Photo of the day: WHAT HAS 72 LEGS AND MOVES WITH PRECISION?
Photo of the day: WHAT HAS 72 LEGS AND MOVES WITH PRECISION? – The New York Radio City Music Hall Rockettes ! !
The Christmas Spectacular is the single most popular show in New York at Christmastime. 5,931 seats available for each show!! Five shows a day!
There are two sets each of 36 dancers in each New York show. There are 80 Rockettes (4 understudies), and they split the casts into 40 and 40. On the days with five shows, one cast will do two shows, the other will do three. On six-show days they divide it by three and three. So they can get a break, during the week they give each other a day off. The most they would do is four shows in a day.
A little known fact, if you are from Missouri (ironically the “show me” state) – you can be proud! The group was founded in St. Louis, Missouri by Russell Markert in 1925, originally performing as the “Missouri Rockets.” Markert had been inspired by the John Tiller Girls in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1922, and was convinced that “If I ever got a chance to get a group of American girls who would be taller and have longer legs and could do really complicated tap routines and eye-high kicks… they’d knock your socks off!” The group was brought to New York City by Samuel Roxy Rothafel to perform at his Roxy Theater and renamed the “Roxyettes.” When Rothafel left the Roxy Theatre to open Radio City Music Hall, the dance troupe followed and later became known as the Rockettes. The group performed as part of opening night at Radio City Music Hall on December 27, 1932. In 1936, the troupe won the grand prize at the “Paris Exposition de Dance”…the rest – is history !
Mondays on Memory Lane: I REMEMBER SUBWAYS WHEN . . .
Mondays on Memory Lane: I REMEMBER SUBWAYS WHEN . . . – They had rattan seats – when the rattan came loose, it would pinch you in the ass – all you needed was a nickel and a dime to ride the subway, 15¢ – they gave out paper transfers – porcelain handles that squeaked – the subways were so noisy you had to wait till the next stop so that you could talk – they had vending machines on the platforms: assorted gums like Chicklets for 1¢, Dole orange juice machines with separate spigots for water and juice concentrate – there was still a Miss Subways – there were large paper ads shellacked onto the walls instead of the peel and stick kind today – the stations were dimly lit with simple household light bulbs – we still had token booth attendants – those thick wooden turnstiles – there was a dusty/musty smell in all the stations – garbage was piled high on the tracks – ladies wore white gloves on the subways (this helped keep your fingers from not getting black from reading The New York Times) – all businessmen read their cleverly triple vertically folded NY Times, it was an art – there were wonderful square cardboard ads on the car walls advertising the movies with a show at Radio City Music Hall – when (I Love) Lucy got the loving cub stuck on her head and takes the subway disguised as a beekeeper – there were no musical performers on the trains – that vertical emergency brake pole that was on one end in every car, that would clank as the train rattled – trains shook, rattled and rolled – going from car to car while the trains sped through the tunnels was really dangerous and scary – men gave ladies their seats – porcelain ceiling fans – those teeny tiny tokens! – you could open the windows at your desire – the conductor changing the route signs at the end of every station – you got dressed nicely simply because you were taking the New York City subway, wondering if you might sit next to an actual ‘miss Subways!’ . . .
Radio City movie & show – 1974 subway ad
Photo of the day: WHICH ONE OF THESE GIRLS WILL BECOME A RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL ROCKETTE?
Photo of the day: WHICH ONE OF THESE GIRLS WILL BECOME A RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL ROCKETTE? Only the grueling 45 minute audition will tell. Yesterday morning hundreds of anxious women between 5’6″ and 5’10 1/2″ tall, proficient in ballet, tap, and jazz lined up on 50th Street outside the iconic landmark Radio City Music Hall to hopefully fulfill a childhood dream of becoming a NYC Rockette, if even only for the run of the popular Christmas show. They were told to all come with a ‘Rockette Look’. All the women had the same Christmas red accented lips. No short haired ladies, they all had long hair pulled back in a chignon. Most eyes bore heavy black false eye lashes. It was a strange yet beautiful sort of 2013 version of the 1988 Robert Palmer music video “Simply Irresistible”. Rows and rows of them, simply ‘irresistible.’
It also looked like the opening scene of ‘A Chorus Line’. The looks on their waiting faces ranged from anxiety to sheer excitement. Later in the day, about 1pm, I passed by again and the last girl was being admitted inside. But now on 50th street, there was also this stream of women leaving Radio City Music Hall that, to the passers by…oddly all seemed to look alike! Some serene, some happy, some in tears. Callbacks will be on Wednesday for the lucky ones to get through to audition further, ultimately proving the Big Apple is where everything is possible and dreams can come true.
New York City is called the Big Apple because the red apple, like temptation from Eve to Adam, represents ‘the tempting opportunity’ the people have flocked to this city for centuries to take a bite of. The apple of these ladies’ eye is a contract which states: “Travel and Housing are provided for all performers in shows performing outside New York City. No travel or housing is provided for the performers of the show in New York. If cast in the show, performers will be offered an American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) contract with competitive salaries and benefits.”
Here’s hoping one of them will be kicking her heels high at Christmas time !
Step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch…Again!
Step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch…Again!
Step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch…Again!
Step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch…Right!
That connects with… Turn, turn, out, in, jump, step,
Step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch. Got it?… Going on.
And… Turn, turn, touch, down, back, step,
Pivot, step, walk, walk, walk.
Right! Let’s do the whole combination, Facing away from the mirror.
Pivot, step, walk, walk, walk.
Right! Let’s do the whole combination, Facing away from the mirror.
From the top. A-Five, six, seven, eight!
[ALL] God, I hope I get it. I hope I get it. How many people does he need?
[BOYS] How many people does he need?
[GIRLS] God, I hope I get it.
[ALL] I hope I get it. How many boys, how many girls?
[GIRLS] How many boys, how many…?
[ALL] Look at all the people! At all the people. How many people does he need? How many boys, how many girls? How many people does he…?
[TRICIA] I really need this job. Please God, I need this job. I’ve got to get this job.
[ALL] God, I really blew it! I really blew it! How could I do a thing like that?
[BOYS] How could I do a thing like…
[ALL] Now I’ll never make it! I’ll never make it! He doesn’t like the way I look. He doesn’t like the way I dance. He doesn’t like the way I…
[ALL] GOD, I think I’ve got it. I think I’ve got it. I knew he liked me all the time. Still it isn’t over.
[MAGGIE] What’s coming next?
[ALL] It isn’t over.
[MIKE] What happens now?
[ALL] I can’t imagine what he wants.
[GIRLS] I can’t imagine what he…
[ALL] God, I hope I get it! I hope I get it. I’ve come this far, but even so It could be yes, it could be no, How many people does he…?
I really need this job.
[A FEW VOICES] My unemployment is gone.
[ALL] Please, God, I need this job.
[A FEW VOICES] I knew I had it from the start.
[ALL] I’ve got to get this show.
[PAUL] Who am I anyway? Am I my resume? That is a picture of a person I don’t know.
What does he want from me? What should I try to be? So many faces all around, and here we go. I need this job, oh God, I need this show.
[ALL] God, I hope I get it. I hope I get it. How many people does he need?
[BOYS] How many people does he need?
[GIRLS] God, I hope I get it.
[ALL] I hope I get it. How many boys, how many girls?
[GIRLS] How many boys, how many…?
[ALL] Look at all the people! At all the people. How many people does he need? How many boys, how many girls? How many people does he…?
[TRICIA] I really need this job. Please God, I need this job. I’ve got to get this job.
[ALL] God, I really blew it! I really blew it! How could I do a thing like that?
[BOYS] How could I do a thing like…
[ALL] Now I’ll never make it! I’ll never make it! He doesn’t like the way I look. He doesn’t like the way I dance. He doesn’t like the way I…
[ALL] GOD, I think I’ve got it. I think I’ve got it. I knew he liked me all the time. Still it isn’t over.
[MAGGIE] What’s coming next?
[ALL] It isn’t over.
[MIKE] What happens now?
[ALL] I can’t imagine what he wants.
[GIRLS] I can’t imagine what he…
[ALL] God, I hope I get it! I hope I get it. I’ve come this far, but even so It could be yes, it could be no, How many people does he…?
I really need this job.
[A FEW VOICES] My unemployment is gone.
[ALL] Please, God, I need this job.
[A FEW VOICES] I knew I had it from the start.
[ALL] I’ve got to get this show.
[PAUL] Who am I anyway? Am I my resume? That is a picture of a person I don’t know.
What does he want from me? What should I try to be? So many faces all around, and here we go. I need this job, oh God, I need this show.
Photo of the day: WHAT HAS 72 LEGS AND MOVES WITH PRECISION?:
WHAT HAS 72 LEGS AND MOVES WITH PRECISION?: The New York Radio City Music Hall Rockettes ! !
The Christmas Spectacular is the single most popular show in New York at Christmastime. 5,931 seats available for each show!!
There are two sets each of 36 dancers in each New York show. There are 80 Rockettes (4 understudies), and they split the casts into 40 and 40. On the days with five shows, one cast will do two shows, the other will do three. On six-show days they divide it by three and three. So they can get a break, during the week they give each other a day off. The most they would do is four shows in a day.
A little known fact, if you are from Missouri (ironically the “show me” state) – you can be proud! The group was founded in St. Louis, Missouri by Russell Markert in 1925, originally performing as the “Missouri Rockets.” Markert had been inspired by the John Tiller Girls in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1922, and was convinced that “If I ever got a chance to get a group of American girls who would be taller and have longer legs and could do really complicated tap routines and eye-high kicks… they’d knock your socks off!” The group was brought to New York City by Samuel Roxy Rothafel to perform at his Roxy Theater and renamed the “Roxyettes.” When Rothafel left the Roxy Theatre to open Radio City Music Hall, the dance troupe followed and later became known as the Rockettes. The group performed as part of opening night at Radio City Music Hall on December 27, 1932. In 1936, the troupe won the grand prize at the “Paris Exposition de Dance”…the rest – is history !
NEW YORK CITY - IN THE WIT OF AN EYE 