Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2010

The 84th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will kick off the holidays in New York City and on NBC on Thursday, November 25th! Every year, Macy’s exciting holiday tradition is seen by more than 3.5 million people who line the streets in New York and another 50 million people who tune into NBC to watch the giant balloons, one-of-a-kind floats, the nation’s best matching bands, hundreds of cheering clowns and a host of celebrities!

Something WE look forward to every year is the Broadway performances. Word on the street is that this year there will be performances from Billy Elliot, Memphis, American Idiot, Elf, Million Dollar Quartet and the Radio City Rockettes. Also look out for RAIN, A Tribute to the Beatles.

Other fun things include a giant balloon of Shrek, a float of Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure from Nickelodeon, clowns and talent.
For a full list of line-up click HERE.

Some Broadway with your turkey

If you've been following this blog for a couple years, you know by now that one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. What can I say. Some people like to watch football. I like to watch the parade. This year there are scheduled Broadway performances on CBS by West Side Story, Dreamgirls and Ragtime. NBC's broadcast will feature Bye, Bye Birdie with John Stamos and the cast of Shrek. I also understand there will be an appearance by the cast of HAIR and Billy Elliot. And, of course, a performance by the Radio City Rockettes (love them!).

As a side note for the opera lovers, there's also suppose to be an appearance by Renee Fleming.

The parade starts at 9 a.m. Just pick your network and enjoy.

From the staff & volunteers at the Straz Center, Happy Thanksgiving!

Rockettes on NBC Saturday night

Check out the Radio City Christmas Spectacular TV special this Saturday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m. on NBC. Here are the details:

"This December NBC brings more holiday cheer into viewers homes with 'The Radio City Christmas Spectacular' special - For the first time ever, NBC will televise the 75th celebration of the "Radio City Christmas Spectacular" in a one-hour exclusive special from the great stages at Radio City Music Hall. Hosted by Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira ("Today"), the show will feature brand new glamorous costumes, state-of-the-art special effects and new eye-popping numbers performed by the world-famous Radio City Rockettes, as well as traditional favorites including the famed "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers." This year's brand new and re-imagined production will be executive produced by legendary and veteran news producer Don Hewitt."

And for those of you who haven't gotten your Radio City Christmas Spectacular tickets for the Tampa engagement... what are you waiting for?

A little Broadway on turkey-day

There are two things that I love about Thanksgiving... my mom's gravy (you can pour it on everything) and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Sorry guys, football didn't make the cut.

Even though there is an ongoing stagehand strike, it has been confirmed that the shows originally scheduled will still be able to perform. Those Broadway shows are Legally Blonde, Xanadu, Mary Poppins and Young Frankenstein. Plus there will be the traditional performance by the Radio City Rockettes!

Other Broadway stars will also make appearances. Included in the line up are Bob Saget currently staring in The Drowsy Chaperone, Sarah Brightman will perform as the Pirate Queen and Spring Awakening's Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff perform "Give My Regards to Broadway."

For more information, check out this story on playbill.com. The parade starts at 9 a.m. on your NBC station.

Christmas in March?

You might have had to do a double take if you were in Channelside around lunch on Tuesday. With the Christmas music and red/green balloons you could have sworn a year had passed and Christmas was back. No worries … it's still March. The Radio City Rockettes, and Santa, just stopped by for the day to do a little promotional tour announcing their return to Tampa in December. Nearly 100 Tampa Bay folks came down to Channelside at noon to form Tampa's longest kick line. Check out a couple of the pictures!

- Angela L.