This one's for you, Dad

I try to go into the city every year in December; if nothing else, I walk by the tree at Rockefeller Center and perhaps stroll Fifth Avenue a bit. I’ve often said I take in New York City Ballet’s Nutcracker every five years or so, and the Radio City Christmas show every ten. Turns out that last bit is not true, as it had been over twenty-five years since I saw the music hall show.

It was an oddly balmy December evening in New York and the crowds, while thick, were not the almost unmoving throngs I have experienced closer to Christmas. The city was looking its best and the Rockettes were kicking as high as ever.

The Christmas Spectacular, as it’s called, is, in many ways, exactly that. First, there’s the immensity of this 1932 art deco palace (left); visitors are not getting their money’s worth if they don’t wander the lobby, visit the lower level with its stunning and huge restrooms and walk up toward the stage to marvel at the immensity of the auditorium – almost 6000 seats. While pondering the enormity of the place, remember that from 1933 to 1979 it was a movie theatre, showcasing RKO films, which alternated with live stage shows. Radio City also has the largest theater pipe organ ever built for a movie theater -- with two consoles, as you can see.

I can remember being in New York City with my family; we’d drop my mother off at 50th Street and then Dad, Ray and I would go do something else. For the standard price of a movie anywhere else, mom would see a film and several stage acts, including the Rockettes.

A1948 New York Times film review ends with this line: “On the stage at the Music Hall are Margaret Sande and George Tatar, dancers; Ernie and Marquita, the Fredarry’s Trio and the Corps de Ballet, Glee Club and Rockettes” – again, all for the price of a movie ticket!

I thoroughly enjoyed very much of last night’s show. Of course I LOVED the Rockettes, who appeared more times than I expected: six I think. The Dance of the Wooden Soldiers (picture below), their most famous number, still thrills as it always has and their precision and kick lines are wonderful. When they were on stage I was grinning like a cat.

The other parts of the show vary from mildly tacky to intrusively commercial to technologically brilliant. This year’s edition has two 3D segments (glasses provided). The first, Santa’s sleigh flight from the North Pole to the Music Hall, was brilliant; the second, a video game segment, far less so.

(I'm not fond of doing other people's advertising, but this video gives you an overview of the show).

The Rockettes in the 60s

Throughout the evening I kept thinking about my dad. He loved the Rockettes and every Thanksgiving morning we would watch the parade until we had seen them—a tradition I mostly still maintain. I don’t know if dad ever saw them live; maybe he went with mom to one of those movies. I hope so, for he would have loved it and he certainly deserved it. Merry Christmas, Dad.