Photograph by Josh Monken
When the Rockettes kick into action at the Fox this month, December 11 to 28, you might recognize a familiar face. Karilyn Ashley Surratt grew up in St. Louis and performed in more than 10 productions at The Muny. In fact, she was on lunch break in 2005, during rehearsals for a local production of Singin’ in the Rain, when she received a phone call from Radio City Music Hall. Her reaction? “Ahhhhhh!” Since then, she’s performed in Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Dallas and Houston. And when the St. Louis Walk of Fame added a star for the Rockettes last year, she was there.
Surratt is especially thrilled about performing with the Rockettes in her hometown. “It’s really exciting because my whole family is coming,” she says. While visiting St. Louis in late September, the energetic Surratt sat down in her red-and-white Christmas costume—a look that attracted a few stares outside the Fox during the photo shoot—to share what it’s like to be a Rockette.
• The first time I saw the Rockettes? When I was a little girl, during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I remember watching the floats, and then the Rockettes would come on, and they were so pretty in their costumes. It was
just perfect.
• We have to be proficient in ballet, tap and jazz. Growing up, I was very resistant to tap. My mom was like, “You’re very good at tap.” And I was like, “No, ballet, ballet!” It was one of those mom-knows-best things.
• The first thing they do when you audition is measure your height. You have to be between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-10 1/2. I called my mom afterward and said, “I really am 5-foot-6, in case you didn’t believe me.”
• There were about 400 girls at the Chicago audition … At the end of the day, they announced who was coming back, and I heard my name. It was such a great feeling.
• Rehearsals are intense, but the girls are so supportive.
• We do 300 kicks per show—sometimes 1,200 kicks in a single day if we do four shows.
• You learn a whole new vocabulary of dance. There’s a full kick, a two-thirds kick … You have to know what it feels like in your body.
• I performed at The Muny a lot, but I was never really nervous. But I was so nervous the first time I performed with the Rockettes in Pittsburgh. I remember being in the kick line and doing “Christmas in New York,” and it was just this quintessential Rockette moment.
• We’ll do eight costume changes in a single show. I wear a wig cap, so my hair doesn’t get
messed up.
• When we’re onstage, we can see the audience, and you can feel the energy. We’re both feeding off each other. It’s this great reciprocal energy.
