Michigan Journal

Issue date: 11/25/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Courtesy MSG Entertainment

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, starring the world famous Rockettes, came to the Joe Louis Arena this past weekend, bringing the biggest production ever in the show's 76-year history. And if I'm gushing, so be it, because this was the most fascinating holiday variety show I've ever seen in my entire life.

An immense LED screen transports the audience of thousands from a wintry landscape to Times Square to Santa's Workshop right before your eyes. Live camels, donkeys and sheep parade in the march toward Bethlehem to converge upon a living nativity that would bring tears of joy to the eyes of St. Francis of Assisi.

Not only are there pyrotechnics and streamers and orchestras and perfect singing, but Santa Claus flies into the air, over the audience, and up to the North Pole. It's the most spectacular "Spectacular" ever conceived.

Cheryl Myers of Northville took her entire family. "Brandi's face beamed!" she said of her 10-year-old.

"It was amazing," said Janis Kenny of Warren. "The LED images were so realistic that I couldn't always tell what was physical and what was fantasy."

"This year's Spectacular was re-imagined specifically for large-scale venues seating 12,000 spectators at a time. The brand new show replicates the magic of the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall on an entirely different scale, including all the elements of the 75th celebratory edition, which debuted to critical acclaim and dazzled national audiences during its televised NBC special last year," said the show's public relations office.

"The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is the #1 live holiday production in the world and has been a cherished part of holiday family traditions for generations. Straight from the great stage of Radio City Music Hall, the scope and scale of this new production of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is going to raise the bar for live family entertainment," said Jonathan Hochwald, executive vice president of Production at Madison Square Gardens Entertainment. "We look forward to bringing the spirit and warmth of our holiday production to more people than ever before with the largest traveling Christmas celebration ever created."

"My vision for the Rockettes and the Christmas Spectacular has always been to explore scale and take the precision dance form to new levels, whether in a theatrical venue or an arena space," said Linda Haberman, director and choreographer of Radio City Christmas Spectacular. "In my view, the mark of a true classic is that it is timeless, relevant and can be re-interpreted to push artistic boundaries."

The Rockettes are an American treasure and their performance style has always been both entirely glamorous and ubiquitously complex. As the stars of the legendary Christmas Spectacular, the Rockettes will move this new production forward as they showcase their signature precision dance style and debut some of the most challenging and freshest Rockette numbers that have ever been conceived.

For further information about the national tour, including upcoming dates, please visit christmas. radiocity.com/nationaltour.html.

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