Radio City long shots
200 gals vie for 2 Rockette spots
Hundreds of young women from across America were looking for kicks at Radio City Music Hall Tuesday — by battling long odds for a shot to join the Rockettes.
Producers estimated that only two to four dancers out of the 200 or so hopefuls who showed up would join this summer’s cast of 40, replacing the few 2015 performers who didn’t make the cut or chose not to return.
The dancers from last spring’s show had to reaudition for their jobs in a review separate from Tuesday’s open casting call.
All those on hand Tuesday had to be at least 18 years old, between 5foot6 and 5foot10 ¹ /₂ and be proficient in tap, jazz and ballet dance forms.
They hope to be performing in the “Rockettes New York Spectacular,” which is scheduled to run from June 15 to Aug. 7.
There will be between eight and 10 shows a week, according to a production spokeswoman.
Some of Tuesday’s hopefuls lined up for hours (below) outside Radio City, many wearing heavy winter clothes and shifting in place to stay warm.
Others applied makeup and false eyelashes for their chance to im press a panel of judges inside.
The production is a reincarnation of last year’s “New York Spring Spectacular,” which was the Rockettes’ first nonChristmas show since 1997.
Rockettes producers used to have two regular runs, the traditional Christmas show and an Easter production.
But the Easter springtime show went dark for 17 years before it returned last year, and then was moved to summer this year.
The summer show will be a much smaller production than the annual Christmas production, which employees 80 dancers for 220 performances.