Radio City Music Hall
1260 Avenue of the Americas,
New York,
NY
10020
1260 Avenue of the Americas,
New York,
NY
10020
99 people
favorited this theater
One of the greatest Art Deco style structures ever built, Radio City Music Hall is one of the most well known landmarks of New York City. Opened on December 27, 1932, with a variety show, it screened its first film Barbara Stanwyck in “The Bitter Tea of General Yen” on January 11, 1933. The proscenium is 100 feet wide, the stage 66 feet deep. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer organ, which has twin 4 manual consoles and 58 ranks. The organ was opened by organists Dick Leibert and Dr. C.A.J. Parmentier.
Showing a mixture of movies and stage shows in the program for 45 years, the format was ended on April 25, 1979 with Kathleen Quinlan in “The Promise”. Thereafter the programming changed to concerts, stage shows and special events.
Reborn after a $70 million renovation in 1999, Radio City has been restored to all of its original opulence.
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Recent comments (view all 3,309 comments)
I forget which movie attraction it was (maybe “Tom Sawyer?” or Disney’s “Robin Hood?”) but I can recall seeing the trailer for “Mame” at the Hall, and it was so long, that I remember my aunt rhetorically asking, “why come to see the movie, they’re practically showing the whole thing right now?!”
Ironically, we did go back and see “Mame” at the Hall, anyway!
Seventy=five years ago today, RCMH opened its 1938 Easter Holiday Presentation with the world premiere engagement of Samuel Goldwyn’s “The Adventures of Marco Polo,” a B&W historical epic starring Gary Cooper and introducing Sigrid Gurie. The two-part stage revue opened with the pious “Glory of Easter,” followed by “Mickey’s Circus,” in which beloved Walt Disney characters cavorted with RCMH’s resident entertainers. Disney’s “Silly Symphony” Technicolor cartoon, “Wynken, Blynken and Nod,” provided a screen bonus.
Future legend Lana Turner played a tiny bit part as a harem hand-maiden, wearing a black wig and Oriental make-up. Many years later, when “Marco Polo” was re-issued, Turner received co-star billing with Gary Cooper in the advertising and on marquees!
Seventy years ago today, RCMH opened its 1943 Easter holiday package with RKO’s “Flight For Freedom” on screen. Starring Rosalind Russell and Fred MacMurray, the B&W patriotic thriller was loosely based on the disappearance in the South Pacific of famed pilot Amelia Earhart, which remains a mystery to this day. The Music Hall’s stage revue opened with the expected “Glory of Easter,” followed by “Easter Parade,” which included the Rockettes as war factory workers on the “swing shift.” The grand finale was a “stunning and realistic” enactment of “April Showers” (but minus Al Jolson).
I watched the Tony Award nominations this morning and was happy to hear that after two years at the Beacon the award ceremony will return to Radio City this year.
I wonder if the nfl draft will continue its run at the hall…seems that it’s a popular venue for nfl fans across america. As for awards shows, the Oscars should not play at this venue….it was meant to be in hollywood.
Sixty-eight years ago today, MGM’s “The Valley of Decision,” a B&W melodrama teaming the Hall’s boxoffice queen Greer Garson with rapidly rising Gregory Peck, opened its world premiere engagement at RCMH. Leonidoff’s stage revue, “Summer Idyll,” included the Corps de Ballet in a new spectacle set to the music of Frederic Chopin.
Seventy-five years ago today, WB’s “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” a Technicolor epic starring Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains, opened its NYC premiere engagement at RCMH. The five-scene stage spectacle, a musical fantasy entitled “Stars at Midnight,” used Respighi’s “Pines of Rome” for the overture.
That Robin Hood movie is still my favorite Robin Hood movie of all time. Much better than the Disney, Kevin Costner, Mel Brooks, and Russell Crowe versions.
The 1922 Robin Hood is shown at a Broadway theater in new The Great Gatsby film. If anyone knows where, you might wish to post on that theater’s page.