Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to march on

» Jawan M. Jackson recently got to do something he’s been yearning to do for months — sing and dance again with his Broadway cast.

Jackson is one of the stars of “Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of The Temptations” and he reunited with castmates for the first time since theaters shuttered to prepare for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade today.

“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,” he said. “It was different, but it was still great to do.”

The pandemic, which shut down theaters in March, may have upended most traditions this holiday season, but the annual New York City parade will march on today 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 ½ -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.

In addition to “Ain’t Too Proud,” the parade will feature performances from the Broadway casts of “Hamilton,” “Mean Girls” and “Jagged Little Pill.” The Broadway performances were taped days before the parade.

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