Reindeer fly. They really do.
Wooden soldiers march, elves rap, 19 teddy bears dance, and a line of 22 leggy Rockettes kick to the ceiling during the annual Radio City Christmas show — the one you've heard about all your life.
Now's your chance to see it, because it's never been closer.
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The 100-member touring company of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular will be coming to Buffalo for performances between Nov. 11 and Nov. 28 at Shea's Performing Arts Center.
The show
The show “lifts the spirit and spreads warmth, joy, and good will,” states The New York Times .
And it's a lot of fun — from both sides of the footlights.
Laura Smillie, 31, of Rochester, a singer who recently worked in the Geva Theatre production of Camelot, performed with the Rockettes in the Christmas Spectacular for four years -
and enjoyed every minute of it.
“I had a blast,” she says.
She said she loved the show, and she even met her husband while in the cast.
Katie Simco, 20, a junior at SUNY Geneseo, saw the show in New York City and enjoyed it.
“I (especially) liked the toy soldiers. They were so together,” she said.
Simco, who is a Westchester County resident when not at school in Geneseo, said she would “definitely” love to see the show again.
The Rockettes have been high-kicking in a Christmas show since 1933 when their first performance was offered as “a Christmas gift” to Radio City audiences.
The show has been touring for 10 years and has played before 8 million people in 17 cities. Two of the current show's dance numbers, the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” and “The Living Nativity” have been in the show since its inception.
But there also are new scenes including a Rockette tap number, “The 12 Days of Christmas,” and the high-kicking “Christmas in New York.”
Also starring are Wendy the Camel, Sarah the Donkey, three sheep and another camel, all of which call a Kansas farm home during the off-season.
Kathleen Anderson, 32, of Buffalo saw the show last year as part of a Rochester Institute of Technology alumni trip.
“It left me speechless,” she says. “The show captures the essence of the holidays. I actually found tears running down my face at the show's closing.”
The theater
Shea's Performing Arts Center itself is worth the trip to Buffalo, which is an hour away by car. And you shouldn't have to worry about snowy roads yet.
A National Historic Site, Shea's is one of only four Tiffany theaters still in existence. First opened in 1926, the theater has seen performances by Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Burns and Allen and even the Marx Brothers.
The theater was expanded in 1999 to accommodate touring Broadway shows.
Tours of the theater are available and cost $8 for adults and $4 for students and children. They are given on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, says Lisa Grisanti of Shea's, but have to be scheduled around shows.
So, she says, it is better to call in advance.
