Take me to Radio City

Kathy Lenhardt has always loved the Radio City Rockettes.

Tonight, when the Radio City Christmas Spectacular makes its West Coast premiere at the Orange County Performing Artscenter, she will be ushering people to their seats.

Her daughter Amy will be on stage, performing in a show that has become a holiday tradition across the country.

Amy, of Huntington Beach, was 5 when she saw the Rockettes perform for the first time. She and Kathy were watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on television.

Amy went on to study musical theater at the Orange County High School of the Arts, admitting it was her childhood dream to be a Rockette.

She’s glad to be back performing at home.

“I remember being one of those kids seeing my first show, the ballet ‘Coppelia,’ here at the Performing Arts.”

In June 2005, Amy auditioned for the Rockettes in Virginia.

“It was the hardest audition I ever had to do,” she said. “There are so many different combinations to perform, and on the second day I had to perform in the kick line.”

A month later, Amy was at home when the call came that she had been accepted into the touring company. When she did a high kick in the hallway, her mom knew she’d made the Rockettes.

Orange County audiences are so eager to see the Christmas Spectacular that performances were added to the schedule, bringing the total to 50.

Some of the show’s classic scenes, performed since 1933, include “The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” and “The Living Nativity,” during which camels, sheep and a donkey join dancers on stage.

The animals, part of the recreation of the holy family’s birth in Bethlehem, receive a certain amount of reverence by the crowd, said animal trainer Marcie Campbell.

“The songs and costumes are spectacular, and the sound is so amazing, it sends shivers up and down the back of the spine,” Campbell said.

“When the procession makes its way up to the stage, and the glittery costumes, music and the procession of the animals appear, there’s a silent awe from the crowd.”

Campbell and her husband train animals at Hedrick’s Exotic Animal Farm in Kansas.

They arrived in Costa Mesa with their charges about a week ago, setting up camp in a parking lot behind Segerstrom Hall.

The animals are experienced, used to people and crowds, and enjoy working, Campbell said.

Their feeding schedules are closely monitored, reducing the possibility of accidents on stage, which Campbell said rarely happens.

The couple have been traveling with the Rockettes show for the past 12 years.

“It’s a fun show. We love it, and the people are kind of like a family,” Campell said.

Amy Lenhardt thinks every family in Orange County will enjoy the show.

“It’s for kids, grandparents and every age in-between.”

When the curtain goes up for the first time on the Orange County stage, Amy’s family and friends will be in the audience.

“My mom is my best friend, and I owe a lot of this to her,” she said.

After all, it was her mom who introduced her to “that pretty style of dancing,” and encouraged her to realize her childhood dream.

“Becoming a Rockette is proof that if you have a dream, and set your eye on that goal, it is completely possible to achieve.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Radio City Rockettes

WHEN: Dec. 13 through 30

WHERE: Orange County Performing Artscenter’s Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa

COST: $25-$75

INFO: For performance times and tickets, call (714) 556-2787 or go to www.ocpac.org

SUE THOENSEN may be reached at (714) 966-4627 or at sue.thoensen@latimes.com.