Radio City Christmas Spectacular: 2003

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Fri Nov 07, 2003 9:48 am

The show opens at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle on Thursday, November 13 and continues through Sunday, December 7. Both Seattle papers ran feature articles with photographs on the cover of the Friday arts magazine and banner headlines on the front page. Joe Adcock writes for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/theater/147185_rockettes07.html

A sidebar to this article reprints the previously reported Boston Globe story about the economic effects of this show on Nutcracker sales. At the conclusion of the article, the "local angle" is briefly examined by Pacific Northwest Ballet Executive Director David Brown, who notes that PNB had planned for the impact of the Rockettes show by starting their Nutcracker marketing earlier in the season and by concentrating on electronic media advertising. He comments that Nutcracker sales are on track and says that there is always some form of competition for the holiday entertainment dollar.

Next, Jack Brown in the Seattle Times:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2001784718_rockettes07.html

Click on the "related stories" sidebars as well.

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Fri Nov 07, 2003 11:26 am

One more preview by Sue Kidd in the King County Journal:

http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/148319

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Sat Nov 08, 2003 1:35 pm

Another preview from Jen Graves in the Tacoma News Tribune:

http://www.tribnet.com/entertainment/story/4348451p-4357273c.html

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Fri Nov 14, 2003 3:13 pm

A preview from Mike Murray in the Everett Herald:

http://www.heraldnet.com/ae/story.cfm?file=03111417735434.cfm

kurinuku · **Posted:** Mon Nov 17, 2003 9:01 am

Quote:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the theater

By JACK ZINK
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Pssst! If there's anyone left in South Florida-land with the conviction that sleigh bells should not ring until after Thanksgiving, keep those thoughts to yourself or run the risk of being tarred and feathered as the Grinch. The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular has pulled in, and the holiday stampede is already under way.

...

The show's concept dates from 1933 warmup acts for movies; the full-blown live Christmas show began in 1979 and still incorporates classic routines dating back to the original. The Rockettes' Parade of the Wooden Soldiers is a march that never grows tired, and the Living Nativity finale is presented carefully to achieve as much political correctness as possible in today's multicultural environment.

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Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Mon Nov 17, 2003 12:31 pm

Reviews from the Seattle dailies of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, running through December 7 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.

Joe Adcock in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/theater/148347_rockettesq.html

Tina Potterf in the Seattle Times:

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=rockettes15&date=20031115

Still in preview mode is this piece from Sue Kidd in the King County Journal:

http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/149068

And a review from Mike Murray in the Everett Herald:

http://www.heraldnet.com/ae/story.cfm?file=03111517753194.cfm

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Mon Nov 24, 2003 10:54 am

A feature on the staff who care for the camels, sheep and donkeys who appear in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, by Tina Potterf in the Seattle Times:

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=behind23&date=20031123

kurinuku · **Posted:** Tue Nov 25, 2003 9:16 am

Quote:

Radio City: 70 years of Christmas wonder

By ELYSA GARDNER
The USA Today

Since 1933, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular has been as much a holiday tradition in Manhattan as the tree at Rockefeller Center, roasted chestnuts and gridlock.

Those who flock to Radio City Music Hall to check out the 90-minute show, as more than 1 million people did last year, will enjoy some of the same scenes and routines offered in the original version. The Living Nativity, a re-creation of the Christmas miracle featuring live animals, and The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, choreographed by Rockettes founder Russell Markert, are still as fundamental as they were 70 years ago.

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Dean Speer · **Posted:** Sun Nov 30, 2003 12:46 am

And SPECTACULAR it is! I adored the whole production from top to finish, including the four sheep, one donkey, and two camels during the Nativty Scene at the end. This show illustrates what you can do when money and creativity come together. Fun costumes and clever numbers with lots of razzle-dazzle from all the performers, especially, you-know-who -- the famously precise and 400-watt Rockettes.

My only gripes are no live music, as they did have a couple of years ago when Susan Anton headlined this troupe and it would have been fun to have had a little more razzle-dazzle in the form of a tutti finale/bow number after the Nativity Scene. But I can also imagine that they felt it might be imprudent to try to top themselves, but I did want to see them all take much-deserved bows.

A fun time with some great dancing and clever and inventive choreography.

ncgnet · **Joined:** Sun Oct 27, 2002 12:01 am **Posts:** 1845

From Christine Temin in the Boston Globe, on a Ft. Lauderdale production:

Quote:

Rockettes’ red glare

Boston-bound ‘Spectacular’ lacks taste of holiday’s rich ‘Nutcracker’ tradition

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- While they both qualify as holiday entertainment, the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” and Boston Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” have little else in common. One is McDonald’s; the other, a place with a Michelin star. A comparison is inherently unfair -- each is what it is.

Still. With the Radio City production set to replace Boston’s “Nutcracker” at the Wang Theatre next year, it’s worth looking at what we’re getting.

More....

kurinuku · **Posted:** Wed Dec 10, 2003 9:44 am

Quote:

Going toe-to-toe in high heels, ballet slippers

By TOM STRINI
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Forget the eight tiny reindeer. Santa is coming to town on the legs of 18 high-kicking Rockettes.

"The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular" is taking over the Wisconsin Center's new Milwaukee Theatre for a long run beginning Friday.

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kurinuku · **Posted:** Wed Dec 17, 2003 6:35 am

Quote:

Ongoing

By ADELE NICKEL
The Village Voice

o get the most holiday cheer for your New York minute, head to Radio City; in 90 minutes you'll hit all the hot spots from Rockefeller Center to the North Pole. Don 3-D glasses for a virtual sleigh ride, then sit tight for an onstage snowstorm, a growing Christmas tree, spunky ice-skaters, and industrious elves who take you on a tour of their gadget-filled toy factory.

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kurinuku · **Posted:** Wed Dec 17, 2003 9:37 am

Quote:

Rockettes come to town at their kitschy, Christmas best

By TOM STRINI
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

How straight was the Rockettes' kick line Friday, at the opening of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular? When the end of the line wheeled around to my sightline, 17 Rockettes disappeared, blocked from view by the dancer on the end.

The power of that turning line of 18 women is elemental. The discipline required to achieve it is awe-inspiring. There is no such thing as individual style here; being a Rockette is surrendering the self to the group.

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Radio City Christmas Spectacular: 2003

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