Christmas Show returns to Radio City Music Hall

NEW YORK (AP) _ The ``Radio City Christmas Spectacular'' is back, nearly 70 years old and as steady as the holiday tree that will soon stand just around the corner in Rockefeller Center. <br><br>Over

Tuesday, November 12th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ The ``Radio City Christmas Spectacular'' is back, nearly 70 years old and as steady as the holiday tree that will soon stand just around the corner in Rockefeller Center.

Over the years, millions have seen the ``Spectacular'' (calling it a mere ``show'' will clearly not do), which opened its nine-week run on Friday. But suppose you're a little kid who comes in knowing nothing about it _ not the Rockettes, or ``The Nutcracker'' or ``The Nativity,'' or even Radio City Music Hall.

Have you ever seen such a theater? The ceiling looks a million miles high and arches like a wealth of rainbows, glued together and painted gold. The curtain up front is gold as well, and looks big enough to hide an elephant _ not to mention a procession of camels, donkeys and sheep. Huge, dotted red circles hang like candy above the stage.

So it begins. A man in a suit reads from a big card _ a message from the mayor _ and Elmo tells a Christmas story to a semicircle of children. There are movies, too. Weathermen predict no snow for Christmas. Santa's sleigh nearly lands in your lap, thanks to cardboard 3-D glasses attached to your program guide.

Back to live action, giant gift boxes appear, a promise of mirrors and dancers. Everybody performs: pandas and rabbits and bears and reindeer and toy soldiers and Santa Claus. Not just one Santa Claus, but a bunch of them, a stage full of them. And throw in some smoke and fire, a Mrs. Claus as plump as her hubby, and a line of leggy dancers whose toes tap in click-click rhythm, the sound not unlike the well-amplified shaking of a box of jelly beans.

An hour goes by and the scene turns a quiet, foggy blue. A voice from somewhere announces ``the greatest story ever told.'' A choir sings. People in robes raise their hands to the sky. Camels and donkeys and sheep _ all real _ are part of the cast.

When it's over, maybe you'll clap or jump off your seat, or, if it's an evening performance, lean back in a daze. Maybe, if you sat in the balcony, you'll hear your parents ask if it was worth the 80-stair climb.

And maybe a grown-up _ a ``Christmas Show'' veteran _ will joke that at least this time the camels behaved.