RING IN THE NEW YEAR CHINESE SPECTACULAR AT THE NOKIA CELEBRATES RICH CULTURAL TRADITIONS OF THE SPRING FESTIVAL WITH DANCERS, MUSICIANS, ACROBATS AND PAGEANTRY.

Byline: FRED SHUSTER

>LA.COM 

It's the year 4706. Time to welcome the Year of the Rat!

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, falls on a different date each year, ranging from late January to mid-February (basically on the second new moon after the winter solstice.) Unlike our Western New Year, celebrations aren't tightly focused on one date.

The big day itself is Feb. 7, but festivities can occur on weekends before or after that date -- often with a flamboyant parade, like the one on Feb. 9 in L.A.'s Chinatown, an event that's been a local tradition for more than 100 years.

The splendor and beauty of the East will also be brought to Chinese New Year Spectacular, which runs for four shows at downtown's Nokia Theatre.

Listed as one of the Top 10 shows in North America by Billboard magazine and rated by The New York Times as "the best Chinese show of the year," the event includes hundreds of dancers, acrobats, singers and musicians performing traditional dance, music, song, martial arts and mini-dramas in celebration of China's rich cultural past.

"It's a revival of a lost culture while at the same time creating a new era," says James White, a spokesperson for the Chinese New Year Spectacular, which hits 65 cities worldwide this year. "It covers 5,000 years of culture in two hours, and I promise that every person who sees this show will remember it for many years to come. It truly touches everyone."

Performances by world-class artists include tenor Guimin Guan, who has been described as the Pavarotti of China, and Xiaochun Qi, known for playing the erhu, a traditional Chinese string instrument, to symphony audiences around the globe.

Conductor Rutang Chen, a cellist for China's Central Philharmonic Society Orchestra for more than three decades before moving to the U.S., also performs.

Accompanied by a live orchestra, each segment is set against a series of vibrant rotating backdrops, ranging from the snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas to China's pastel green hillsides, from immense heavenly Chinese palaces to a serene fairyland landscape. Set pieces are introduced in both English and Chinese.

"There's a universal message of compassion, honesty and loyalty (to the event)," said Simone Gao, an award-winning producer who has narrated the show in past years. "Ancient Chinese culture emphasized chivalry, loyalty and the harmony of body and mind. It's the underlying message, and any age group can relate to it."

A review in the Boston Herald after last weekend's Chinese New Year Spectacular in Beantown said the 2 1/2-hour program featured dancers and singers "in a dazzling array of costumes, and a crack orchestra that seamlessly fused Chinese and Western classical instrumentation. Together, they put a high gloss on segments ranging from 12th-century military adventures and Mongolian bowl dancing to fan dancing and the power of the lotus blossom."

Those who attended last year's production at the Kodak Theatre will recall the dazzling costumes that are as much a part of each dance as the dance movements themselves. A single dance piece in this year's Spectacular can require more than 100 costumes and accessories, Gao said.

As White explains it, the show opens on a huge LED screen, where a mythical paradise rises out of the clouds, complete with golden colonnades and marble steps. Clouds begin rolling across the scene and a shining light appears, slowly descending from a corner of the sky.

These 3-D digital backgrounds are a unique part of the Spectacular, which is a multimillion-dollar production in which technological wizardry gives way to emotional wonders of flesh and blood. The elaborate event is produced by the New York-based New Tang Dynasty Television.

The Chinese New Year is the most important Chinese festival and is also celebrated by the Vietnamese. Each year is named after one of 12 animals in the zodiac.

The four Nokia shows are expected to draw full houses, since Los Angeles County has a Chinese-American population of more than 400,000, the majority within the San Gabriel Valley.

"L.A. has one of the largest Chinese populations in the U.S., but our show is really for everyone," Gao said. "It doesn't matter what your cultural background is, there's something to enjoy for every person."

Fred Shuster [phone];

[e-mail]

CHINESE NEW YEAR SPECTACULAR

>Where: Nokia Theatre, 777 Chick Hearn Court, Los Angeles.

>When: 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.

>Tickets: $38 to $188. www.laspectacular.com. [phone].

more Chinese New Year events>

In celebrating more than 100 years of tradition, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles presents the 2008 Golden Dragon Parade next month. With more than 110,000 individuals lining the parade route and thousands viewing the telecast each year, this colorful celebration along North Broadway in Chinatown has become the premier cultural event in the Southern California Asian-American community. Here's a schedule of some free Chinese New Year events in downtown Los Angeles. For a complete list, see www.lagoldendragonparade.com.

>Feb.9

Chinese New Year Festival

10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Chinatown. Intersection of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Broadway.

109th annual Golden Dragon Parade

2 to 5 p.m., Chinatown. Free, but $27 grandstand seats available by calling [phone]. Parade begins at Ord and Hill streets and ends at intersection of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Broadway.

>Feb. 10

Chinese New Year Festival

10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Chinatown. Intersection of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Broadway.

Little King & Queen Contest

1 to 3 p.m., Chinatown. Intersection of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Broadway.

>F.S.

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(1 -- cover -- color) 4706

GET OUT AND CELEBRATE THE CHINESE YEAR OF THE RAT

(2 -- 5 -- color) Hundreds of performers are part of the Chinese New Year Spectacular, including Xiaochun Qi, above, who plays the erhu, a traditional Chinese string instrument. The 2 1/2-hour show is punctuated with stunning costumes and rotating landscape backdrops and orchestral accompaniment.

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more Chinese New Year events > (see text)