by Amanda Zinni ’25

In December, students from the Honors College were given the opportunity to go and see The Rockettes perform their Christmas Spectacular show before performances closed due to a rise in coronavirus cases. The show is touted as an essential New York City tourist attraction, so I was excited to see if the show matched its iconic reputation. Overall, the general pageantry of the event was impressive. Between the setpieces and costumes used in the performance, everything was clearly very well-planned and created with the intention of being whimsical, fun, and entertaining for guests of all ages. One aspect of the show that I really enjoyed was the dance that the Rockettes did to “The 12 Days of Christmas.” This was a fun dance that combined both tap and the iconic, high-kick technique that is typically associated with the Rockettes. 

While the Rockettes were the focal point of the show, there were other performers that filled the time in between their dances with singing and dancing. Not only did this add variety to the show, but it also added an entertaining plot that would be easy for the younger children in the audience to understand. In general, the show flowed well and the transitions between the Rockettes’ dances and the other performances made sense. 

The only aspect of the show that disturbed the established flow came towards the end of the performance. Instead of continuing the fun, child-focused plot that had already been established, the writers of the show opted to recreate the birth of Christ instead. To be fair, this is technically what Christmas is about and goes with the theme of the show, but it really didn’t match the fun and whimsy of what we had watched for the past hour. My guess is that the writers of the show ran out of plot ideas to fill in the time between dances and opted to show the audience something simple. To be fair, there was a decent amount of spectacle to this part of the show, including some phenomenal vocals and live animals, but those things didn’t really lessen the intense tonal shift. 

Overall, the show was genuinely enjoyable and lived up to its iconic reputation. The talent of all performers involved, as well as the talent working behind the scenes, really shines through and provides a show that is fun for everyone.