Uniquely NYC
Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall
The holiday season in NYC is inseparable from the annual Christmas
Spectacular extravaganza. Over the years, millions of people have
attended Radio City Music Hall to see this stunning celebration of
Christmas.
The show had a major makeover in 2008 to mark its 75th anniversary. It
has been enhanced by breathtaking 3-D effects and video backdrops on one
of the largest LED screens in the world. In spite of all these
technological enhancements, the show hasn’t lost any of its original
heart and soul. It retained its appeal as the ultimate NYC Christmas
experience. All of the old time favorites are still there - the famous
Rockettes, the Parade of Wooden Soldiers, the ever so lovable Santa, the
Nutcracker, the full orchestra, the ice skaters and, finally, the live
animals for the show stopping Nativity scene. Top it all off with
Christmas carols, confetti, tinsel and on stage fire works and you will
have a true theatrical marvel.
Christmas Spectacular has been a beloved holiday tradition for millions
of Americans. In 1994, in response to popular demand, MSG Entertainment
broadened the holiday theatrical production's schedule for the first
time to encompass markets outside of New York. Since then, the Radio
City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular has been performed in many cities
across the United States, including Boston, Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago,
Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, Denver, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Seattle,
Nashville, Phoenix and many more. In 2009 alone, more than two million
people saw Christmas Spectacular. In its 16-year combined history
outside of NYC, as well as the production at Radio City Music Hall, the
Radio City Christmas Spectacular has played to more than 69 million
people in 63 different cities.
Christmas Spectacular by the Numbers:
- 1,200 costumes - and pairs of shoes - worn in the show
- 36 Rockettes in the show
- Two full casts
- 8 costume changes for each Rockette
- 78 seconds for the quickest Rockette costume change
- 37 miles traveled by the bus ridden in the show during the eight-week run
- 340 bales of hay eaten by animals used in the Living Nativity scene during the entire runs
- 560 loaves of seven-grain bread eaten by the critters
- 30,000 red dots worn each season to put color in the cheeks of Rockettes during the show
- 14,096 batteries used to power microphones