Radio City Music Hall
1260 6th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10020
1260 6th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10020
116 people
favorited this theater
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Yes but mud wrestling accompanied by the mighty Wurlitzer. So sad isnt it?
Airport at the Music Hall.
March 17th 1970.
In the afternoon St Patrick’s Day Parade.
6 PM The Music Halls Great Easter Show followed by Airport in Todd AO.
Maybe next summer we can look forward to track and field events at the Music Hall? But perhaps this is too elitest. I suggest to the Cablevision execs hip hop topless female mud wrestling sponsored by Hilfiger, Diesel and Swatch with Barney and the Rugrats in the lower lounge for the family members under 4.
Vincent has a point about being in a largely full movie palace and hearing an appreciative audience laughing, cheering, applauding or even singing along to the movie; it IS an exhilarating experience not at all akin to the noise of a sports or rock concert crowd. I last experienced it in 1970 when the shortly-to-be-split former WARNER here in Milwaukee was filled for the movie “Airport” and all 2500 cheered when the old lady slapped the hysterical guy, and laughed as one at other appropriate times. You didn’t feel isolated as a lone viewer as you do nowadays in the multiplex screening rooms regardless of what is showing. Occasionally I can still feel that audience response as when our ORIENTAL has an organ show with a silent film and a stage act, but not otherwise anymore.
While I would much rather see SOM in a 1500 seat road show house(The screen is much more head on) RCMH showed SOM in ‘75 or '76. The presentation was suberb. An immaculate, brilliant 70mm print with sound that was great(during the wedding I could have sworn they were playing the Music Hall organ.)
It was so empty however that between showings the lights were kept very low so as not to embarrass the scattered patrons.
And while I hate the idea of an SOM sing-along I went to the finale night at the Ziegfeld and it was one of the best cinema experiences I have ever had. The audience was totally demented-cheering and roaring its approval at every iconic moment. With Andrews first appearance on screen it could have been Jagger. And when they escaped into the Swiss Alps(well who cares if the actors were really heading into Germany) I thought we were going to blow the roof off the Ziegfeld.
Absolutely exhilarating.
Imagine it with The Hooray For Hollywood show that accompanied Bullit in 1968 :)
Yes!!! That’s an excellent idea. There’s no reason why Cablevision ought not consider screening it in Summer 2005. It seems to me there were filmings during the summers in the 80’s at the Music Hall.
Lets start a letter writing campaign to have a 70mm screening of The Sound of Music here next year. It’s the 40th anniversary.
Hello SimonL,
Thanks for your comments. You are quite right about theater staff knowing who was at the organ at the Music Hall! At the time my friend was an Assistant Organist, Leibert, Miller and Bohr were indeed the primary organists. I have a number of recordings of all of them, and Liebert’s style, to me, was a bit “dark” sounding. Leibert did the “Supper Shows” and Bohr usually opened. (At least that’s what Ray told me.) Leibert studied the organ at the Peabody Conservatory of Music here in Baltimore. Miller, who still lives in New Jersey, holds a Master’s Degree in Music and Ray Bohr studied the organ with New York organist Harold Friedell. All were artists in their own right. They had to be … the Music Hall organ is a difficult instrument to play due to the location of the consoles in relationship to the pipes (in the ceiling).
Check this website out: [url]http://www.atos.org/Pages/Journal/RadioCity/RadioCity.html[/url]. It’s a great story of the Mightiest of all WurliTzers at the Radio City Music Hall and I know that you will enjoy it. The picture of Bohr and Leibert at the Prompt Side console (thank God the rear-view mirror and clock were removed when the consoles was totally rebuilt} is great. Let me know what you think. It gives a good argument that the RCMH organ is a Kimball-designed organ will two WurliTzer consoles, all built by WurliTzer.
Cheers!
PS: As I write this, I am already planning my family’s annual pilgrimage to see the Christmas Spectacular. Who cares if it’s been changed from the “Old Format?” At least the show does go on.
For “Organized”: Although I never met “Ray”, the theater staff was often able to tell the difference in musical style between him and Dick Liebert and Ashley Miller. Liebert, who played mostly the evening shows was very big with special effects i.e. bells and whistles; Ashley was fond of show tunes and Ray seemed to like bright marches and was the best at exit music. What a treat to hear them at the twin consoles at holiday time. The biggest problem was getting the audience to leave during the break music, as many stayed to applaud and then leave as the curtain rose on the film credits.
I too remember the sound of MFL at the Cinerama. I went twice. There was enormous presence and warmth. At one point I walked around the theater to the various speakers to hear the separation. We will never hear it that way again. And no one but us will know.
Your right, I just always thought of the Gotham as the Trans-Lux. Did you manage the theatre? Creative Entertainment got me the passes that night. I was horrified when Fox released that moronic sing along version of The Sound of Music and would not go to see it, even though it would have been nice to have seen it at the Zeigfeld. It’s my favorite movie and I still have the program from when my parents took me to see it at The Rivoli. The last time I saw MFL in a theatre was in the 70’s when The Cinerama played that 70mm Broadway Salutes Broadway series. The print was pink but the sound was unreal.
Robert I think you are talking about the Gotham(I believe that was its name.) My audience there was well behaved. I also saw El Cid there in revival.
I’m still hoping for 40th anniverary 70mm presentations for SOM and MFL. Let see how the audiences today respond to entertainments made for audiences of mid twentieth century America. Or do most people today consider them camp?
PS – I’m still waiting for the film version of Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” with Debbie Reynolds singing “I’m Still Here,” as well as film versions of “Pippin,” “Dreamgirls,” “Promises, Promises,” and “On the 20th Century.” Probably not to be…alas! But there is “The Phantom of the Opera” coming for Christmas, which would be perfect for the RCMH as an exclusive NYC run. That won’t happen either!
posted by Ron3853 on Sep 22, 2004 at 11:37am
“Dreamgirls” could easily be made into the type of musical that seems to work today where the musical numbers are part of a show or a dream sequence like “Chicago”. People today seem unwilling to accept the break out in song numbers that all of the great musicals had. When the Trans-Lux east revived “Sound of Music” for it’s 25th anniversary the audience laughed when Julie Andrews started singing “Something Good”. That also happened with this years Cole Porter biography “De Lovely”. It’s actually sad that people cant just sit back and escape. Movies were never meant to be total reality. The incredible films made during WW2 were to give people two hours of escapism during those trying times. I for one find movies relaxing and want to get lost in the story. Give me stair case full of chorus girls any day.
Robert if you read above we have disussed this many times like have a summer stage show as they do at Christmas (think of all the musicians and performers this would employ) and every week a different classic film.
Walter Reade just showed Birdie. This is one of the most amazing musicals to see on a screen with colors that will burn your eyes for days after.
For some reason this film never gets any kind of audience in revival. I am usually the only one there. To see it at the Music Hall (which you could have in ‘63) would be pop culture heaven.
Simon L!
Did you know organist Raymond “Ray” F. Bohr, Jr. when you were at the Hall? A very good friend of mine was an Associate Organist there in 1955-1956 and it was through him I was honored to know Ray, whom I first met in January 1977, which was a time of trouble for the Hall. My friend and I visited Ray in 1978 and 1979 and we always treated like family. Ray would always show us some interesting part of the theater and standing on the platform at the top the fly tower over the Great Stage is something I will never forget, along with watching the movie from the orchestra elevator, lowered at the bottom of the pit. Of course, the organ was the special attraction.
Ray was the last full-time house organist (John DeTroy was part-time) at the Music Hall under the “old” format until 1979. The management there basically dismissed him. My friend and I kept in touch with Ray until his untimely passing in 1986. Ray knew the Mighty WurliTzer inside and out as he was also a trained organ technician, although he did not service the Music Hall organ. (He would always say, “Not my job!”) Ray was from Nyack, NY.
Fortunately, the Music Hall organ is under the expert care of the same family since its installation in 1932. She’s very lucky not to find the fate of other treasures, such as the Roxy’s organ.
Premiering a big, splashy roadshow musical in the 60s was a hit or miss proposition. Certainly “West Side Story,” “Mary Poppins,” and “My Fair Lady” were huge successes.
But then in 1965 came “The Sound of Music,” and the overwhelming popularity of the Julie Andrews-20th Century Fox hit changed everything. All of the studios thought the public wanted big musicals and that they too would have similar blockbusters. So many of the Broadway musical hits which hadn’t yet been filmed were dusted off for the big screen, as well as ideas for original screen musicals.
In the next decade, we got “The Happiest Millionaire,” “Doctor Dolittle,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Camelot,” “Funny Girl,” “Oliver!,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “Half a Sixpence,” “Star!,” “Finian’s Rainbow,” “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” “Sweet Charity,” “Paint Your Wagon,” “Hello, Dolly!,” “Song of Norway,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Man of La Mancha,” “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” “1776,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Tom Sawyer,” “Cabaret,” “Godspell, and "Mame.” Most of these WERE released as hard-ticket roadshow films, and although their artistic qualities varied, very few of them earned back their production costs. And younger audiences at the time were not embracing the musical unless it was rock music, which is one of the reasons for the decline of the film musical until it was revived recently with “Chicago.”
PS – I’m still waiting for the film version of Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” with Debbie Reynolds singing “I’m Still Here,” as well as film versions of “Pippin,” “Dreamgirls,” “Promises, Promises,” and “On the 20th Century.” Probably not to be…alas! But there is “The Phantom of the Opera” coming for Christmas, which would be perfect for the RCMH as an exclusive NYC run. That won’t happen either!
Watching Music Man at 2 and ½ hours it looks like it might have been planned as a roadshow and then changed to regular status. There is even a perfect place for the intermission. Does anybody know why On a Clear Day which would have been a perfect film for the Music Hall did not play there? This was originally planned as a road show but due to a change in distribution patterns was downgrading to continuous perfs. The film was cut accordingly and I understand lost some great stuff. It would be nice if it still existed and was added to the DVD.
Thanks Ron
My friend and I were just discussing how great it would be to run a Music Hall festival and revive some of the great films that opened there over the years. Many years ago when I was running the DW Griffith a collector friend had an IB Technicolor print of “Bye Bye Birdie” from Germany complete with German subtitles. We ran it after the theatre closed for our friends. I think this may have played in the states in Eastmancolor. Many times the europeon prints were still struck in IB. The colors were a knockout. Think how it would look on the music hall screen.
To the best of my knowledge, Warner Brothers premiered and showed “The Music Man” as a regular non-roadshow film in all of the big cities during the summer of 1962.
“Mary Poppins,” however, was a roadshow film in almost all of the large cities when it came out in the fall of 1964.
Looking again through the list of films which played RCMH that I previously submitted, only “Mary Poppins” and “The Happiest Millionaire” (both from Disney) could truly be considered to have played roadshow engagements in cities other than New York, although “Fanny,” “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” “The Great Race,” “Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” and “1776,” among others, probably could have been roadshow films, had the studios decided to release them that way.
I have a question maybe someone knows the answer to. I know because of its stage and movie policy the music hall never played Roadshows. However did movies open continuos showings at RCMH and roadshow in other places? I thought someone once told me “Music Man” and “Mary Poppins” played roadshow in other states. Is this true?
I am currently working on bringing classic films back to the grand 2400 seat St George theatre on Staten Island /theaters/1865/
I have been wanting to see the Jersey theatre, perhaps when I get back from vacation. I will be away for two weeks, going back to Hawaii where I lived and worked for several years. I will update the movie going experience there as well.
Vincent:
I was lucky enough to visit the 2800 seat Ohio Theatre in Columbus twice several years ago during the summer. They ran classic movies (We saw “To Catch a Thief” and “Meet Me in St Louis”) on Saturday afternoons, complete with an organist prior to the movie. To hear the cheers and clapping from a full house as the organist descended into the floor when the movie began was an incredible nostalgia trip. The kids who were there got a glimpse of what it was like all those years ago to see a movie in a wonderful theatre.
I was also very fortunate to visit the projection room afterwards. It was all so familiar. Peerless Magnarcs, Century ( I think) projectors…and they still did changeovers! Made my summer.
Note for Vito: Hey Vito…..I think we would make a heck of a team. Whaddya say I head down your way and we’ll offer our services to the folks at the Loews Jersey Theatre?
I would like to add my thanks to Bill. This stuff is amazing. But I must add that for those of us who were not able to enjoy this kind of showmanship during its heyday we can only regret what we missed(though I love DVD’s they are no replacement.) How very often after work or on the weekend would I love to see a good film at the Music Hall, the Criterion or the Rivoli.
The talk above about London’s Leicester Square also makes one want to get into a time machine and see those great 1 screen theaters.
Going to Paris and seeing the theaters on the Champs Elysee and see nothing but multiplexes was such a bummer. Now its happening in Italy.The french and italians may despise us but they love to imitate us at every opportunity.
The way all you guys are sharing your experience and reminiscences with us is the next best thing to having access to H.G. Wells’s time machine. Thanks!
SimonL—You’re right about comparing the Roxy and RCMH. Part of the Roxy’s problem stemmed from the height of its projection booth and the distance of the screen from the curtain line. As the Roxy’s contour curtain rose or fell, the film projected nearly a quarter-way up on it, and the curtain cast an elongated shadow back upon the the screen. The Roxy could have solved the problem by using a traveller as well (as RCMH did), but it would have lost some of the Fox fanfare if the heavy curtains remained closed until the music began. The Roxy, of course, didn’t install its golden contour curtain until December ‘52 (with Ice Colorama on stage)— before that, it flaunted a wonderful burgundy-red opera-style swag. And, yes, the curtains at RCMH were so heavy that they muffled the sound — most damagingly for “The Barretts of Wimpole Street” which I saw there in January '57 (one of the few, to judge from the attendance figures you cited last 23 July): the movie began with an off-screen recitation of Elizabeth BB’s “How do I love thee,” which you couldn’t hear because of the curtain. I earlier described how, before CinemaScope brought alterations, RCMH’s contour curtain used to rise in a fully lit house, framing the yellow traveller behind it for a half-minute or so as the organist built to his finale. When the film flashed on the traveller, the lights dimmed and the curtain parted. That way, spectators saw the waterfall effect in brightly lit glory, and marvelled at the draped tableau for a fractional pause before the film began. That ended when larger-screen projection required a more complicated masking mechanism that likely interfered with the effect. In the late 50s, if you looked very, very carefully at the contour curtain during the organist’s finale, you could see the outline of a draft shield rising behind it, with an accompanying backstage gust of air that drew the curtain inwards. Or so it seemed to my un-professional but very sharp teen-aged eyes.