NEW YORK -- The Rockettes are taking a second stab at opening a spring show, and they're leaning on some Broadway creative stars to do it.
MSG Entertainment said Wednesday that Warren Carlyle, Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner have signed up to put together "New York Spring Spectacular" for Radio City Music Hall in March. Last year, the show "Hearts and Lights" was cancelled only days before its spring launch.
Carlyle won a Tony Award for choreographing "After Midnight," Paulus is the Tony-winning director of Broadway revivals "Pippin" and "Porgy and Bess," and Weiner, her husband, is the producer of immersive shows such as "Sleep No More" and "Queen of the Night." Harvey Weinstein will help produce.
Playwright Joshua Harmon, who wrote the well-received play "Bad Jews," has been tasked with putting together the story, which will be about a whirlwind adventure in Manhattan for three people. "Heart and Lights" had been written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony winner Doug Wright.
Previews begin March 12 and the show runs through May 3. It's an attempt to expand the Rockettes' brand beyond just the "Radio City Christmas Spectacular" and take advantage of the tourist traffic that swells in New York in the spring.
The new show will salvage some of the visual elements from the scrapped one, including a 26-foot, talking Statue of Liberty puppet by the Australian The Creature Technology Co. There will also be 3-D video and large-scale LED screens.
