Radio City Christmas Spectacular
| Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes | |
|---|---|
| Company | MSG Entertainment |
| Genre | Musical |
| Show type | Annual holiday production |
| Date of premiere | December 21, 1933 |
| Location |
Radio City Music Hall New York City |
| Creative team | |
| Director & Choreographer | Julie Branam |
| Writer | Mark Waldrop |
| Lyricist | Mark Waldrop |
| Composers | Gary Adler Mark Hummel |
| Set Designer | Patrick Fahey 8 Hands High Inc. |
| Costume Designers | Frank Krenz Gregg Barnes Martin Pakledinaz |
| Sound Designer | SCK Sound Design |
| Lighting Designer | David Agress |
| Musical Director | Kevin Stites |
| Official website | |
The Christmas Spectacular is an annual musical holiday stage show presented at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The 90-minute show features more than 140 performers and an original musical score, and combines singing, dancing and humor with traditional scenes. The star performers are the women's precision dance troupe the Rockettes. Since the first version was presented in 1933, the show has become a New York Christmas tradition. The 2016 production ran from November 11 through January 2, 2017.
The "Christmas Spectacular" began in 1933 when the Music Hall presented lavish live stage shows along with the latest Hollywood feature films. The first Christmas show was produced December 21, 1933, along with the RKO musical movie Flying Down to Rio and The Night Before Christmas, a Walt Disney Silly Symphony, and ran for two weeks. This was just one year after the opening of the Music Hall in 1932. The show was created by the Music Hall's stage producer Leon Leonidoff and designer Vincente Minnelli. It consisted of an overture with Ernö Rapée and the Radio City Symphony; a solo on the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ; a performance by Jan Peerce; a Toy Shop Ballet; The Rockettes' performance of "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers", choreographed by their founder, Russell Markert; and "The Living Nativity". These last two scenes have continued in every edition of the annual show up to the present day. The Christmas show, like all the Radio City stage shows, continued to be produced and choreographed by Leonidoff and Markert through the early decades of the Music Hall's history. Later, Peter Gennaro and others produced the annual show.
A corresponding spring show, the Radio City Spring Spectacular was produced for several years until 1997. It included the traditional "Easter Parade" number with the Rockettes.
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