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Nov. 13--The 2006 edition of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is a revelation.
I'm not speaking here of the Living Nativity, a part of this show since the 1930s. Nor "The Nutcracker" ballet. Nor the world-famous "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers." I've seen the Christmas Spectacular at least half-a-dozen times before, so the sight of leggy Rockettes emerging from a tiny taxicab holds little mystery.
But if you've seen this show before and head for Rosemont this holiday season, you're in for a big surprise. The teddy bears are having their picnic at the North Pole, as they do here every year. But the big news, Virginia, is that this year's show is infinitely better than any version that's played Rosemont before.
I can't overstate the difference. This thing has morphed from a big-budget but rote seasonal entertainment, with stakes and artistry on a par with an afternoon performance at Cedar Point, to a huge retro dance spectacle of Broadway or Hollywood quality. It's a dazzling transformation.
How did it happen? It's the work of a new director and choreographer named Linda Haberman who somehow figured out how to inject artistic class amid the traditions that people expect. Instead of looking like an overachieving drill team, Haberman's new energized (and newly legitimate) Rockettes look as if they suddenly got an injection of Bob Fosse.
Time and time again, Haberman cuts back on the kitsch, often setting the Rockettes on an almost-bare stage, letting their dance take all the focus.
And they're dancing like never before. The Rockettes can't eschew the precision and anonymity of the line, of course, but the stakes have risen and they're now using their whole bodies to tell their collective story. Their plastic smiles have been replaced by actual acting. Instead of using unity to dazzle, they use creative expression. The famed rag-doll number is a stunner, now. So is a knockout new tap number themed to "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and a hip and fresh pastiche called "Christmas Dreams."
"I'm Here," a new dance meditation on how Santa gets to be everywhere at once, is the best example of how this show has been transformed. Sure, it's light and seasonal. But it's also brilliantly inventive, counterintuitive and evocative of the show's 1930s roots, all at once.
Haberman didn't stop with the Rockettes, either. The hitherto cheesy song-and-dance team of carolers suddenly are shaping and honing every moment like they're on a crucial audition. Like the rest of this Rosemont show, they've gone from painful to quite wondrously appealing in less than 12 months.
"Radio City Christmas Spectacular"
When: Through Dec. 2
Where: Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Rd.
Running time: 2 hours
Tickets: $24-50 to $59.50 at 312-559-1212
cjones5@tribune.com
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Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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