Review: ‘New York Spring Spectacular’ Barrels Into Radio City

This was a completely moronic show. It was a complete commercial for New York and not in a good way. They should have paid US to go to it. The only thing good about it was the actual Rockettes dancing, the rest was so tortured. Any why were there minions there?

Dear Mr. Isherwood. Why so jaded? Nobody goes to Radio City Music Hall to see a "play". One goes to be entertained and the Spring Spectacular was certainly entertaining - the Rockettes, the lights,the scenery, the multi-media, the puppetry, the "fun". My family of 14 (ranging from age 5 - 79) loved it. As a native New Yorker who was brought up on the Rockettes (and a movie as well) my nostalgia genes were brought into action. I didn't come for a story - there are plenty of Broadway plays that provide that kind of experience for me. I came for the entertainment and to expose my grandchildren to the iconic Radio City Music Hall.

Growing tired of harvey weinstein.

Mr. Isherwood, lighten up. For a weightier experience, you should have headed uptown to the Met for Gotterdammerung, or how about traveling across the pond for a little Shakespeare? This is Radio City, and no one expects anything more than good entertainment, great special effects, and the always wonderful Rockettes. Derek Hough is a rare talent and deserved a lot more praise than your snide elitist crack. We left the hall with big smiles on our faces amidst the excited chatter of delighted children and adults alike.

Let's see, Isherwood expected what used to be called "The Easter Show" to have a plot? And realism? From what planet does he hail?

This show belongs to the old tradition of the 'review,' and the ones at Radio City have always been long on technical effects, on plenty of leg (thanks for throwing in some male beauty), and on untaxing entertainment. At all of these these reviews excel. I remember when this show used to precede a full-length feature film, always family entertainment. It doesn't hurt sometimes to see displays of pure virtuosity onstage, as Ziegfield would remind us, just as all films don't need a serious message, or any message at all. I guess Isherwood would have disliked vaudeville too. Chacun à son goût.

I don't care what this guy says. I have my tickets and I can't wait.

Perhaps the Times should have taken a page from the New Yorker's book, and reviewed this as pop culture rather than theater.

I saw my first show at Radio City on Easter Sunday, 1970. My roommate and I took refuge there because the boiler was out in our building and we were freezing. General admission was $2.75. We also got a show by the orchestra, the stage show with the Rockettes and a movie - Airport (today, prices range from $50-$130 for the Spring Spectacular - according to ticketmaster). You were there for the better part of 3 ½ hours. It was well worth the $2.75. Today, not so much. It still makes you sport a big grin when the girls all get together for their high-kick line, every toe reaching that exact invisible line in the air - and the Rockettes are why we really go, aren't they?

The review might have been better than the show.

My family and I saw a preview on Sunday afternoon. I didn't think it was quite as tedious as the reviewer although the "Sports" segment was long (very long). Other than the Rangers, the other NY teams, especially the Knicks, haven't been doing too well so the audience (some tourists) didn't exactly cheer.

Whoopi's also does God. As to why God would care about Bernie? Well the show does take more than a page from "It's a Wonderful Life".

Laura Benanti was wonderful and Mr. Hough and the rest of the cast do their jobs ably.

That's one of the saddest reviews I've read. Having grown up going to Radio City in the 50's and 60's, the grandeur of a palace for movies, and as my Grandfather used to say to me, "pretty girlies who dance and kick up their legs." People came for the pretty girlies and the movie, Thinking of the horrific promotions surrounding such talented performers in this entire production, is a slap in the face of entertainment. I'm shocked at Harvey Weinstein, he always seemed to have such basic respect for the purity of entertainment.

New York has become the place where trends come to die.

The Rockettes are an institution. And who does not want to try to love them? But, at its core, how do I get comfortable with the nagging feeling that the institution is built on sexism and objectification? Maybe it is not, maybe I suffer from too much political correctness. I really want to like them. Really.

I took my daughter who turned 8, my mom, and my mother-in-law to see the show last week. We all loved it and I've been recommending it to everyone I talk to! I'm not sure what the author was expecting--this is the Rockettes--you go to see the dancing (which was perfect!) not to analyze whether or not the 90 minute plot was believable. I'm surprised at the author's negative reaction--it is completely uncalled for.

Like all shows, you have some slow parts but overall this show kept everyone's attention including that of my 8 year old. There were a few current songs/performances that my daughter loved including the whole runway act that the author disliked. The light-up bracelets act was one of our favorite parts. It is a cute, fun show with spot-on dancing that you expect from the Rockettes. Yes, Chase sponsored the show, and the bracelets advertised the Chase name and logo. How is that any different then all the ad's I see on nytimes.com?

its terrible ... stay far far away

"Heart and Lights", the show that this one replaced, had a heart warming storyline written by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning author Doug Wright about two teens racing about NYC trying to trace their heritage and what appeared to be ground breaking choreography by Linda Haberman. Judging from the universally poor reviews of the "Spring Spectacular" perhaps replacing the original show with this one was a significant creative and managerial mistake.

While Mr. Isherwood claims that this "numbingly overblown" show "threatened to send me into a waking coma", he did manage to regain enough consciousness to heap well-deserved praise on the Rockettes and Laura Benanti. But when his only comment about the show's dynamic young male lead Derek Hough derided him as "the boy-band-pretty dancer & regular on the hit TV series 'Dancing with the Stars'", this putdown stands to be corrected. Mr. Hough has been acclaimed as the most brilliant, creative dancer to come along since Astaire & Kelly reigned supreme. He is also an Emmy-award-winning choreographer. And his autobiography, "Taking the Lead", published in hardcover late last year, immediately hit the Bestseller list in the Times (and is currently high on the Times' list of best-selling paperbacks). So I strongly recommend that Mr. Isherwood return to Radio City this July 9th when Mr. Hough, partnered with his highly talented sister Julianne, hits Manhattan with the "Move Live on Tour", a musical song-and-dance show that was completely sold out in its nationwide tour last summer. And since Mr. Isherwood finds Nashville "delicious", was he in another "waking coma" when Hough guest-starred in several episodes, adding dramatic acting to his many talents?
At 29, Mr. Hough's rapport with his live audiences already rivals that of Hugh Jackman. I have no idea how old Mr. Isherwood is, but from this jaundiced critique, I fear that his best years are long behind him.

I loved the show! The production is so lavish it reminded me of the Ziegfeld Follies. I thought the book was just fine and if you had brought a pad to write it down Mr. Isherwood, Jenna sings "I could have danced all night" because she had always wanted to be a dancer. And Jack finds a way to connect to her through her unrealized passion. Maybe the "thin" book would have made more sense if you hadn't "forgotten" that integral detail. Considering the genre, I think this book was a lot better than most. Cudos to all the creative people that put this spectacular together. It's a wonderful love letter to NYC!

It seems the creative team for the production forgot that the Rockettes might be 36 individuals, the key to their beauty, strength and 'brand' is they are miraculously perceived as one. Start to break them off into 'sub-pairings' and smaller groupings—as happens frequently in this production—the beauty and magic is gone; the brand, diluted. Additionally, when did the Rockettes become 'back-up' to a solo artists or duets? As the billing on the program and ads purport, they are the stars and should have been treated as such. When you have performing hamming it up in front of them, again the magic is broken and the beauty and singular identity of those 36 as 1 is lost. This calls to mind that famous line utter by Susan Haywood as the character, Hellen Lawson in Valley of Dolls - "The only star of a Hellen Lawson IS HellenLawson!
Enough said.

Saw the matinee performance on 3/5. Did it change our lives forever for the betterment of all mankind. That answer is definitely "No"! Did we, and apparently the rest of the full house "6000" thoroughly enjoy it? That answer is certainly "Yes"! Was it a touch on the hoaky side in several places...again, yes. Was it a thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes that we would recommend to our friends who were not seeking a life altering experience...yes!! It was in many ways a quintessential New York experience that produced laughter and enjoyment along with not a small amount of wonder at the production numbers and the technologies so aptly displayed. And then, as always, there were the wondrous Rockettes. Their spectacular efforts simply continue to amaze. A welcome addition to the Christmas Spectacular and one can only hope to see more of this in the future. Thanks to the orchestra, production staff and crew, and the entire cast for an enjoyable interlude in these continuing troubled times.

The Rockettes can , contrary to the claim in the final paragraphs, be seen 'somewhere else.' They have put on a Christmas show ever year for the past several years at the Grand Old Opry in Nshville, and presumably there are other travelling troupes as well. Yes, they are billed as "the World Famous Radio City Muic Hall Rockettes..."

This review and the many others I read so pretty much the same thing. It would have been better if they spent more time to come up with a story and less time in the show showing tourist attractions.

It seems like one of those things, like some big movies, where if they had LESS money, they would have produced a better show.