacular,” announcing plans to lay off 350 people due to the COVID-19.
The “Christmas Spectacular” stars the well known Radio City Rockettes who are an American precision dance company. The show takes place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City which is owned by MSG Entertainment and runs November 6 through January 3. MSG Entertainment decided to cancel the popular show this year due to the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic still raging throughout the world and the United States. The show hopes to be back for the 2021 production, which is on sale now. All tickets for the 2020 production will be automatically refunded at the point of purchase.
MSG Entertainment announced their plans to lay off 350 people, which is around a third of their workforce, due to the economic impact the coronavirus has had on their company. The sister company, MSG Sports, which owns the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers is laying off people as well. They announced plans to lay off 50 people which is about 15 percent of its corporate staff.
A representative of MSG Entertainment and MSG Sports elaborated on the situation saying, “This was a difficult decision for both companies, as we know that our success rests on the strength of our people, who consistently set the industry standard for excellence and professionalism. While we believe this is a necessary step to protect the long-term future of our businesses, we continue to actively pursue solutions that will allow us to safely reopen our doors, so we’re able to bring as many employees back as quickly as we can, once a return date for live events is established.”
According to the New York Post’s article Laid-off employees for MSG Entertainment will receive severance and benefits packages, outplacement support, to help with their transition to being unemployed. MSG Entertainment had prior efforts before it’s layoffs of 350 employees. These attempts though included other layoffs of part time employees which included the layoffs of 4,000 employees of the MSG arena, home of the Knicks and Rangers, who averaged under 20 hours at the end of March. At the end of May, 1,900 MSG venue employees who averaged over 20 hours of work were also cut.
For more information on the cancellation of “Christmas Spectacular” and the MSG Entertainment layoffs read the New York Post’s article here
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