Laura Benanti to Star in NEW YORK SPRING SPECTACULAR at Radio City This March; Mia Michaels to Choreograph

MSG Entertainment (MSGE) announced today that Tony Award-winning actress Laura Benanti and Emmy Award-winning choreographer Mia Michaels will be choreographing the opening number of the NewYork Spring Spectacular, presented by Chase, at Radio City Music Hall, to debut in March. The production 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.

In New York Spring Spectacular, Laura Benanti will play the lead female role of Jenna, a billionaire and CEO of her own company, who just purchased a NYC tour company that she plans to take virtual.

She has friends in high places, a few that you may recognize, but little does she know that she's about to embark on an unforgettable New York City adventure with Rockettes! Other stars in the production will be announced at a later date.

"It's every actor, singer and performer's dream to be appearing on The Great Stage at Radio City Music Hall," says Nashville star, Laura Benanti. "It's a complete honor to be working with the legendary Rockettes under the inspiring direction of Warren and the rest of the creative team. I can't wait to celebrate spring in New York with this phenomenal show."

Laura Benanti can currently be seen on the ABC musical drama series Nashville. Benanti can also be seen guest-starring on CBS's The Good Wifeand last year received rave reviews for her performance as Baroness Elsa Schrader in NBC's The Sound of Music Live! She starred in the NBC series The Playboy Club; Go On opposite Matthew Perry; and in the FX comedy series Starved.

On stage, Benanti received a Tony-Award for her portrayal of Gypsy Rose Lee opposite Patti Lupone in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy directed by Arthur Laurents. She received three additional Tony-Award nominations for her performances in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,Into the Woods, and Swing.

Benanti completed a week-long engagement at the popular New York cabaret club, 54 Below, for which The New York Timeshailed her as an "supremely confident" performer whose "bright, full soprano, with its semioperatic heft, can go almost anywhere." In September 2013, she released her debut album, "In Constant Search of the Right Kind of Attention: Live at 54 BELOW" on Broadway Records to ecstatic reviews. Laura currently performs her cabaret concerts in venues around the country and even recently performed for the President and First Lady of the United States.

Celebrated choreographer Mia Michaels is well-known for her work on the Fox Television Show, So You Think You Can Danceand has collaborated with artists such as Prince, Madonna and Celine Dion. Michaels will be choreographing the Rockettes in 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.

"I've worked with dancers of the all kinds and none are comparable to the iconic Rockettes," says Mia Michaels. "The genuine love of dance and pure athleticism of these performers is second to none. I'm thrilled to be working alongside Warren Carlyle with this talented group of women and am proud to be part of such a groundbreaking production. Together, we are going to bring an unbelievably energetic and vibrant opening to kick off the start of New York Spring Spectacular."

The New York Spring Spectacular, an 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 Josh 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.

Preview performances of the New York Spring Spectacular begin March 12, 2015 at Radio City Music Hall®. Opens March 26, 2015 and runs for a limited engagement ending May 3, 2015. Prices range from $46 - $100 for previews and regular box office pricing from $50 - $150, depending on show date and time. Tickets are available online at www.rockettes.com/spring, by phone via Ticketmaster at 866-858-0007, or at Radio City's Box Office (50th St. & Avenue of the Americas). Group tickets of 9+ contact Group Sales at 212-465-6080 or group.sales@msg.com. Box Office hours are daily, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00pm. Tickets purchased via Ticketmaster are subject to service charges.

About MSG Entertainment - MSG Entertainment (MSGE), the live entertainment arm of The Madison Square Garden Company (Nasdaq: MSG), is a worldwide entertainment company recognized for its signature combination of event production and entertainment marketing. In addition to the nearly 900 entertainment concerts and events that take place each year at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Beacon Theatre, The Chicago Theatre, and the Forum in Inglewood, California, MSGE has an exclusive co-booking agreement with Boston's Citi Performing Arts Center/ Wang Theatre. MSG Entertainment's live events include the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which has played to more than 75 million people in 77 different cities across North America. More than five million people attend MSG Entertainment branded events annually including concerts, special events, and family attractions.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride