NEW YORK SPRING SPECTACULAR, Starring Laura Benanti and Derek Hough, Opens Tonight at Radio City

MSG Entertainment (MSGE) welcomes a brand new production at Radio City Music Hall, New York Spring Spectacular, presented by Chase. This awe-inspiring theatrical Spectacular, which is jointly produced by Madison Square Garden Entertainment and Weinstein Live Entertainment, has already captured the hearts of thousands in the first week of previews. The limited seven-week engagement opens tonight, March 26, 2015 and runs through May 3, 2015.

New York Spring Spectacular celebrates the magic of New York City and its most iconic landmarks, from The New York Public Library to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One particular scene honors the best of New York sports with video cameos from some legendary New Yorkers. A high-energy fashion scene celebrates the best of New York designers with video appearances by some of the well-known fashion icons that call New York City their home and Rockettes costumes designed by Diane von Furstenberg, Isaac Mizrahi and Zac Posen. The production is bursting with invigorating new Rockettes choreography, incredible 3D special effects, large-scale puppetry and an exciting soundtrack of pop hits, original music and classics.

The star power of New York Spring Spectacular includes Tony Award winning actress Laura Benanti as the female lead, Jenna; Emmy Award winning choreographer Derek Hough as the male lead, Jack; Lenny Wolpe as Bernie; Jared Grimes as Marshall and of course, the legendary Rockettes. The production also include celebrity video cameos by 50 Cent, Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz, Walt Frazier, John Leguizamo, Al Michaels, Kelly Ripa, Mariano Rivera, Sam Rosen, Carmelo Anthony, Henrik Lundqvist, Martha Stewart and Donald Trump.

New York Spring Spectacular takes audiences on a whirlwind adventure across New York City while telling an heartwarming narrative about New Yorkers who change each other's lives in an unexpectedly wonderful ways. 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!

Bernie, played by Wolpe, has been giving old-fashioned tours of New York for decades, but his company was just bought by Jenna, played by Benanti, a whip smart techie with plans to fire Bernie and turn his tours into a virtual reality wonderland. Bernie is in trouble. Enter Jack, played by Hough, 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, 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 on this whirlwind adventure, this group of people will be forever changed, and they will never look at the city the same way again.

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 is the choreographer of the opening number and is well known for her work on the Fox Television Show, So You Think You Can Dance, and has collaborated with artists such as Prince, Madonna and Celine Dion. Variety Magazine named Michaels "One of the Most Innovative Women" of 2013 and she has received multiple Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography. Michaels will also be lending her talents to Finding Neverland, which opens on Broadway in 2015.

Check out exclusive New York Spring Spectacular behind-the-scenes photos, videos and interviews at www.rockettes.com/spring, and follow Rockettes and New York Spring Spectacular on Facebook, @Rockettes on Twitter and @TheRockettes on Instagram for all the latest updates on the show.

Preview performances of New York Spring Spectacular began on March 12, 2015 at Radio City Music Hall. Opens tonight, March 26, 2015 and runs for a limited engagement ending May 3, 2015.

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.