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Heart and Lights: The Radio City Rockettes' Sparkling New Spectacular

Please note: Heart and Lights has been postponed until 2015. Click here for more information.

Imagine the perpetual energy of the City that Never Sleeps packed into a 90-minute musical event that blends cutting edge techno-ingenuity with electrifying dance numbers, set to a soundtrack pulsing with both original music and songs by noted recording artists from the last half-century.

Now add in the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, a script by Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning playwright Doug Wright, and a creative team willing to push the artistic envelope into the stratosphere.

The Rockettes in Heart and Lights' Electricity
All photos: HeartandLights.com

“This production has been more than five years in the making,” observes director/choreographer Linda Haberman, explaining how the goal in mounting Heart and Lights on the Great Stage of Radio City was to capture the fervor and vibrancy that is Manhattan for a multi-generational, 21st-century audience.

“The Rockettes shine in their starring role, showcasing dynamic choreography that combines jazz, ballet, modern dance and rhythmic tap, but still retains their signature precision technique,” she continues, adding, “Heart and Lights articulates the Rockettes’ unparalleled artistic range as a dance company.”

The Rockettes in Heart and Lights' High Finance

Having attended an early rehearsal of the show, I can confirm that at least one number in Heart and Lights — “High Finance,” set against a stylized Wall Street backdrop — offers a stunning choreographic departure for the Rockettes, identified since 1932 for their precision, “eye-high” kick lines, and classic precision dance routines in Radio City’s annual Christmas Spectacular.

I would add that watching assorted bits and pieces of Heart and Lights click into place like a gigantic three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle under Haberman’s keen eye was inspiring if not staggering, should you compute the myriad contributors involved on any given day. On my watch alone, scattered throughout the cavernous Music Hall’s seats and aisles were pockets of performers and assorted technical staffers and designers, the latter talking amongst themselves when not taking notes on their phones or tablets.

On stage, the rehearsal’s choreographic portions were offset by scene fragments homing in on Wright’s storyline about two young cousins’ quest to solve the mystery of their grandmother’s early life in the Big Apple, a through line that takes the kids on an exhilarating Manhattan safari filled with iconic locales, landmarks, and attractions.

Manifested through sophisticated projections, animatronics and even resourceful tweaks to GPS technology, the show’s visuals are a mix of the impressive and imposing. Seminal New York buildings and vistas take over the stage with transformative bravado: one minute you’re down in the Meatpacking District while later you find yourself blown away by a dead-on replica of the New York Public Library. (Ok, not totally dead-on, as the familiar lion statues are not nearly as taciturn as the real deal.)

Particularly wonderful is the Central Park scene in which digital mapping and GPS trackers produce a sweeping display of kites that loop and soar above the audience.

The Rockettes in Heart and Lights

As for animatronic puppets, expect to encounter a 26-foot Lady Liberty (20 motors in her face alone create realistic facial movements), a super-sized Wall Street Bull, Alice in Wonderland (operated by three puppeteers hidden behind the giant mushroom she’s perched upon in Central Park), and even an Andy Warhol puppet (controlled by puppeteers located about ten feet below the stage).

Concludes Haberman: “I have lived in New York City for more than 40 years and Heart and Lights is a love letter to this great city.” And to everyone who falls under this remarkable epic production’s singular spell.


Heart and Lights’ limited engagement at Radio City Musical Hall (50th St. & 6th Ave.) begins March 27th and runs through May 4th. To reserve tickets, call 866-858-0007 or visit heartandlights.com.

About the Author

City Guide Theatre Editor Griffin Miller moved to New York to pursue an acting/writing career in the 1980s after graduating magna cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then, she has written for The New York Times, For the Bride, Hotels, and a number of other publications, mostly in the areas of travel and performance arts. An active member of The New York Travel Writers Association, she is also a playwright and award-winning collage artist. In addition, she sits on the board of The Lewis Carroll Society of North America. Griffin is married to Richard Sandomir, a reporter for The New York Times.

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