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Derek Hough to Star in Radio City's SPRING SPECTACULAR; Will Not Return for DWTS

By: Jan. 13, 2015
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MSG Entertainment (MSGE) announced today that Derek Hough will be named as the male lead, Jack, in New York Spring Spectacular, the brand new production at Radio City Music Hall this Spring. New York Spring Spectacular, presented by Chase, at Radio City Music Hall, will debut in March 2015 and is jointly produced by Madison Square Garden Entertainment and Weinstein Live Entertainment. The limited seven week engagement begins previews on March 12, 2015 and runs through May 3, 2015. Tickets on sale now at www.rockettes.com/spring.

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"I am ecstatic that I'll be able to extend my passion for performing to the Great Stage of Radio City Music Hall in New York Spring Spectacular," said Derek Hough. "Performing at Radio City Music Hall in a show that celebrates everything that is beloved about New York City is a dream. I can't wait to show fans this production . . . it's going
to be like nothing they've seen me in before."

"We are so thrilled to have Derek Hough joining the cast of New York Spring Spectacular," said Harvey Weinstein, producer of the brand new production. "Derek has been entertaining us for years on TV, and we are very excited to bring this talented performer to New York City to light up the Radio City Music Hall stage."

Derek Hough is known for his work as choreographer and dancer on the ABC dance-competition show Dancing With the Stars. He won a record five seasons on the show and also received a Primetime Emmy Award in 2013 for three routines that he choreographed for the television series which he plans to return to in Fall 2015. Hough has appeared on stage in productions including Footloose: The Musical and has guest starred in the ABC series, Nashville. In addition to acting and dancing, Hough has recently become a New York Times bestselling author.

In New York Spring Spectacular, Derek Hough has been cast as Jack, a man with a special mission who will receive an eternal reward if he's able to help Bernie keep his position as a New York City tour guide. Bernie's job is in jeopardy when Jenna, played by Laura Benanti, reveals her plan to take the tour company virtual. Hough will be
joining an all-star cast in New York Spring Spectacular including Tony winning-actress Laura Benanti starring as the female lead, Jenna, Whoopi Goldberg voicing the Statue of Liberty, Bella Thorne as the voice of the Alice in Wonderland Statue, with celebrity cameos by Carmelo Anthony, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, Henrik Lundqvist and many more.

New York Spring Spectacular, the all-new show at Radio City Music Hall, takes audiences on a whirlwind adventure across New York City while telling an inspiring and hopeful narrative about three New Yorkers who change each other's lives in unexpectedly wonderful ways. Writer Joshua Harmon has fashioned a heartwarming and wondrous journey through New York City.

Bernie has been giving old fashioned tours of New York for decades, but his company was just bought by Jenna, a whipsmart techie with plans to fire Bernie and turn his tours into a virtual reality wonderland. Bernie's in trouble. Enter Jack, a spirited young man with a secret agenda of his own: If he can help Bernie keep his job, Jack will get an eternal reward.

With the assistance of the legendary Rockettes, and guest appearances by some of your favorite New Yorkers, Bernie takes Jenna-- and the audience-- on the tour of a lifetime, from the Statue of Liberty to Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By the last stop of this whirlwind adventure, these three people will be forever changed, and they will never look at the city the same way again.

Bursting with invigorating new Rockettes dance numbers, incredible 3D special effects, sophisticated large-scale puppetry and an exciting soundtrack of original songs, classics and pop hits, the New York Spring Spectacular is as rejuvenating, energetic and uplifting as spring itself - and a reminder that while things may change, nothing can take away the timeless magic and romance of the one and only New York City!

The New York Spring Spectacular is led by Director and Choreographer Warren Carlyle, a Tony and Drama Desk Award winning director and choreographer, including for such popular Broadway productions as The Mystery of Edwin Drood, A Christmas Story: The Musical and After Midnight, which he also directed and for which he won both the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Choreographer. Working by his side are Co-Creative Directors Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner. Paulus is a Tony Award winning Director for the A.R.T.'s Pippin and was among 2014's TIME 100, TIME Magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Weiner is the creator of the Off-Broadway extravaganza Queen of the Night at the Paramount Hotel and is a frequent collaborator with Paulus, most recently working together to create Amaluna for Cirque Du Soleil. Weiner is also the producer of the Drama Desk Award winning New York premiere of Punchdrunk's Sleep No More. Writer Joshua Harmon made his professional New York playwriting debut with the critically acclaimed play Bad Jews, which was produced by Roundabout Underground and was the first play to transfer to the Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre in October 2013. It received Outer Critics Circle and Lortel nominations for Best Play. Harmon earned degrees in playwriting from Northwestern and Carnegie Mellon and studied at Julliard's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights program. Mia Michaels has been announced as Choreographer of the opening scene. Michaels is well-known for her work on the Fox Television, So You Think You Can Dance and has collaborated with artists such as Prince, Madonna and Celine Dion. Michaels will be choreographing the dynamic opening number of New York Spring Spectacular and will soon be lending her talents to the upcoming Broadway production of Finding Neverland. Variety Magazine named Michaels as "One of the Most Innovative Women" of 2013 and she's received multiple Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography.

Photo by Stewart Cook / Rex USA

Photo courtesy of ABC




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