Rockettes Kick Off the Holiday Season

 For the young and young at heart, attending the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the nationally adored Rockettes is the way to go when kicking off the holiday season.  Just in time to get Chicagoans ready for Christmas, the Radio City Rockettes are in the area for a limited time engagement, performing only until December 2nd at the Rosemont Theatre.  The multi-talented cast of 55 is celebrating their 9th season in Chicago and their 75th year of the Christmas Spectacular.  Boasting themselves as one of America's most treasured holiday traditions, the almost packed 4,400-seat theatre on Friday night was a testament to that statement.

The show includes twelve unique scenes with the Rockettes performing a range of characters, from prancing reindeer, dancing bears and singing Christmas trees to wooden soldiers, multiplying Santas, and rag dolls.  Several of the scenes stand out as numbers to be remembered, including "The Twelve Days of Christmas," "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers," "Christmas in New York," "Santa's Workshop," and "The Living Nativity."

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a relatively new number, only having been performed for a couple years.  Not to say that this new piece is any less noteworthy than the rest, in fact it is one of the most stunning.  All 18 Rockettes, dressed in sunny yellow, dance together to a jazzy rendition of recognizable song "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  As each verse appears in the song, groups of the equivalent number of Rockettes come forward to do a little corresponding dance.  Combining complex spatial choreography with intricate tapping makes this number a hit with the audience.

On the other end of the spectrum, "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" is a piece the Rockettes have been performing since they first started the Christmas Spectacular in 1933.  Probably the most well known piece the group does, "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" is the epitome of precision unison movement, with no dancer drawing attention to herself as an individual.  Crisp lines, sharp movements and the signature collapse at the end of the piece make this an always-impressive piece.

"The Living Nativity," the last scene of the show, is also piece that has been performed every year since the first Christmas Spectacular.  Probably the number with the least singing and dancing, the audience is instead drawn in by the retelling of the story of Christmas, complete with stunning costumes and live camels, sheep, and a donkey onstage in the traditional holiday scene.

And let's not forget the production value of the Christmas Spectacular's sets and scenery!  While often simple in line and bold in color, the sets are made more elaborate with their ability to fly in and out, light up on cue, and spurt out ribbons.  Two scenes that are perfect examples of the design portion of the production are "Christmas in New York" and "Santa's Workshop."  With a larger than life New York city street, multiple movable sets, bear costumes that weigh 30-60 pounds each, and a steaming toy-making machine, it's not a wonder the technical crew uses the same amount of time to get ready as the dancers prior to opening (about three weeks)!

While these scenes stand out, the Rockettes and additional cast members of singers and dancers truly do a great job in the whole performance.  Full of smiles and cutesy wootsey acting, the Christmas Spectacular will put a grin on your face and bring out a chuckle or two in even the biggest Grinch.  And if the show doesn't leave you wondering how they can kick so high, tap so fast, and make it all look so clean and effortless, then you haven't been to see the Rockettes.

Full of holiday cheer and family fun, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is sure to delight all ages.  The show runs November 9- December 2, 2007 at the Rosemont Theatre in Rosemont, IL.  Tickets are available through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com) and at the Rosemont Theatre box office.  For more on the Radio City Rockettes, visit christmas.radiocity.com

The Radio City Rockettes perform The Twelve Days of Christmas.

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