‘Radio City Christmas Spectacular’ still spectacular

They are precise. They are rhythmic. They are sequined and sparkling.

The Rockettes, under the advisement of director and choreographer Linda Haberman, have never looked finer, and they’re ready to spread some high-kicking holiday cheer in the revamped Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

The New York institution has been going strong for decades, and, if 2011’s edition is any sign of things to come, the wattage will continue to glow on the Avenue of the Americas for quite some time.

In many ways, the 90-minute spectacle has become a cliche: singing Santas, dancing toy soldiers, more Christmas lights than the Griswold family. But the show’s heart is in the right place. It fully embraces its kitschy, corny, cheesy display of overflowing ebullience. One can’t fault a show for delivering what the marquee promises.

This year’s installment features all the classic scenes that audiences have come to know and expect over the years. From The Nutcracker sequence, which mashes together highlights from Tchaikovsky’s career, to “Here Comes Santa Claus,” which has the voluminous stage of Radio City Music Hall filled to the brim with a legion of St. Nicks, the show abides by the theatrical truism that if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

In recent years, 3D technology was inevitably added to the melee (or, this being the holiday season, it was shoved in like cannoli cream). A sequence features an entertaining ride through the skyscrapers and landmarks of New York City as Santa Claus travels on his sleigh toward midtown Manhattan. He amazingly passes by beautifully bright billboards highlighting the Radio City Christmas Spectacular’s sponsors, including Chase Bank. What a coincidence!

The 3D sequence is fun and interactive, although it pales in comparison to the work of the Rockettes. Also, and this is the definition of critical quibbling, Santa greets the audience at the start of the show before the Rockettes head into a reindeer-inspired dance number. So, it comes off a little strange that the big red man flies through the sky and enters the music hall through a side entrance, as if he’s just arrived.

I guess Santa Claus really can be anywhere at anytime.

Highlights of the intermissionless show are the exquisite New York at Christmas scene, where the Rockettes board a double-decker tour bus and travel around the city, and the always moving Living Nativity sequence that tells the story of the birth of Jesus.

Less successful is the brand-new 3D scene called Santa’s Video Game. A mother and daughter, in the cheesiest of the several cheesy roles, need to win a Super-Mario-Brothers-type game in order to save Santa’s workshop. The choreography, which is stilted and doesn’t feature too many large group numbers, can never match the excellence of the rest of the show.

It seems that 3D is the only detriment to a production that already feels three-dimensional enough.

One can easily poke holes in the candy-cane-coated exterior of this Ziegfeld-style revue. Every movement seems perfectly timed to move the show along and get the paying audience out of their seats so the next group can come in (the Radio City Christmas Spectacular’s schedule is jam-packed, sometimes with six shows a day).

But kids continually love the production, and as long as their parents aren’t Scrooges, there’s a lot to be enjoyed for the whole family.

• Radio City Christmas Spectacular

• Conceived, directed and choreographed by Linda Haberman

• Original show conceived by Robert F. Jani

• Playing at Radio City Music Hall at 1260 6th Ave. in New York City.

• Click here for more information. Tickets start at $45.

• Running time: 90 minutes

• Rating: