Radio City Music Hall

“He is reasonably certain he will play ‘'The Trolley Song’‘ from the musical "Meet Me in St. Louis,” the novelty tune “Rubber Duckie” from Sesame Street,"

“Rubber Duckie” on the mighty Wurlitzer?

WOW!

Hi, Hank. The stairs under the choral staircases lead to the stairs themselves, to what was a sound booth (at least on the 50th Street side of the theater), and backstage. If I forgot to Hank, thanks for the information you sent me. I do appreciate it.

I just had a memory come back to me. I thought my last visit to Radio City was to see Crossed Swords which I think corresponded to the Easter Show. I don’t remember the year. The movie was forgettable, but I clearly remember the stage show spectacle of the lilies lined up in a cross shape.

However, I also remember seeing the Bicentenial celebration in the summer of 1976. I don’t remember the movie, but the stage show’s gimmick was that it included a song that represennted every state in the union. Some were easy: “California Here I Come”, “The Yellow Rose of Texas”, “Oklahoma” and “New York State of Mind”. Other states were much more challenging. New Jersey’s song was somethng called “Jersey Bounce”. I can'’t imagine what they used for New Hampshire, The Dakotas (Both) and Minnesota. For the Carolinas I think they used “Nothing could be Finer” for both of them, but I could be wrong. I also think there might have been a state or two where they couldn’t find any song and they made one up.

Anyone out there remember any of this? :–)

Look over countless reviews of films that played at this magnificent theater and you will see that it was usually referred to as the Music Hall and only sometimes as Radio City Music Hall. For some reason, every reference today seems to be Radio City. Let’s try to call it by the name that is a reminder of its glory days.

Remember that the Cinemiracle process was owned by National Theatres Company before being sold to Cinerama. The West Coast opening was at the Chinese Theatre and East Coast was at the Roxy Theatre both owned and operated by Fox’s subsidiary theatre division National Theatres & Television, Inc. .

Mike: Those two were not in any widescreen process, but I can think of a few Disney productions that were: “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and “Lady and the Tramp” (CinemaScope), “Swiss Family Robinson” (Panavision), and “Sleeping Beauty” (Technirama 70).

DavidM: Yes, masking hides a plethora of picture “sins”. Projector aperture plates always sit a little behind the film plane less they scratch the film and as a result, depending on the format and lens, project a “fuzz line” which the masking covers. To clarify the statement above, there was a little cropping in that the picture at the angle mentioned “keystones” and becomes trapezoidal (think the “Star Wars” chapter introductions). The plates are also cut as trapezoidal, but in the opposite direction thus giving a straight edge to the picture, but cutting off the image that would fall outside the straight line. The only director to call us on the issue was Bryan Forbes who did “The Slipper & The Rose”. He had placed his end credits close to the edge of the frame, and when they crawled the first and last letters of the lines were cropped until they got about a quarter of the way up the screen. He asked if something could be done, but we said only if the projectors were moved to the 1st Mezzanine! (One of the advantages of the current use of digital projectors is that they are on the 1st Mezzanine.)

These days there are computer programs for lens calculations that will figure the actual picture size for any degree of projection angle, so it isn’t necessary to go onstage with a tape measure anymore. We are a bit envious of that capability, as opposed to having to work with a lens slide rule calculator, a sectional drawing of the theatre and a ruler (that method did work pretty well though, and never crashed.)

I remember the Westinghouse Bulb well, and when they finished that meeting, I was able to fire up a projector and project a trailer on the back side of it just for fun. George LeMoine, who took photographs of the shows, was in the house and got a photo for me just as the “bulb” was deflating. I kept it in my desk for years.

Warren: you’re right about the deep curvature screens working best in houses of 2000 or so. I as told that at one point someone did come in to look at the possibility for the Hall. Perhaps it was the Cinemiracle staff, and they decided the Roxy would be a better place. The screen would have been in front of the proscenium and extend into the house. They might not have had to do too much to the house, since the 1st Mezzanine would have been an ideal place for the three booths. When Bob Jani started doing shows there in 1979 he looked at the possibilities of doing IMAX there, and I went to Toronto to talk to their executives. They would have put the screen in front of the light console, and would have extended it all the way up to the top of the 2nd cove, completely covering the 1st cove and proscenium. The insurmountable problem was that they couldn’t figure out a way to get rid of it after morning screenings in time to do a stage presentation in the afternoon or evening.

REndres: You are simply too fast! As I was typing in a post that you could shed some light on any projection quetions, there you are! I saw three of the four films MikeJW mentioned, with the exception of THE MUSIC MAN. I do not recall any cropping other than the bit of picture that would spill over on the masking. That’s normal, yes?

I also have an idea, since the Hall currently has so many dark days. If you ever want to go in and measure the screen, I’ll be happy to hold the end of the tape while you ride the hoist. Perhaps while you are up there, you could check on the status of the Doncho Curtain. Maybe we’ll get to see a Fire Drop! In my imagination, that would be better than Disneyland.

I love how people can look at the same movie and have completely different experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN at the Music Hall. I love a little “cheese” with my “grand environments”.

Vito: In reference to a question you asked in May about rentals, I remember some of the events I took part in at the Hall. The Bar Mitzvah that REndres referred to was for the son of the head of Remco Toys. At least that was what I heard. In late 1979/early 1980, Westinghouse Electric rented the theater to introduce the Westinghouse Flight Bulb (their response to the Good Year Blimp?), a massive hot air balloon that they actually inflated in the auditorium. It was all quite dramatic, with both organ consoles playing as the lights came up on the balloon. Then, I did the off stage narration introducing the balloon and The Rockettes. They followed with a routine performed to a pre-recorded music track.

I was kind of surprised that Westinghouse went to all that expense the rent the theater and neglected to hire the orchestra. How’s THAT for an example of “cheesiness in a grand environment”?

Excellent question, Mike. I, too, am eager to see that answered.

As one who grew up from the 1940s to the 1960s, I always enjoyed total recall of what I saw where, and what the second feature was, if any, because each theater was unique and in some way the theater informed the experience of watching the show. (The multiplex experience, with generic bare-bones auditoria, cannot approximate even 10 percent of that sense.)

But as surely as one’s sense of “Custer of the West” was downgraded in a sense by being introduced to it in the squalor of a smelly 42nd Street grind house in the late 1960s, every movie I ever saw at RCMH informed the film with a sense of Music Hall majesty.

I cannot see even a minute of the many movies I first saw at RCMH (Mister Roberts, Indiscreet, Bullitt, The Promise, etc.) without having a sense of what a big deal they seemed when projected in that massive space.

Memorably, that sense of the Music Hall’s splendor felt at odds when the picture didn’t seem to belong there. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why “Play It Again, Sam,” which I’d seen the original cast perform on Broadway a few years earlier, felt a little lost in RCMH even though I liked and still like the picture.

But when I caught “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” at RCMH, there was no question that the theater dwarfed the cheesy animation and that the picture – however suitable for family audiences – had no business being projected in such a grand environment.

the organ is not in great disrepair, i’ve heard about a couple of keys….not hundreds an budget is not an issue and seen with the 70 million dollar renovation or all the maintence since the reno , new sound system, new carpet though out….

the organ is used at over 200 cmas shows a year as well as more than a dozen graduations for local colleges and universities

where is denpiano from bishop pipe organ ? i would like to here the real story

REndres: It is a real gift to have you here. Your posts are quite informative and I seem to be learning proper stage terminology, thank you. We actually met on a few occasions many years ago. I hope we have the opportunity to meet again in the near future.
Your recent posts have shed some light on my complaints about the current state of presentation at the Hall. I wholeheartedly agree with the need for safety standards designed to protect staff and patrons of the Hall or any theater. I support any organization’s desire to prevent accidents or fatalities. I had not heard about the stagehand injured from falling into the pit. I also want my Rockettes in a straight line, not scattered about due to a collapsing staircase. On the other hand, I wonder if there might be some way to ensure proper safety measures without sacrificing the “illusions” inherent in a Music Hall Spectacular.
I gather from my pictures that there is not much space between where the Contour Curtain hangs on the deck and the edge of the pit elevator shaft. Does it have to be pulled that far downstage in order to bring the “Santa” sheet in? I am also convinced that the 1999 Contour Curtain is made of a more lightweight material. I do not recall it drifting upstage like it does now. It also looks like it does not drape properly when at “show trim”, the standard height for a Stage Show.
The crews at the Hall have always been excellent at their jobs. I recall during the ‘79 Christmas Show that when the orchestra “click track” began, the show went up at either 11AM, 2:30 or 7:30 PM and came down precisely 90 minutes later. Everyone had to be on their marks. There was nary a glitch in the system. Of course, there WAS that day I went out to dinner with some of my co-workers after the matinee ended. I had a little too much to drink with my meal. It was easy for the wiseguys in the house right sound booth to notice my inebriated state. I assumed they decided to be practical jokers and not turn up the house level on my wireless mike, prior to my “Welcome to Radio City…” spiel. This led to some onstage embarrassment and one minor expletive heard by the entire audience. My face turned fifteen shades of red above and beyond the effects of the booze. I could have been a special effect myself, matching the cove lighting. Pink faced to red faced to blue faced to total blackout, but I digress.
I attended both the 2007 ATOS Organ Concert and the Christmas Show. On both occasions the organ sounded fine to me, although that may be a testament to the talents of the various organists. Listening for imperfections is not my expertise.
I have one last note in this absurdly long post. I have always been as Mr. Endres says, an “early arriver”. I love sitting in the auditorium when it is nice and quiet, just before the crowds arrive. The first notes of the organ still make my diaphragm rumble. From 1964 to 1978 I always sat in “my seat”; at the time it was Row AA 313 or 314. I was four years old in 1964. After I discovered there was an orchestra down there, I always looked over the apron into the pit. I assure you I never fell in. I guess death by band car is not my destiny.

So REndres is that the reason that the orchestra doesn’t move all over the place as it once did and it never will again?
And the organ needs major work? They let it get into such a stage of repair or is it age and it needs a major restoration?