NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular has its second of seven performances at Radio City Music Hall

by Jared Pearman/Epoch Times Staff on Assignment in New York City

Feb 15, 2007

LOVED IT: "We all loved the show. Happy Chinese New Year! It is our first time to see this and we will see it again," said Tiffany, Tyrone and Gregory from New York's IS 229 high school, of NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular. (Jan Jekielek/The Epoch Times)

There is nothing like the applause and the joy of children who are thrilled, and that is exactly what filled the room at today's Chinese New Year Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.

Dorothy Dowling chaperoned a group of 75 young students from Medgar Evers College, a prep school in New York. She described the show as "Phenomenal," while her students opted for "Cool" to explain what they thought. Ms. Dowling said, "I love the backgrounds, the costumes are fabulous, and the scenes of heaven and even the one scene of hell are really moving."

Today's matinee was slightly delayed as bus loads of children and elderly groups were held up by leftovers of yesterday's storm. After the wait, anticipation was high when the curtain came up, but as soon as a scene of angelic dancers was fully revealed, the melodies of the orchestra replaced the restless sounds of stirring as everyone watched what turned out to be a thoroughly unique show.

With good guys and bad guys, the innocent and the glorious, audience members observed that the more than one hundred dancers on stage portrayed each of their characters with great depth and conviction; as a true part of the ancient or celestial settings depicted on the enormous LED screen behind them.

Perseverance and the overcoming of great obstacles was a theme running through several of the dance dramas and songs. According to NTDTV officials, this is quite fitting considering all the dificulties producers and staff endured in bringing the show to life.

CULTURAL LEARNING: "We cannot go to China to learn about the culture. We learned a lot about Chinese culture through this show," said New York's IS 229 high school parent coordinator Ms. Turner. She said she loved the movement, the dance and the message behind it. (Jan Jekielek/The Epoch Times)

On top of trying get busy New Yorkers to celebrate a foreign holiday (a big task in and of itself), the Chinese government is apparently not pleased by the Spectacular show's content. Chinese officials have even gone so far as to harass theaters and sponsors.

"Ever since it entered into China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has wanted to wipe out Chinese traditional belief systems and replace them with Marxist and Maoist ideology. They're out to destroy a lot of things that are actually quite good… I think the CCP is really upset because this year's show is more than good — it's great," said NTDTV Senior Vice President Samuel Zhou.

Indeed, performances by Falun Gong practitioners and dances with deep spiritual messages are not something that the atheistic regime has promoted among the Chinese population.

Despite the efforts of the Chinese Consulate, the audience at Radio City seemed to genuinely enjoy everything about the Spectacular.

"We all loved the show. Happy Chinese New Year! It is our first time to see this and we will see it again," said Tiffany, Tyrone and Gregory from New York's IS 229 high school.

DELIGHTED: "The show is very good, we learned a lot of good things and it had a lot of good meanings," said Mr. Narayandas Chowdhry, visiting New York with his wife Jyoti. (Jan Jekielek/The Epoch Times)

Their parent coordinator Ms. Turner said that she loved the movement, the dance and the message behind it. "We cannot go to China to learn about the culture. We learned a lot about Chinese culture through this show."

"The show is very good, we learned a lot of good things and it had a lot of good meanings," said Mr. Narayandas Chowdhry, visiting New York with his wife Jyoti. The couple was from Mumbai, India.

"The deeper meaning behind the songs was amazing," said Jyoti quoting, a line from on of the musical solos.

"As the moments pass, that moment does not come back; that's what I remember," she said.

All together the show is rolling on to delighted applause as it plays through until Saturday.

For tickets and information, go to http://shows.ntdtv.com . The Epoch Times is proud to join with New Tang Dynasty TV and Sound of Hope Radio in co-sponsoring NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular.