Clarion Defender_1966-12-23

Music Hall Pla11s Show f or Mo~ths EDITOR'S NOTE-One of the that follows the Star of Bethle- square feet of stage. The size to disappear in back of a cur- ' year's Christmas show. The j and technicians began to report upon , and we were ready to pre– Christmas season spectacles of hem as it travels across the of the sets must be exaggerate<;!, tain and minutes late1 come ris- show was based on the idea of back to me. Costs were esti- pare my space show for the New York is the crowd that sky, the Nativity is climaxed extra layers of make-up must be ing up in front of the same cur- Santa Claus opening a branch I mated. Costume and scenery countdown. line!l up several blocks long and by the adoration at a manger applied so that performers faces tain. We also have a 43-foot re- workshop on the moon, which I 11 sketches were displayed and Work began in earnest with waits for hours to gain admis- that measures more than 25 feet won't be "washed out" by the volving stage, a steam curtain, originally began to think about choreography was demonstrat- rehearsals, costume fittings , the sion to Radio City Music Hall in height and 45 feet in width. thousands of stage lights, and and a rain curtain which drops some years before when the ed. The copying of more than painting and building of sets, show. The story behind the at- Included in the procession are such things as wigs must be real water. I space age became more and 11,800 sheets of music for the and more rehearsals. The inev– tractions is told here by the the three Magi wearing richly made of rope instead of hair to To give you an idea of how a more of a ·reality. Last Octo- II orchestra was almost finished. I itable problems arose and were senior producer. brocaded robes with trains more assure their being visible to the production is put together, I can ber, all the ideas and plans for The engineers assured me that I ironed out. Space helmets for abling them to maintain their straight line and famed preci– sion. A curtain had to be moved backstage a bit so that It would not knock over a set as it closed. I suppose the activity during the last few days would have seemed totally frenzied and incomprehensible to a cas– ual backstage visitor, and I will admit that there were moments when it seemed so even to me. Eventually, the hundreds of ap– parently unrelated pieces of the show were brought together to form a smooth finished prO– duction. than 8 feet long, 40 shepherds, vast audience. describe some-but by no means a space show began to crystal- the stage could take all the I our Rockettes had to be altered By LEON LEONIDOFF 25 Rom- - soldiers, and an en- At times numbers are stag- all-of the planning and prepa- lize in my mind. scenery I wanted, and more. A so that the girls could see out of Preparations begin months in tourage of live animals includ- gering_ When we did a version ,ration which went Into last ! A few weeks later our artists I title, "Star Bright'' was decided the corners of their eyes, en– l!dvance for the traditional page- ing a camel, horse, donkeys, of Dickens' "Christmas Carol" · ant of the Nativity and for the and a flock of sheep. one year, we used more than C:O.ristmas revue at the Music Occasionally an unforeseen 400 costumes made up of more Hall. 1problem arises, sometimes than 7,000 running yards of rna- When I first did a Christmas amusing. I remember one year terial. In a single production we &how there in 1933, I wanted to I when Sadie, the camel, discov- have used 250 pairs of shoes. In do something representative of !ered that the gold fringe on her a Rockette number in which the religious spirit of the sea- lblanket was delicious and so each costume had 8 pounds of &on. The pageant is, in spirit, proceeded to chomp on it right rhinestones, we had to order ' muclJ the same as that done in in the middle of a performance. more than 300 pounds of the countless schools and churches Only after extensive testing did stones. A typical Christmas throughout the country each our costume depart:nent come show calls for 11,000 safety pins year. The difference is in scope. up with a plastic fringe which and more -than 5 pounds of BehinJ the Music Hall's 100-foot Sadie found not to her taste. straight pins. proscenium opening, a cast 'lf In the second part of the stage Of course we always incor– more than 100 beautifully cos- show we try each year to create porate many spectacular stage turned performers ca11 move an accompanying revue which effects into the second half of with ease in scenery that would is new and different. Unique to the show. Among the "tricks" dwarf a smaller area. the Music Hall is the facfl, that we have available are a travel- Beginning with a procession I we must cover more than 7,500 ing handcar which, with the help I of four stage elevators, can I cause our symphony orchestra CONTINUING OUR FACTORY FASHION SALE! TERRIFIC .REDUCTIONS! • FAIRLANE & LORI ORIGINALS! • JACQUELINE$ Warehouse STOCK! • VERY SPECIAL PURCAHSES!!! THURS. 10 a.m._ to 9 p.m. MANY GARMENTS 1/2 PRICE & LESS! COATS SUITS DRESSES RAIN COATS • ZIP-INS QUILTS L~n~l PERFECT NYLONS REG.66c LIMIT 88 CAR COATS BIG 39~ FALL COATS tweeds & 29 8 :! 89 88 CAMEL HAIR NEW Bto 16 DOUBLE KNITS WOOL SUITS REG.& HALFS TWEEDS &COLORS 56 88 to79 88 17 8 fo 79 88 LEATHER & SUEDE COATS *FURRED & PLAIN GREATLY REDUCED ! SPRING COATS & ~~l~~s 19 8 ~o 69 88 ·---------------------i : CLIP THIS COUPON : : This Card entitles bearer to $1.00 I 1 discount on any purchase of $10.00 I 1 or more- $5.00 discount on any I 1 purchase of $50.00 or more. Good : 1 until Dec. 28th. 1 ~--------------------~ MANY MORE GROUPS TO CHOOSE FROM *Fur Products labeled to show country of oriqin of imported furs LAY-AWAYS-B'ANK AMERICARD-JACQUELINES CHGS. JACQUELINE$ DOWNTOWN SW 9th AVE. & MORRISON American Carol The first American carol was written by Saint John de Bre– feuf, a missionary to the Huron Indians from 1626 until his death by torture in 1649_ Father Bre– feuf wrote "Jesous Ahatonnia" (Jesus Is Born) in the Huron language. Arbitrary Date ROS£ ' CITY~ PIEDMONT NEW YORK NATIVITY PAGEANT-Three sump– tuously-costumed Magi, 40 shepherds, 25 Roman sol– diers, a camel, horse, donkeys and a flock of sheep all follow the star of Bethlehem to the manger in the Nativity pageant at Radio City Music Hall. The man– ger measures mor e than 25 feet in height and 45 feet in width. Dec. 25 was chosen for the celebration of the birth of Christ by the Church of Rome about the year 330. The actual birth date is not known. PHAB.IlAOY 3837 N.E.. 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