It's no tour de force
New York-themed ‘Spectacular’: With tributes like this ...
The Radio City Rockettes make every step, twirl and kick look silky smooth in the “New York Spring Spectacular,” but the show itself is a lazy musical hodgepodge. It has all the wit and charm of a shopping list. Instead of milk, eggs and butter, it’s Fashion Week, Central Park, sports and Big Apple movies as the show lumbers from one sequence to another. One is about a man reuniting with his dead wife atop the Empire State Building (don’t ask).
There are some lavish visuals conjuring landmarks and locales, thanks to state-of-theart effects. Which is ironic, since the villain of the knuckleheaded story threaded through the 90-minute commercial is a technology-obsessed Scrooge
in a red dress named Jenna (Tony winner Laura Benanti, who’s in good voice but pushes too hard). Jenna’s made billions in virtual reality and doesn’t get that NYC is meant to be experienced live and in person.
The hero of the piece is an angel-in-waiting played by “Dancing With the Stars” pro Derek Hough (below l.) He gets an A for effort for his hoofing and singing. To earn his wings, the character must redeem Jenna. In a show where the Easter Bunny hops around, “Spring Spectacular” weirdly ransacks “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol.” Those two inspirations seem so last season for director and choreographer Warren Carlyle, writer Joshua Harmon, creative directors Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner and producer Harvey Weinstein. Classic songs such as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Way You Look Tonight” and current pop hits like “Bang Bang” and “Happy” underscore various scenes and dances. In a bit of anthemic overkill, “New York, New York” and its emboldening “if I can make it there” is played three separate times. Disposable
ditties by “Finding Neverland” songwriters Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy about theater and other New York attractions accompany a few scenes.
Expressive performances by puppets are more memorable than the new tunes. Quippy New York Public Library lions are voiced by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Whoopi Goldberg is heard as God and the Statue of Liberty. The 26-foottall animatronic Lady with the Lamp seems to roll her eyes at times during the show. Who can blame her?
The “New York Spring Spectacular” has been called a love letter to the city. This would be marked “return to sender” without the Rockettes, who rock steady whether dancing in a downpour, with basketballs or in gleaming LED out fit s.