‘SNL’ ditches audience, limits cast and crew amid omicron

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NEW YORK (AP) — People’s Sexiest Man Alive of 2021 is acceptable to beryllium inducted into the vaunted Five-Timers Club connected “Saturday Night Live,” but the surging omicron variant of the coronavirus means determination won’t beryllium a unrecorded assemblage to spot it happen.

The long-running sketch drama amusement announced connected societal media Saturday day that the night’s occurrence would portion without a unrecorded assemblage and with lone constricted formed and unit “due to the caller spike successful the Omicron variant and retired of an abundance of caution.”

“Ant-Man” prima Paul Rudd is the host, returning to Studio 8H for the 5th clip — typically a milestone of overmuch fanfare. British popular prima Charli XCX is the night’s philharmonic guest. The Dec. 18 occurrence was the NBC show’s past announced occurrence for the year.

It’s unclear which formed members volition look connected Saturday’s show, which usually tapes a formal rehearsal astatine 8 p.m., followed by the unrecorded amusement astatine 11:30 p.m.

The amusement returned for its 47th twelvemonth successful September with 16 formed members and 5 featured players, a peculiarly crowded field. The size of the formed has allowed for atypical flexibility for its high-profile members, who tin present instrumentality clip disconnected for different projects during the season.

The amusement said connected societal media that those who had won tickets to the night’s amusement would person much accusation soon.

This is acold from the archetypal clip the Lorne Michaels-produced show has had to accommodate to the coronavirus pandemic. The microorganism outbreak halted its 45th season for astir a month, but “SNL” was backmost connected the aerial by mid-April with a “quarantine version” of the amusement hosted by Tom Hanks. The amusement returned to 30 Rockefeller Center for its 46th play aft implementing COVID-19 protocols, but booted vocalist Morgan Wallen from that season’s 2nd occurrence for breaking rules. And conscionable past month, British vocalist Ed Sheeran had to execute from home aft contracting the coronavirus.

New York authorities reported Saturday that astir 22,000 radical had tested affirmative for COVID-19 connected Friday — eclipsing the erstwhile day’s people for the highest single-day full for caller cases since investigating became wide available. More than fractional the affirmative results were successful the city. Omicron is expected to go the ascendant coronavirus variant successful galore countries wrong weeks.

Other unrecorded shows successful New York have been devastated anew by the caller coronavirus surge, with galore Broadway stages forced to spell acheronian due to the fact that of outbreaks. Mayor Bill de Blasio this past week declared omicron “in afloat force” successful New York, snuffing retired holiday mainstays similar the Rockettes Christmas amusement and threatening others yet — each portending different vacation play without overmuch cheer.