It takes a Christmas village.
Nothing says the holidays are here in New York City quite like the Radio City Rockettes. Today, more than 72 million people have witnessed the precision dance troupe, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, perform in the Christmas Spectacular.
To transport wide-eyed audience members to a 90-minute Christmas wonderland in the legendary Midtown theater, a ton of work goes on behind the scenes — beginning with a three-day dancer audition process in April — and The Post was recently granted exclusive backstage access to document some of the magical moments normally hidden from the public.
While adults and children alike watch the show’s 16 musical numbers in awe from their seats, backstage, it’s choreographed chaos for the precision dance troupe.
An hour to 90 minutes before showtime, each of the Rockettes — two casts of 42 dancers each — can be found in their designated dressing room, applying their makeup (including their classic red lip, the Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick in shade Always Red), styling their signature French twist hairdo, and warming up their muscles to perform over 200 eye-high kicks in nine different numbers.
For each of their eight head-to-toe costume changes — including a different pair of hand-painted shoes to match each woman’s skin tone for every number — one wardrobe person is assisting every three dancers in the quick-change booths located at the sides of the stage.
And there’s no room for error because the madness of swapping out hats, fixing hair, touching up lips and stepping into brand-new costumes has to be completed within seconds.
The fastest — and most impressive — is after the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” number.
Once the curtain goes down, each Rockette has 78 seconds to hop out of their soldier costumes, which consist of pants so stiff they can stand on their own, and three-foot-tall hats, to get ready for the beloved “New York at Christmas” routine, which features a real, full-sized double-decker bus.
Later in the show, the magical “Dance of the Frost Fairies” number, which was reintroduced four years ago and features fairy drones that fly above the audience, has six different costume styles in six different colors.
Performing the Christmas Spectacular for two months straight, six to seven days a week, two to four times a day — there’s no denying that taking on the role of a Rockette is physically demanding.
Even the Rockettes themselves can be mesmerized by the fast pace they face every day following rigorous training six hours a day, six days a week, for six weeks leading up to the November opening night.
“When I first started with the company back in 2012, I was just so excited to be a part of it. [Since then] I’ve learned so much about the show itself and the inner workings of what it takes to put the show together,” Mindy Moeller, a 14-year Rockette veteran, told The Post.
“You’ve got 36 women in a line in each show, you’ve got 84 women [in total], but you’ve also got 200 members of crew and wardrobe backstage putting the show together.”
Magical moments from backstage at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Rockettes by the numbers
- 1,000 colorful costumes are worn in the Christmas Spectacular.
- More than 500 pairs of shoes are worn Rockettes, the ensemble and Santa during each show.
- More than 30,000 red dots are used per season for the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” and “Rag Dolls” performances.
- The double-decker bus for “New York at Christmas” weighs eight tons and is 30 feet long.
- 12 fairy drones fly over the audience during the “Dance of the Frost Fairies” number.
- 48 Santas perform during “Here Comes Santa Claus.”
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