Marianne in Manhattan

The leaves are finally falling on Bleecker Street after a very warm November, and the city is now fully immersed in its relentless series of winter festivals. Halloween just about collided into Thanksgiving long weekend, and even though we’ve only had a couple of days to finish up the leftover turkey, there is no doubt that it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in New York City.

So, with two of my very favourite people, Silva & Darren, passing through town on the way to their new life on the island paradise of the Grand Caymans, I was under pressure to find that quintessential New York experience which combined the atmosphere of the city with all those clichéd elements of the season. With Broadway and the grandiosity of its musicals well and truly silenced by the second week of striking stagehands, there was only one option that fit the bill – Radio City Music Hall’s 75th Anniversary Christmas Spectacular, featuring none other than those iconic Radio City Rockettes…..

The show was everything it was cracked up to be: a big salute to white, upper class New York and a cheesy celebration of the wonder of Christmas, replete with a perfectly patronising Santa Claus performing those hackneyed parlour tricks for which he’s famous -  miraculously knowing every kid’s name, making skeptical little boys fly magically through the air, etc. It’s clear the producers build the show each year by jamming generic Christmas filler around the six or seven dance numbers where the Rockettes truly do rock. The sets are awesome, and seeing those Rockettes perform their spectacular routines makes the event worth every penny of the admission price, so much so that you happily forgive the crappy in-between bits where Santa helps little Jimmy understand how he can be in more than one place at the one time by singing a painful ballad. The Rockettes might be the g-rated version of those Vegas Showgirls, but there were more than enough high-kicks to satisfy even the most jaded of us, and these girls have got to be in with a fighting chance for the title of the best super-long legs in the business. Finding myself quite taken with the moment, I joined the other tourists and recorded a few minutes – here’s a little of what I’m talking about. Apologies for the quality (it’s a youtube thing), and spare me your comments on copyright, I’m a criminal defence lawyer now. Watch it till the end or you’ll miss the fireworks. Happy pre-Christmas.