Holly Jolly Freebie: Radio City Christmas Spectacular

What do you say when someone asks if you'd like to drink a huge swig straight from the fount of holiday cheer, you say "Of course!!!" and you gulp, gulp, gulp.

Well, that is precisely what incomparable pal, S, did when he gave me a free ticket to last night's dress rehearsal of the one...the only...

RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR!

Yes folks, I went every year with my grandma as a child. But Grandma never sprung for THIRD ROW TICKETS!!!! Our view before the curtain rose:

Needless to say, there is a sacred, cheesy place in my heart for this time-honored cornball NYC tradition.

And yes, I know it's only early November, but it felt like December 23rd once the fake snow started falling, the REAL fireworks started blasting onstage, the ice rink was rolled out for actual ice skating routines, live camels, sheep and donkeys traipsed the Living Nativity, and the Rockettes did their infamous tin soldier routine:

S invited lady friends T, J and moi. I arrived with bagged treats from Momofuku Milk Bar, which recently opened on 56th St. You must have sweets at the sweetest show in NYC!

There's ample fodder for comedy in a show that bastardizes "The Nutcracker" by having mascot-like bears dance the steps:

For more mockery, check out the QUOTE VOTE on the upper right hand corner of the blog. :)

But you'd have to have a heart of stone to not be at least partially charmed when the Rockettes do their NY at Christmas routine on a double decker tourbus!!

The seats and scale of this freebie were off the charts: A+ Did I mention we were in the THIRD ROW?!?! Let's just say I could tell which Santas were actually roly-poly and which were Rockettes dressed in padded Santa suits!

Thank you, S, for an amazing kick-off to the 2010 Holiday Season!