The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes is an annual musical holiday stage show presented at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The 90-minute show features more than 140 performers and an original musical score, and combines singing, dancing, and humor with traditional scenes. The star performers are the women’s precision dance troupe the Rockettes. Since the first version was presented in 1933, Christmas Spectacular has become a New York Christmas tradition. 

Christmas Spectacular began in December 21, 1933 when the Music Hall presented lavish live stage shows along with the latest Hollywood feature films. The first Christmas Spectacular was produced December 21, 1933, along with the RKO musical movie Flying Down to Rio and The Night Before Christmas, a Walt Disney Silly Symphony, and ran for two weeks. This was just one year after the opening of the Music Hall in 1932. 

The Christmas Spectacular was created by the Music Hall’s stage producer Leon Leonidoff and designer Vincente Minnelli. Christmas Spectacular consisted of an overture with Ernö Rapée and the Radio City Symphony; a solo on the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ; a performance by Jan Peerce; a Toy Shop Ballet; 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 edition of the annual show up to the present day. The Christmas show, like all the Radio City stage shows, continued to be produced and choreographed by Leonidoff and Markert through the early decades of the Music Hall’s history. Later, Peter Gennaro and others produced the annual show. 

The action of the musical starts in a forest, which is full of snow. It is located in the North Pole, where Santa lives. Here we see a music band, the members of which are going to travel to New York together with Santa Claus in order to take part in a music show. 

He finally arrives, and they start their journey to Radio City Music Hall. After reaching the place, they introduce themselves by performing a song during an annual competition, where more than 140 other performances take part. 

We see a little girl, who is dreaming about toys. In front of her eyes, the group members turn into wooden soldiers. Then we see the busy streets of Manhattan. Christmas is coming and everyone has some things to do. 

The band is boarding their bus in order to go for a tour across the city. They appear in the Central Park and on the Times Square. The nest scene is in a large department store. There we see Santa, who meets a little girl with her mother. They are looking for a special doll as a present for the girl. 

Santa feels really sorry that he cannot be everywhere at once to help every child. Suddenly the blizzard takes all of them to the North Pole. In this wonderful place, they meet Santa’s wife and elves. They also have a chance to see mesmerizing decorations. 

The music band, the mother and the little girl are enlisted for the video game by Santa Claus. They have to face gingerbread army, an enormous monster, made of ice, and a final boss – the King. 

They come back to New York. The girl gets her present. Her mother understands that there is a more important gift inside her heart. 

The hall. Where the group has been singing, is transformed into the magical winter wonderland. The audience also sees a traditional scene of the Crist’s birth in this performance. Mary and Joseph are presented as well as three wise men.