The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a staple holiday tradition for many families. Since 1924, it has been attracting spectators from all over. In 2023, over 3.5 million people lined the streets of New York City to watch, and over 50 million people spent their Thanksgiving morning watching from home.
This past Thanksgiving, myself and ten other Latrobe students got the opportunity to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Abigail Alias, Gabby Amatucci, Sadie Bridge, Emily Coffee, Jocelyn Jamison, Jianna Kaczmarkiewicz, Ellie McDonald, Malorie Shaffer, Addi Sterrett, and Emma Zavatsky and I spent the week the week of Thanksgiving in New York City.
On Monday night we practiced our routine on the famous star at the Macy’s store that is nine floors high. All of the parade’s performers must practice on the Macy’s star. We were given an allotted time to practice so that the cameras captured the right angles. We sparkled in the lights coming from the fully decorated Macy’s building. We stepped onto the star a little after 8:00 at night but did not get to dance until 9:30. The star became our focal point at the actual parade on Thanksgiving Day. “We walked 3 miles, and waited for 2 hours, but dancing in the dark with the lights on us had to be one of my most memorable moments of the week.” -Gabby Amatucci
& Juliet is a recent Broadway production that seeks an alternative ending to the famous story of Romeo and Juliet. It analyzes what could have come of her life if she had not met her tragic fate with Romeo. If I give the ending away, you probably won’t see the show and you should see this show for the music, the costumes, the dancing, and the story itself. Seeing this show was my favorite part of the trip. Before we went to the show, we were taught the choreography for the last song and got to do it with the actors from our front-row seats. If you’re looking for a captivating show that makes you want to sing and dance along, be sure to put this show on your must-do list if you ever find yourself in the Big Apple.
Despite our jam-packed schedules, we still managed to
carve out time for ice skating at the Rockefeller Rink. One of my most cherished memories from the trip was slowly and steadily helping my mom to skate one lap around the rink. “I have always wanted to skate at the rink at Rockefeller and we had a lot of fun.” -Emma Zavatsky
During the trip, I saw a total of three Broadway shows. On Tuesday I saw SIX which was awesome. The show is set up to be more like a concert which was super different than any other musical I have seen before. On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to experience “Wicked” on Broadway. Many of us had seen the show before when it came to Pittsburgh, but nothing beats seeing it on Broadway. “I’ve never been to a Broadway show before and Wicked is really popular, so I was excited about seeing it.” -Abigail Alias
Over 700 dancers danced in the Spirit of America group, meaning that we had to practice for hours on end to be in perfect unison. Our longest practice lasted ten hours. Even though it was long and exhausting, I was grateful for the time I got to spend with my best friends and the time we got to make new friends. We rehearsed in enormous ballrooms, yet we were still crammed and lacked space for everyone. “Although the rehearsals were long, I still really enjoyed learning from the choreographers.” -Addi Sterrett
Parade morning brought bitterly cold temperatures, and we were poorly prepared for the chilly morning weather. Our parade costumes provided very little warmth, so we quickly became grateful for our polar shields. We lined up for the parade at about 7:00 am but did not perform until 11:00 am. We spent these hours waiting in the street at first. When it hit about 9:00 am, we finally began to walk in the parade. The parade route is roughly two and a half miles long. We all wore jazz shoes, which made for an extra long walk.
Overall, I had an incredible week surrounded by wonderful people, and I cannot wait for my next opportunity to head back to New York City.
