The 83rd edition of the Macy's Parade will mark a milestone in Parade history, going where it has never gone before. Having marched down parts of Broadway for 82 years, the 2009 procession will be the first to bypass Broadway in the long running march, lighting up 7th Avenue in its place.
The Parade, however, will not be without the flavor of Broadway. Keeping with tradition, this year's festivities are toplined by a host of Broadway fan favorites including Jane Krakowsky, Alan Cumming, the casts of BYE BYE BIRDIE, HAIR, BILLY ELLIOT, SHREK, WEST SIDE STORY, DREAMGIRLS and more, with a special appearance by everyone's favorite leading man, Cheyenne Jackson.
Broadway show performances in the first hour include: "Put on a Happy Face," performed by the Broadway cast of BYE BYE BIRDIE; "Aquarius," performed by the Tony-winning cast of HAIR; "Shine," performed by the BILLY ELLIOT company; and "I'm a Believer," the newest addition to Shrek: The Musical sung by the Shrekies.
Cheyenne Jackson, currently starring on Broadway in the hit revival of "Finian's Rainbow," and who recently joined the cast of NBC's Emmy-award winning series "30 Rock," will be featured on the New York Daily News Big Apple Float which will honor the NY Yankees and their World Series win. He will be performing a song, "Play to Win" which was specially written by Bill Schemerhorn and Michael Feinstein.
Jane Krakowski will be performing an original song written by Emmy nominated composers Wesley Whatley and William Schermerhorn, both of Macy's Parade & Entertainment Group. Their number " I Believe," the theme song to the 2008 Macy's Parade, was nominated for an Emmy this past year.
Alan Cumming will be performing "That's Life" on the M&M's on Broadway float.
The entire 40-member cast of Broadway's RAGTIME will sing "Wheels of a Dream" and the title song from the musical in Battery Park, against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
Country music star Reba McIntyre of Annie Get Your Gun fame, will also perform as part of the parade festivities while the cast of Broadway's Tony-nominated West Side Story will perform "America" and the Dreamgirls belt out the show's title song from their revival, currently playing Harlem's Apollo Theatre.
The Radio City Rockettes will also be on hand in their long-legged glory.
Over the years the Macy's Parade route has changed five times traveling through several different paths, from having initially stepped off in Harlem to its current 77th Street launch, the route has changed with the times. The 2009 Macy's Parade will begin at 77th Street and Central Park West, travel down to Columbus Circle where it will turn onto Central Park South. Once the Parade reaches 7th Avenue it will turn once more and march down 7th Avenue through Times Square to 42nd Street. At the famed intersection it will turn east to 6th Avenue and begin its final march down the Avenue of the Americas to 34th Street where it will turn towards Macy's famed flagship and end at 7th Avenue marking a 2.65-mile march.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade airs on NBC and CBS on Thanksgiving morning, November 26th from 9 am to 12 noon, each station capturing different highlights of the event. NBC will follow the march down Seventh and Eighth Avenue from it's starting point at 77th Street to 34th Street, covering the BYE BYE BIRDIE, HAIR, BILLY ELLIOT, and SHREK performances, in addition to Cheyenne Jackson, Jane Krakowski, Alan Cumming and The Rockettes. CBS, meanwhile, will broadcast the WEST SIDE STORY, RAGTIME, DREAMGIRLS, and Reba performances, in addition to a Time Square interview live with GOD OF CARNAGE stars Christine Lahti and Jimmy Smits.
Public information on the 83rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is available by logging on to www.macysparade.com or calling the Macy's Parade Hotline at (212) 494-4495.
