Radio City Spectacular?

[Trish2]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 1:56pm

Any reports on the New York Spectacular at Radio City? I see it's up on TDF but was wondering if anyone here had seen it and their thoughts. Thanks!

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 2:50pm

I saw it last year, not sure if they made any changes to it or not for this year but for the most part I think it's easy to skip if you have other shows you want to see or if you're on a budget. If you live in the area and want to see some cool numbers then go see it. Overall it's just a mindless entertaining show that you will forget about the next day. 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 2:56pm

I started a post on it on the off topic board. It is very entertaining and well worth a visit. Did not see it last year and cannot comment if it is the same thing. It involves 2 lost children trying to find their parents .They travel all over Manhattan. If this sounds familiar to you, you could skip it. If you have never seen it, it is worth your time.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 3:29pm

I got a free ticket last year for the Spring Spectacular and yes it was mindless entertainment. I have read that they are using some of the sets from last year, but the storyline is a little more specific..and there are all new dances/plot.

I would like to see Lilla Crawford in it...but she is only on half the time (she shares her role with another girl) but as far as I know, they don't publicize the days that she is on/off..so I am not sure I will take the chance.

Does this get reviewed from professional critics? Just curious.. Has it officially "opened" yet?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 3:37pm

I believe it opened last week. It is well worth a visit. If you are on TDF, it is on every day along with other sites. It is hard to fill a 6,000 plus seat theater twice a day.

[Jakeevan942]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 3:37pm

Lilla said on Live at Five yesterday that it officially opens tonight, so maybe we'll see some reviews in a few hours

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 4:51pm

The script is treacly, preachy schlock and I did not like much of the So You Think You Can Dance inspired choreography at the beginning. But Danny Gardner is fully committed to what he's doing. He really deserves a great vehicle. His big tap number and the prominence of the Rockettes in the second half doing the kind of dancing they should be doing really redeemed the show for me. It's not a show for you if you're going for the singing though.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 7:27pm

I saw it and thought the whole thing was pure trash from start to finish with some faint glimmers of redemption in the Rockettes' numbers. The entire show it cheesy and tacky beyond belief. The "story" is awful and the children are sickeningly annoying. The whole show felt like being on an acid trip. Sure, the spectacle is there (in some scenes), but overall this was a HUGE misfire for me and I would highly recommend staying away from Radio City this summer unless you want to see a complete mess of a semi-spectacle. 

Updated On: 6/23/16 at 07:27 PM

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 7:36pm

I don't remember there being children as a main story so someone else will have to confirm if they were in it last year or not. I remember the stupid sports scenes with the Rangers, Giants and a few others. Is that still in it this year? 

[phantomcrazy14]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 7:48pm

I enjoyed the Rockette parts, as for the storyline, it got very old very fast. I can accept the cheesy acting for the Christmas show, but outside of that, the children were so dang annoying. I wanted them to disappear. The spectacle was fun, and loved the Vogue number! Very fun. And no the sports number is not in there

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 8:10pm

My 7 yr old grandson Wants to know if the audience is given the magic bracelets that were part of the show last spring.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 10:00pm

Broadway Joe said: "I don't remember there being children as a main story so someone else will have to confirm if they were in it last year or not. I remember the stupid sports scenes with the Rangers, Giants and a few others. Is that still in it this year? 

 

"

It's a different story this year...yes there were kids last spring....but younger kids and in smaller parts.  And yes ^^ i heard the magic bracelets are still there

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 10:21pm

If the bracelets are back I'll be taking the kids.

[asmith0307]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 10:31pm

I was there for the second time tonight for opening night, and I haven't seen bracelets at either performance. 

 

As others mentioned, the story isn't all that great. However, I saw quite a few YOUNG kids (like 3-5) in the audience who were mesmerized. To them, this show is amazing, and to me, that means it serves a purpose. 

[Just_John]

Posted: 6/23/16 at 10:35pm

I saw it this year and last year. Sadly, the light up bracelets are out.  Last year, I thought it was such garbage.  This year it's a cute kids show.  Definitely mindless entertainment and has nothing on the Christmas version.  With a lot more work, I could see this becoming just as much of a summer staple to NY as the Christmas show is.  Lila was so great in it.  She and her little brother are the stars of the show who go on a similar adventure through New York City as the characters did last year.  They use all the same major set and puppet pieces but with a completely different script, though similar story.  I don't think there were kids in it last year because the journey was had by Laura Benantis character.  I think it's definitely worth seeing if you live in the city and go to a lot of theatre or have children to take.  

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 1:34am

There are no sports scenes or celebrity cameos I could identify. There are "rapping" (using that word very loosely) lions at the library, dancing Egyptian handmaidens at the Met, a big Madonna Vogue fashion show, and a strange Wall St. number that is almost insulting in how it uses "Money" from Cabaret.

I thought Lilla was decent. She made her character more tolerable than she should have been. I agree that the brother character was awful though.

 

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He was horribly undisciplined. I thought maybe we would learn that he had autism or ADD or something that would excuse his behavior somewhat, but no. He just kept getting pats on the head for being imaginative and he never learned any lessons about not being a brat.

None of that is on the actor. It's all on the script.

There are no light up bracelets but (I think) in the Alice in Wonderland statue section what look like flower petals or helicopter seeds with pulsing lights drop down into the audience. A lot of kids ran around picking them up.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 6:26am

No bracelets at this show.

[cglaid]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 6:55am

For those who went, does the playbill list Lilla's/Jenna's days? Would love to catch Jenna. Thanks!

[backwoodsbarbie]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 8:40am

In my opinion, this was so much stronger than last year's version because it featured the Rockettes more and the choreography was more cohesive. The "story" is dullsville and predictable, but if you love the Rockettes, you are going to see them dance. It's not as if the Christmas Spectacular has a multilayered story. If found that Mia Michaels' and Warren Carlyle's styles were completely at odds last year and several women I know who are Rockettes felt that it was all about Derek Hough and not about them. The choreography in this year's update is much more contemporary. The only piece resembling traditional Rockette choreography is the closing number. Overall, if you love dance, it's a great display of energetic and contemporary movement. If you don't appreciate dance for the sake of dance, you'll be bored by the saccharine story. 

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 9:40am

Just_John said: "I don't think there were kids in it last year because the journey was had by Laura Benantis character.

"

Yes there were two boys played by Colin Critchley & Grayson Taylor -  and two girls - Emily Rosenfeld and Paige Brady. They were not the main characters - if my memory serves me correctly, they were the grandchildren of the guy that worked at "Grand Central station"?   They had a couple of numbers - which were basically them just skipping around..which was annoying because having seen some of the kids elsewhere, they were capable of so much more.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 11:37am

cglaid said: "For those who went, does the playbill list Lilla's/Jenna's days? Would love to catch Jenna. Thanks!

As a rule there are no Playbills at Radio City

"

 

[asmith0307]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 11:53am

Dollypop said: "cglaid said: "For those who went, does the playbill list Lilla's/Jenna's days? Would love to catch Jenna. Thanks!

As a rule there are no Playbills at Radio City"

 

But there is a program... And the answer is no. Jenna was on both times I went (Sunday evening - a 5:00 show, and Thursday evening)

 

[backwoodsbarbie]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 12:25pm

Lilla was on Monday evening when I went but I don't know if she's on every Monday night. 

[CukorLover]

Posted: 6/25/16 at 7:03pm

Saw this show the other night. What a slog to sit through! Douglas Carter Beane has written the most insipid, cliched book ever. I get that it's just to string along the musical numbers, but those kids scenes were interminable to sit through. As another poster said, the dance is all modern-contemporary. He/she was right- and it's all completely wrong for this type of lavish production. Celine Dion, yes- The Rockettes, no!

I felt like I was watching the touring company of So You Think You Can Dance. Even the Rockettes lost all their glamour and class. I've never seen them actually look ugly before. The technology is the only thing grand about this show. Tourist trap yes-Entertaining? Not in the least.

 

 

 

Updated On: 6/25/16 at 07:03 PM

[mmFan]

Posted: 6/25/16 at 9:32pm

Today my husband and I went on the Radio City music Hall Tour (which is neat in itself)    Our tour guy 'stalled'  us a bit so he would be showing us the theater during the show.   So we ended up catching the first act.  I can't talk for the story or for the rest of the show,  but wow... It was really cool the way they were all synchronized and the effect of seeing them all.   I honestly had no interest in seeing the Ricketts before but after that I would not hesitate going.