Brooke Averi and Jessie Crouch Say Being a Radio City Rockette Is Like 'Being an Athlete in Diamonds'

Brooke Averi and Jessie Crouch can be seen high-kicking their way through the holiday season in The Christmas Spectacular Starring The Radio City Rockettes. With a combined total of 14 seasons on the Radio City stage between them, the two dancers explained their love for the classic holiday show in a recent interview on Broadway.com's #LiveatFive with Paul Wontorek. "I think the Christmas Spectacular really is the epitome of the holiday season," Crouch said. "We're bringing technology and tradition together to create an unforgettable experience for everyone who comes to see it."

There are 80 Rockettes, which make up two casts of 40 that take turns performing the grueling the holiday schedule. "There's 36 girls on stage at one time and then four girls per cast who are swings," Averi said. "Jessie is a swing and covers nine tracks in the show, and sometimes has to do tracks that aren't even hers. Swings are incredible and are on all the time at Radio City because of the rigorous schedule." The Radio City Rockettes are unlike typical Broadway and off-Broadway shows in that they have almost double the amount of weekly performances. "We can do up to four shows in one day," Crouch said. "It's one cast doing all four show in the morning. On the weekends we do six shows and that would be split between the two casts. We do around 300 high kicks per show and up to four shows a day so that's 1,200 kicks.If it lasts longer than six weeks I don't know if my body could handle it, but it's worth all the hard work. I really consider us athletes in diamonds."

The Christmas Spectacular has been around since 1933, and some of the dancer's favorite moments are from the original production. "I'm a shepherd in our living nativity scene which has been around since 1933," Averi said. "Peggy is my sheep and we have Ted the camel, who has been around for 25 years. My mom loves Ted and always compliments him on his performance; he's a veteran around here and gets the star treatment." Another crowdpleaser is the parade of wooden soldiers, which takes up a majority of their rehearsal time. "We start with really small groups and work up to the full 36 girls," Crouch said. "It takes every single person doing the exact same steps every single show for it to go right. Putting on that costume my first year as a Rockette was when I went, 'Mom, I made it.' It's so special and iconic."

With so many performances a week during their three months at Radio City, the Rockettes have to be intentional with keeping their training up during off-season. "All I've ever wanted to do is be a Rockette," Crouch said. "I'm a real estate agent during our time off and that's the coolest thing about being a Rockette. Were are so diverse in our backgrounds but we all come together to do this incredible thing once a year. It's truly the best way to spend the holidays."

See Averi and Crouch in The Christmas Spectacular Starring The Radio City Rockettes!

Watch the full #LiveatFive episode below!