Rockette Man

This has nothing to do with baseball.

For Christmas, in her stocking, Amalie got two tickets to see the Radio City Rockettes at the Erwin Center here in Austin. The national touring group of Rockettes was here on December 30-31, and her tickets were for the early (4:00 pm) show on the first day. It was her choice to bring either Val or me, and she decided to ask me to drive. (Partly she was being equitable, as Val had taken her to another Christmas show some ten days earlier, in which her piano teacher was part of the band.)

Song-and-dance shows aren't really my thing -- I grew up somewhat close to NYC but never went to see the Rockettes, nor had any desire to -- but as dad, I happily agreed to go along.

Parking was dismal, and traffic control nonexistent. We finally stowed the car near the Capital, and walked. It wasn't so bad.

Waiting to get in (it didn't take too long), I noticed two things about the crowd. One, other children tended to be girls, and they were dressed up in holiday finery, which was nice to see. Two, a great deal of the crowd was senior citizens. I can only speculate, but at a guess, many of these people either had seen the Rockettes before and had enjoyed the show, or were hoping that the lifelong hype and expectations were met.

We found our seats -- very high up, but the view was good except for being partially obstructed by a lighting fixture -- and I was soon dispatched for a pretzel and water. The concession clerks were pathetically inept, and the show had started by the time I got back, but after that everything went well.

The dancers are very good at what they do; the choreography was snappy, including the famous kicking lines, but also the more scattered dance bits were fun and delightful. One number used a prop bus, which rotated (and the tires spun) to synchronize with a background of moving through New York streets, while street-dressed characters pranced the stage and the main dancers rode the bus. It was quite a production! There was one story about kids who have doubts about Santa Claus, until he helps them believe, with one segment of some 40 Santas dancing in formation (words alone cannot fully describe the visual feast of this image). Plenty of classic Christmas songs along with exclusive tunes. There was even a small skating rink at the forefront of the extended stage, though there was only one, brief skating sequence.

I enjoyed the show quite a lot, while Amalie was enraptured the entire show. No fidgeting, no fussing. She sat there, watched, listened, and enjoyed (while slowly eating her pretzel). After we got home, she couldn't tell Mommy enough about it.

Good, fun entertainment. Four stars. If the Rockettes are coming to your area, consider checking out this legendary troupe. I think you'll be glad you did.