If the walls of the Rockette Corral – the space where the world-famous Rockettes make their costume changes – could talk, they would have a few funny stories to tell.
Did you hear the one about the Rockette who ripped her costume on the way to the stage and had to be sewn in while queueing up? Or the one who almost shuffled onstage wearing two different shoes? Of course you didn't. Because when it comes to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes, not even a little backstage chaos can spoil the onstage perfection.
The popular holiday show opens at the Fox Theatre on Thursday and is scheduled to run through Dec. 6. The last Atlanta run was in 2005, said Kristen Delaney, spokeswoman for the Fox Theatre. "People love it and they are so excited when they hear it's back," she said. This year is particularly meaningful, she said, as the show, a holiday tradition for many families, has returned during the 80th anniversary year. The Fox Theatre opened on Christmas Day in 1929.
Prepping for opening night requires the efforts of 125 cast and crew members, three weeks of advance rehearsals at a vacant strip mall in Myrtle Beach and about a week to stage the show at each new venue. In six-hour, six-day-a-week rehearsals, the 18 Rockettes (and four swings who act as substitutes for injured, ill or absent performers) turn their proficiency in ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance into the Rockette style of precision dance. "Rockettes have a glamorous air about what we do," said Melissa Zaremba, of Chicago, a six-year veteran. "The dancing truly is unlike any other type of dancing."
Show director, Julie Branam, who served as a Rockette from 1988 to 2001, and has been directing shows since 1998, said working as a Rockette is much more demanding today. "The precision has gotten much better," said Branam, who enjoys watching new Rockettes transform into the perfect formation dancers. "Some cast members come in very green," she said. "You have to learn how to maintain what is asked of you and no more."
But the show isn't all about the Rockettes. There are 14 singers and dancers, two children, four little people and one Santa Claus. There are also seven live animals that appear in "The Living Nativity," including a sheep the cast nicknamed "Air Jordan" after he jumped three feet in the air during a performance in Boston. "The Living Nativity," and "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" – a crowd pleaser that features a dramatic fall – are the only two numbers that have been performed in every production of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular since 1933.
Other numbers in the show include "Christmas in New York" in which the Rockettes, dressed in the iconic red costumes with white marabou trim, spill from a taxicab. In 2001, "Christmas Dreams," was added to the lineup. In a departure from the Rockettes' traditional style, the number begins with the dancers dressed in light blue outfits to resemble snowflakes while performing slow lyrical movements.
With so many costume changes in each show, the scene in the Rockette Corral can get hectic, said wardrobe mistress, Stephanie Pocock. Thirteen dressers stack costumes of the 18 Rockettes on folding chairs labeled with each dancers' name. As they exit the stage, the dancers toss their old outfits into giant personal laundry baskets, and quickly dress for the next number. At a second station, they pick up hats and hairpins before heading back to the stage.
Yes, sometimes they have a few mishaps, Pocock said, but "you just make it work." And by the time the Rockettes hit the stage, they are pure perfection.
THEATRE PREVIEW
Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes. Times vary. Nov. 19 – Dec. 6, $25.50 -- $65.50, The Fox Theatre. 660 Peachtree Street N.E. 1-800-982-2787, www.ticketmaster.com
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