Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Radio City Rockettes

High kick your way through the holiday season at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Radio City Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall! Grab your tickets now and share the joy of the holidays with your loved ones this year at the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes presented by Chase. Experience Radio City Music Hall as it transforms into an immersive, magical wonderland and discover what’s new in this iconic New York City tradition. Make time for joy this holiday and create lasting memories with the legendary Rockettes.

One of the most anticipated holiday season attractions in New York City, Christmas Spectacular Starring, The Radio City Rockettes is a dazzling, blockbuster show that will get you in the holiday spirit! The Radio City Rockettes have performed The Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, since 1932, and has been watched by more than 75 million people! The show has become a New York Christmas tradition, and for almost a century, the Rockettes have been all-American icons. 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 single edition of the annual show since its inception in 1933 up to the present day. The Christmas Spectacular also features the legendary finale, “Christmas Lights,” which begins at the conclusion of the “Living Nativity” scene. Offering a truly immersive and interactive viewing experience, the Christmas Spectacular employs over 140 performers, a live orchestra, drones, LED screens and lighting, amazing stage effects and glorious costumes to put together a show you’ll have trouble forgetting. The 90-minute show masterfully combines synchronized dancing, singing, and humour to create the perfect Christmas experience for you and your family.

Founded in 1925 in St. Louis, and known as the “Missouri Rockets,” the Rockettes were initially inspired by the British dance troupe, The Tiller Girls, formed by John Tiller. Originally, a Rockette had to be between 5’2″and 5’6 ½”, but today, she is between 5’6″and 5’10 ½” and has to be proficient in tap, modern, jazz and ballet. After being moved to New York City in the early ’30s, the now renamed “Roxyettes”, were dubbed, “the hottest ticket in town,” for their opening night at the Radio City Music Hall. By 1934, the “Roxyettes” officially became the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.

They have appeared at Radio City Music Hall in hundreds of stage spectaculars and have participated in many historic and memorable events. Most famously, after the attack on Pearl Harbour, the United States entered World War II. The Rockettes were among the first entertainers to volunteer for the United Service Organizations. They entertained our troops abroad and were involved in wartime shows at the Copacabana, the Army Air Corps base in Pawling, New York and at the Stage Door Canteen. They made their first TV appearance on Wide, Wide World, and also performed for the first time in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1957. Like so many events the Rockettes took part in, it became a New York City tradition. The Radio City Rockettes are the longest-running precision dance company in America, admired for their iconic style of dance and their unity both onstage and off. The Rockettes are unique in that each woman is an integral and equal link in the creation of the Rockettes line. By the time the 60’s came they were in the forefront of change, in a salute to both Feminism and the Space Age, the Rockettes danced as astronauts on the Great Stage. Then as the bikini craze set in, the hemlines lifted and the kicks got higher, and they started appearing as Geisha girls, hula dancers, bull fighters, chimney sweeps and even can-can dancers.

Lately, the Rockettes have been busier and more in the public eye than ever. They have performed on the Great Stage with Oprah, Heidi Klum, Michael Bublé, and have made numerous appearances on The TODAY Show, The Chew, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Project Runway and America’s Got Talent in 2013, 2014 and 2015!

From the moment they first appeared in 1925, the Rockettes have been American icons. They are symbols of what you can achieve if you move with passion, dream big, work hard and most importantly, believe in yourself and reach for the stars!

The Rockettes Reviews

“The Radio City Christmas pageant feels immutable: Why change the winning combination of Santa Claus, the Rockettes, the Living Nativity and Yuletide megamixes that packs the Art Deco palace for several weeks each year? Newbies will be dazzled by the over-the-top delirium of it all — “Camels! CAMELS!” a man screamed during the Nativity parade at the Thursday performance, sounding intimately acquainted with the goblets of Champagne on sale in the lobby.”
– The New York Times on the 2018 performance

“The Rockettes, as ever, remain the epitome of dance troupe perfection and dazzle in their elaborate costumes, beautifully designed by Gregg Barnes, Frank Krenz and Martin Pakledinaz. If you can embrace the child within, you can embrace the Christmas Spectacular. Grab your kids or your young relatives and treat them to this all-singing, all-dancing, multi-media-spewing Winter Wonderland, which will no doubt remain with them for years and years to come.”
– New York Theatre Guide on the 2016 performance