Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall

While Grauman's Chinese is often referred to as "the most famous movie theatre in the world", a case might also be made for Radio City Music Hall.

The "Showplace of the Nation", it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the New York City with the Easter and Christmas stage shows becoming popular holiday attractions.

However motion pictures are no longer showcased and besides movies were not part of the original concept.

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The Music Hall opened on December 27, 1932 under the direction of master showman Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel. The policy would be two-a-day variety with vaudeville acts and stage spectacles "prepared especially to make use of the special stage equipment and elaborate lighting facilities."

New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson was not alone in finding the mammoth 19 act opener "dull". While he enjoyed "the dancing mountebank" Ray Bolger, Atkinson (and many others) "retired before DeWolf Hopper and Weber & Fields appeared in the last number."

On January 6, 1933 it was announced that "the new $7,000,000 Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center will offer continuous performances of feature motion pictures and stage shows at popular prices, beginning next Wednesday."

A follow-up article stated that the Music Hall would feature the "world's largest projection sheet, 70 by 40 feet" with a "surface of 2,800 square feet." According to the article "the present world's largest screen was made for the RKO Roxy Theatre and its dimensions are 60x30 feet."

On January 11,at 11 o'clock, the Music Hall opened as a cine-variety house with The Bitter Tea of General Yen starring Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther .

The stage program includedRay Bolger , the Tuskegee Institute singers , a condensed version of Faust and several musical & ballet numbers.

Orchestra prices were 35 cents to 1 p.m., 55 cents to 6 p.m., 75 cents to 10:30 p.m. and 55 cents to closing. Smoking permitted in all three mezzanines.

The theatre continued with the cine-variety format until September 1978, ending with the film Caravans starring Anthony Quinn.

Regular film showings ended in 1979 with talk of demolishing the theatre. While this was being planned, New York designated the building as a City Landmark. However the space remained dark, going through different ownerships while finding occasional use for shows and films. The building was also hired out to such events as the Tonys.

Declared a "National Historic Landmark" in 1987,the theatre was acquired by Cablevision Systems a decade later. They closed the Music Hall for a 7-month period to restore and re-furbish it at a cost of $70 million.

The "Showplace of the Nation" re-opened in September 1999, becoming a leading hall for popular concerts, stage shows, special attractions and media events.