The Famous Radio City Music Hall Rockettes

Rockettes Performing on the Great Stage During the Holiday Season

A Timeline .. 

The 1920s .. The Rockettes began kicking up their shoes since Russell Markert, the Rockettes' chief choreographer, image-preserver and resident "father figure" of the famous troupe until he retired in 1971.  Markert founded the exemplary American chorus line which is an exciting precision dance company with great style, flair and glamour in 1925.  Inspired by the British dance troupe formed by John Tiller, Russell wanted to achieve absolute precision and ultimate uniformity in the movements of the dancers.  Originally, a Rockette had to be between 5'2" and 5'6 1/2", but today a Rockette is between 5'6" and 5'10 1/2".  She has to be proficient in tap, modern, jazz and ballet.  Starting with just 16 women, over the years the troupe grew to a line of 36 dancers.  The Rockettes were first known as the "Missouri Rockets".  They made their show debut in St. Louis.  That same year ,the troupe traveled to NYC to perform in the Broadway show Rain or Shine and were discovered by showman S.L. "Roxy" Rothafel.   The "Missouri Rockets" were such an instant hit that Rothafel didn't want them to leave after their performance at the Roxy Theatre. He pleaded with Markert to form another line to replace the departing dancers. 

The 1940s .. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered WWII. The Rockettes were among the first entertainers to volunteer for the USO.  They entertained our troops abroad and were involved in wartime shows at the Copacabana, the Army Air Corps base in Pawling, New York and at the Stage Door Canteen.  The Rockettes and Eleanor Roosevelt even hosted a war bond rally at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. 

The 1950s .. Radio City was showing world premiere movies together with stage shows, sometimes as many as five a day.  The movies kept playing as long as there was a demand for tickets and the shows changed every time the movies did. If a film failed at the box office, the Rockettes suddently had to rehearse the new show at dawn, at midnight and in between.  Because of their demanding schedule, Radio City Music Hall became their home away from home.  They worked, played, ate and often times slept within its walls.  Facilities including a 26-bed dormitory, cafeteria, recreation area, tailor shop and hospital with medical staff were provided to support and sustain what many recall as an extended family.  Americans in the '50s increasingly turned to television for their entertainment, so it was inevitable that television would feature the Rockettes.  They made their first television appearance on Wide, Wide World and also performed for the first time in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1957.  Like so many events the Rockettes took part in, it became a New York City tradition.

The 1960s .. The '60s were a time of social change and politcal activism, so it's no surprise the Rockettes broke new ground for women in those early years.  In a salute to both Feminism and the Space Age, the Rockettes danced as astronauts on the Great Stage.  Their production numbers also reflected an incredible variety of music, dance and costuming.  After the bikini craze that entered the fashion world in the '60s, the Rockettes raised their kicks and their hemlines!  They appeared as Geisha girls, hula dancers, bull fighters, chimney sweeps and even can-can dancers.  In 1961, Eastman Kodak created a color photo-mural featuring the Rockettes.  It was the largest mural of its kind ever made and was hung in New York City's Grand Central Terminal.  While Radio City was a popular venue for filmmakers to premiere a movie, it wasn't uncommon for the stars to make an appearance before the showing.  In 1962, none other than Cary Grant surprised the Rockettes when he came to promote his new movie, That Touch of Mink. One of the most awesome productions in the history of Radio City took place with a salute to Walt Disney.  Sections of the theme park's famous Main Street, Frontierland, Tomorrowland and Fantasyland were recreated right on the Great Stage, all under the personal supervision of Walt Disney, himself!

The 1970s .. Radio City management began closing the theatre for weeks at a stretch, leaving the once busy Rockettes with time on their hands.  The troupe petitioned for the right to take the show on the road when Radio City was dark.  In 1977, the Rockettes appeared at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.  Their precision dancing took the west coast by storm as they went on to play sold-out crowds in Las Vegas.  They even opened for Liberace at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1979.  In 1978, Radio City was slated to close due to financial problems.  The Rockettes lead the crusade to save the theatre!  In 1979, Radio City was designated a New York City landmark, saving it from the wrecking ball!  The movie-and-stage-show format remained a Radio City signature until 1979, when the mass showcasing of new films called for a different focus.  The decade ended on a wonderful upbeat note.  The Rockettes starred with Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer Ann-Margaret in a two-hour television special, A Holiday Tribute to Radio City Music Hall.  Ann-Margaret even joined the Rockettes in their iconic Parade of the Wooden Soldiers number!  

The 1980s .. The Rockettes led the fitness movement that swept the country.  The dancers were arguably the fittest women in America.  Radio City had moved to a new format:  it now longer showed movies, but present 90-minute stage shows.  The Rockettes danced for our five numbers in each of them, four times a day, seven days a week, for four weeks straight.  Then each woman got a week off.  During the '80s, the Rockettes performed with Ginger Rogers in a show called, A Rockette Spectacular with Ginger Rogers and also worked alongside Carol Lawrence and Liberace.  They appeared as themselves in the movie, Annie and starred in the 1988 Super Bowel halftime show.  They also made a commercial for L'Eggs pantyhose, singing and dancing in praise of "a great pair of L'Eggs".  They went on the road and performed in Las Vegas and in Lake Tahoe.  There, Sammy Davis, Jr., a great admirer of the Rockettes, watched their show night after night.  On their closing night, without warning, he stepped out on stage and joined the line.  A former Rockette named Leslie remembers him being one of the sweetest men she has ever met!  To celebrate the 50th birthday of Radio City in 1982, producer and choreographer, Bob Jani presented a lavish show featuring 50 years of Rockettes costumes  Another memorable event throughout the '80s was a series of three television specials in honor of the centennial of the Actors' Fund of America.  They were called The Night of 100 Stars, but actually over 200 of the most famous performers in the world took part. If you were a star of stage, screen or television, you were there!  And it all took place at Radio City, so of course the Rockettes welcomed the audience.  They danced the big opening numbere and even got to share the stage with talent like Dick Van Dyke, Lana Turner, Grace Kelly and Muhammad Ali.  

The 1990s .. The Rockettes continued to present their ever-popular Christmas Spectacular and Easter Extravaganza.  Choreographers and designers created new routines and new costumes for them, but the historic Radio City Music Hall was begining to show its age.  Radio City's parent company decided that the world's greatest theater was in need of the world's greatest restoration.  The vision?  To restore Radio City to its former glory, to recapture the magnificence that made people gasp as they entered on that opening night back in 1932!  Every bit of gold leaf was repainted.  Every one of the 6,200 seats were recovered.  In fact, there were now exactly 269 fewer seats.  The company had surveyed the sightlines and ordered that seats be removed because they did not have an adequate view of the stage.  They approved the purchase of a huge, 50,000 pound LED screen which can be raised and lowered.  It is the largest of its kind in the world.  The projections from the screen's "light emitting diodes" make all kinds of scenery possible and take the audience on magical journeys. Another innovation was the sound system.  Radio City wasn't satisfied that the audience was hearing the Rockettes' pre-recorded taps .. they wanted the real thing!  The company wouldn't settle for the dancers to wear wired microphones and belt packs because they were too bulky and slowed down costume changes.  So they challenged the best engineers to come up with a solution.  Today, when the Rockettes are doing a tap number during the Christmas Spectacular, they wear custom dance shoes that have a special cavity within the heel for a sound transmitter, so what the audience hears is the actual rhythmic tapping of 72 feet.  When the Rockettes appeared in the Christmas Spectacular at the newly re-opened Radio City in 1999, one of the new numbers featured Santa Claus and his workshop.  Greg Barnes, the Tony Award-winning designer who's known for his costumes for the revival of Bye Bye Birdie. Barnes created many outfits for the Rockettes, but perhaps his most memorable idea was to dress them as reindeer, complete with antlers.  At every performance, when they pranced on stage pulling Santa's sled, they brought down the house!

The 2000s .. Radio City Music Hall marked the 75th anniversary of the Rockettes with around 2,500 women having shared in the legacy by performing as a Radio City Rockette.  

Among that number of woman who have graced the Great Stage we include Emma Bishop from Westfield NY who was a Rockette in the late 50s. Emma is the owner of  Centerstage Dance Studio and through the years she has taught dance and continues to teach dance to many local aspiring young ladies.  Emma Bishop and her story will be forthcoming. 

In 2001, the Rockettes were invited to perform at the inauguration of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush by dancing their way down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  In 2005, the Rockettes performed their second presidential inauguration.  Linda Haberman became the first woman named solo director and choreographer of the Rockettes in 2006.  Trained at the School of American Ballet, Haberman was in the original cast of Bob Fosse's Dancin' then went on to become his assistant choreographer.  Her vision for the Rockettes was to transform them into a contemporary dance company. Haberman's amazing choreography brought the troupe to new heights and demanded superb dance technique as well as true athleticism.  On the Radio City stage, her productions combined dance with the ground-breaking technology and called for the Rockettes to interact with 3D effects.  For the New York at Christmas number, Haberman put the Rockettes on a full-scale double-decker bus which moved in sync with images of the city projected on the 90-foot LED screen.  Haberman created the first touring productions of the Christmas Spectacular which visited more than 80 cities in the United States.  The tour ended after the 2014 season as new approaches were explored to best showcase the Christmas Spectacular and the Rockettes.  This decade saw an important new Rockettes dance education program:  The Rockettes Summer Intensive which offers aspiring professional dancers the unique opportunity to train with the Rockettes and learn theri world-famous precision dance technique.  More than 1,000 young dancers from across the country audition each year.  Those who are accepted spend a week in New York where they rehearse and learn the Rockettes' disciplines and dance routines.  To date, more than 60 Rockettes have come from this training program.

The 2010s  .. Since the 1990s, the Rockettes have only performed at Radio City Music Hall from November to January in the Christmas Spectacular.  However, that changed in the Spring of 2015 when the Rockettes starrred in a new eight-week production, The New York Spring Spectacular, alongside Tony Award-winner, Laura Benanti and Dancing with the Stars' Derek Hough. In June of 2016, the Rockettes performed on the Great Stage to celebrate New York City in The New York Spring Spectacular.  Centered around the trip of a lifetime for two kids, who, while on a vacation in New York, are separated from their parents, the city magically comes to life to show them its many splendid wonders. The Rockettes have been busier and more in the public eye than ever.  They have performed on the Great Stage with Oprah, Heidi Klum, Michael Buble and have made numerous appearances on The Today Show.

From the moment the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes first appeared in 1925, the Rockettes have been American icons!  They are symbols of what you can achieve if you move with passion, dream big, work hard and most importantly .. believe in yourself.  

The holiday season doesn't officially begin until I see the Rockettes come down 34th Street to perform in Herald Square in front of the world famous Macy's Department Store on Thanksgiving Day.  If you find yourself in NYC this holiday season, be sure to view the beautifiul holiday window displays .. a tradition begun by R.H. Macy in 1874.  

Pat Locke