A Different Way to Celebrate Christmas

You may not be aware of it but, in just a few months’ time, the Christmas season, and frenzy, would already be upon us; and what better way to celebrate the Christmas season than to go and see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is an annual event that is held at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, hence the name. The show usually lasts for one and a half hours and features lavish costumes and props as well as a lot of dancing, singing, and humor.

The first Radio City Christmas Spectacular show took place in 1933, December 21 to be exact, spawning a yearly tradition  observed by millions of New Yorkers. The said show came along with the musical movies, “Flying Down to Rio” as well as “The Night Before Christmas”. This 2012 would be a special celebration of sorts for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. This is because, this year, the production would be celebrating its 80th anniversary. At the same time, the production would also be celebrating the 85th anniversary of the Rockettes, the women’s precision dance troupe who also happens to be the star performers of the show. As in the past, the show would be presented by the Chase Bank. Audiences can expect some of the Rockettes staples including the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” and “The Living Nativity”. These songs have been considered as a Rockettes’ signature as they have been performing those since the show’s inception. Newer production numbers would also be included so audiences should watch out for the part where they sing “New York at Christmas”, “Let Christmas Shine,” and “Joy to the World”.

As part of the kick off of this year’s production, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular held a preview last August along Sixth Avenue just outside of the Radio City Music Hall. The traffic-stopping performance aptly named “Christmas in August” received positive reception from the public. Now, because of the significance of this year’s performance, new scenes and new costumes would be used. This is aside from the 50-foot LED screen that would be used for the imageries. This year’s production would also feature 34 performances. Some of these performances would be held at the Akoo Theatre in Rosemont, Illionois. The said performances would run from December 14 toDecember 30. The last time that the Rockettes performed in the said Chicago Theater was in 2008.

This year’s production would not be the first time that the Radio City Christmas Spectacular production was “updated”. During the show’s 75th anniversary, a number of changes have also been made in honor of the event.  Linda Haberman was the director of the said production which saw not only a change in song line-up but a change also in the designs as well as in the choreography. Another “update” to the who was done in 2011 which gave birth to “The Rockettes Magical Journey”.

As early as now, you can already get your Radio City Christmas Spectacular tickets from the Ticket Broker. The 2012 Radio City Christmas Special would be running from November 9 to December 30.