Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade rolls on, but pandemic forces many changes to New York City tradition

NEW YORK — The coronavirus pandemic has upended many traditions this holiday season, but the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade parade will march on with balloons, dancers, floats, Broadway shows and Santa — albeit heavily edited for safety.

“Traditions like this are comforting and they’re uplifting,” said Susan Tercero, executive producer of the parade. “New York has always been a tough city. It bounces back. It takes its blows and then it continues on. And I think it’s extremely important for us to be that display this holiday season. Regardless of what’s happened, New York needs to be that beacon of light in the darkness and this parade, I think, is symbolic of that.”

The Macy’s parade has been a traditional holiday season kickoff for more than 90 years, and spectators often line up a half-dozen deep along the route to cheer about 8,000 marchers, two dozen floats, entertainers and marching bands. At last year’s parade, the big fear was high wind. This time, it’s a pandemic that has made crowds untenable.

The biggest change this year is that the usual 2 1/2-mile route through crowded Manhattan has been scrapped in favor of concentrating events to a one-block stretch of 34th Street in front of the retailer’s flagship Manhattan store. Many performances have been pre-taped, and most of the parade’s performers will be locally based to cut down on travel.

The parade will feature performances from the Broadway casts of Hamilton, Mean Girls, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of The Temptations and Jagged Little Pill, a musical built around the music of Alanis Morissette. The Broadway performances were taped days before the parade.

Jawan M. Jackson, one of the stars of Ain’t Too Proud,, got to reunite with castmates for the first time since the pandemic shut down New York City’s theaters.

“I was most happy with just seeing all my old friends I haven’t seen in months, some who flew in specifically for the show to do this,” Jackson said said. “It was different, but it was still great to do.”

This year’s parade feels a lot different for actor Derek Klena, who was in the 2017 parade as part of the cast of Anastasia. This year, he’s up for a Tony Award for his role in Jagged Little Pill and helped perform “You Learn” from the Tony-nominated show.

The show’s cast was quarantined for two weeks before taping and tested regularly for the virus. Cast members rehearsed in masks until the moment cameras started rolling and kept socially distant. They sang live this time instead of years past when casts lip-synched.

“Although the circumstances were much different, it was still so magical and fulfilling to get to share that experience with your fellow castmates after being distant for so long,” Klena said.

“I think it was important to everybody to find a way to still celebrate this event and celebrate the shows and the companies that all get to share in this amazing event.”

Both Jackson and Klena said everyone adhered to strict safety protocols for the event — 6-foot social distancing, frequent testing, mandatory face masks plus face shields, as well as a fresh mask after their performance.

“I’m appreciative of it because it is built to keep you safe,” said Jackson, though he noted “dancing in a mask is a tough feat.”

This year’s lineup of balloons includes Snoopy, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Elf on the Shelf, Chase from Paw Patrol, Pikachu, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Ronald McDonald, SpongeBob SquarePants and Trolls. New this time are The Boss Baby and Red Titan from Ryan’s World.

The giant cartoon-character balloons are being flown without the traditional 80 to 100 rope-pulling handlers assigned to each inflatable. Instead, each has been tethered to specialized vehicles.

Pentatonix, Ally Brooke, Keke Palmer, Sofia Carson, Leslie Odom Jr. and Jordin Sparks are in the scheduled lineup, and there will be floats from Blue’s Clues, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Lego. Also scheduled are the Rockettes, an all-female samba drumline, acrobats from The Big Apple Circus and a New York City Ballet ballerina with a performance from The Nutcracker. The parade will end with an appearance from Santa Claus.

Another change this year was the decision to spotlight many of the New York City parades that were canceled in the spring and fall due to the pandemic — the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Mermaid Parade, the Puerto Rican Day Parade and NYC Pride March.