JUST FOR KICKS : To Celebrate Their 60th Anniversary, Rockettes Take Show on the Road

Few can claim to have swept audiences off their feet with the same veracity as veteran Radio City Music Hall Rockette Lori Mello, whose bio leaves others in the dust.

For her 1985 coming out, the resume reads, she appeared with the Rockettes “as a butterfly, a horse and a giant dancing broom.” In the latter number, she was be-hatted by a broom-like headdress a la the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” from “Fantasia.”

“I always keep that in,” says Mello, “to let people know we have a great sense of humor in show-biz.”

Show-biz it will be indeed when Mello and two dozen high-kicking, tap-dancing cohorts in dazzling costumes sweep into Costa Mesa for “The Great Radio City Music Hall Spectacular,” opening Tuesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

The two-hour anniversary show, also starring actress-singer Susan Anton, celebrates elaborate song and dance numbers from the New York City institution’s 60-year history. It includes a Gershwin tribute, an “undersea” routine, and “Rockettes Dancing in Diamonds,” with the lineup’s famous, stunningly uniform cancan-like kicks.

Choreographed and directed by the late Tony-Award winner Joe Layton (“No Strings,” “George M!”), the nationwide touring production marks the first time the long-limbed hoofers have been featured in a road show since the “Missouri Rockets” made their 1925 premiere in St. Louis. This original group made its Radio City Music Hall debut seven years later, after moving to New York. The dancers were renamed the Rockettes in 1934.

Mello, who will appear in eight of about 10 musical numbers, provided answers to some most-asked Rockette questions during a phone interview from a recent Dallas tour stop.

For the soft-spoken, Providence, R.I., native, who now lives in Los Angeles, this job is indeed a childhood dream come true.

“As a little girl,” she said, “my inspiration for becoming a member of the Rockettes came from watching them in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” the annual cortege along Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

And yes, Rockettes must meet precise height requirements--standing between 5-foot-5 1/2 and 5-foot-9--and may perform up to five shows a day, as she does during the eight-week run of Radio City’s 90-minute Christmas extravaganza (with live camels included).

“It’s an unbelievable schedule,” with shows at 9 a.m., noon and 3, 6 and 9 p.m., she said. “We just condition ourselves to get used to it and we have a sleeping room to nap between shows, and a cafeteria inside the building so we don’t have to go out into the cold to eat.”

Critical to creating the illusion that every dancer is kicking in perfect unison is staying “on your lineup spot,” Mello said.

“We dance shoulder to shoulder, but you’re not allowed to lean on or really touch the girl next to you, and we kick eye-high with a pointed toe.”

“Sing, Sing,” a tribute to the Big Band era, is among Mello’s favorite numbers in the touring show.

“The girls pretend to play instruments in the band,” she explained, “and I have a really good time because I like to fake the drums,” the instrument her husband, David, plays professionally.

Mello has toured with Broadway shows and has aspirations to work in Hollywood. She doesn’t mind subverting her individuality for the gratifying team work of the Rockettes, however.

“Our strength and our glory is in numbers,” she said sincerely.

To sustain her physical strength, she takes a daily ballet and jazz class and tap at least twice a week.

“We counted them one day,” she said. “There are about 258 kicks throughout this show, and eight costume changes.”

But how does she keep mental repetitive stress syndrome at bay and each performance fresh?

“We have a lot of laughs backstage to keep it fun,” Mello said, “and while show business is fun, it’s our job and we’re expected to give 100% every time.”

And, there are those moments that make it clear that she’s in the right line of work.

On a recent plane trip, for instance, after telling an older gentleman what she did for a living, “he put his hand to his heart, and he said, ‘Oh, I was a lot younger and a lot slimmer, but I saw those girls right before I went to the war,’ ” Mello said. “It made my eyes tear up; I felt real proud to be a part of that tradition.”

Zan Dubin covers the arts for The Times Orange County Edition. What: “The Great Radio City Music Hall Spectacular,” with Susan Anton and the Rockettes.

When: Tuesday, June 14, through June 17 at 8 p.m.; June 18, at 2 and 8 p.m.; June 19, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Where: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

Whereabouts: San Diego (405) Freeway to Bristol Avenue exit north, turn right onto Town Center Drive.

Wherewithal: $19 to $45.

Where to call: (714) 556-2787 or (714) 740-2000 (TicketMaster).