Radio City Music Hall
In December 1929, the Metropolitan Opera canceled plans for a new opera house on land that would eventually become Rockefeller Center. John D. Rockefeller Jr. had supported the project, but the building was too expensive to fund alone. The cancellation left a massive plot of land empty in Midtown Manhattan. Rockefeller quickly pivoted and made a deal with RCA to develop a mass media complex instead. This new plan included four theaters, which were later downsized to two venues. One of these became Radio City Music Hall, while the other was the RKO Roxy Theatre. The site originally intended for an opera house now held the seeds of a different kind of spectacle.
Edward Durell Stone designed the exterior using Indiana limestone, matching the rest of Rockefeller Center. Inside, Donald Deskey won a competition against 34 other designers to create the interior. He rejected Ezra Winter's mural as "God-awful" and commissioned custom furniture to make the space presentable. Deskey used materials like glass, aluminum, chrome, bakelite, and leather throughout the auditorium. His geometric Art Deco designs broke away from traditional ornate rococo styles common at the time. Brass railings lined every staircase, and carpets featured musical motifs in shades of red, brown, gold, and black. The grand foyer features a large staircase leading to the first-mezzanine level alongside Winter's mural.
Radio City Music Hall opened on the 27th of December 1932, with a lavish stage show featuring Ray Bolger and Martha Graham. The program ran from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., cramming too many acts onto the world's largest stage. Audience members left early, and some reporters guessed the ending before it finished. Just two weeks after opening, managers announced a switch to showing feature films accompanied by spectacular stage shows. On the 11th of January 1933, the theater became a movie house after losing $180,000 in its first year. The first film shown was Frank Capra's The Bitter Tea of General Yen. By 1937, over 25 million people had visited, paying a total admission of $17.5 million.
Annual attendance dropped to an all-time low of 1.5 million in 1977, a 70 percent decrease from 1968 figures. Rockefeller Center president Alton Marshall announced the theater would close on April 12 due to projected losses of $3.5 million. Rosemary Novellino formed the Showpeople's Committee to Save Radio City Music Hall. Over 100,000 people supported designating the interior as a city landmark. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission held public hearings in March 1978. Despite lawsuits from Rockefeller Center Inc., the LPC designated the interior as a landmark on March 28. Just hours before the planned closing date, the Urban Development Corporation voted to keep the theater open by creating a nonprofit subsidiary.
The Grateful Dead played eight shows over nine days in October 1980, culminating on Halloween. Liberace grossed $2.5 million from 14 performances in the 1980s, setting a box-office record at the time. Adele performed a one-night-only concert recorded on the 17th of November 2015. Britney Spears appeared as part of her Piece of Me Tour in July 2018. The Radio City Christmas Spectacular has been an annual tradition since 1933, featuring the Rockettes precision dance team. Irish dance show Riverdance made its North American debut there in March 1996, breaking box-office records. The venue also hosted the NFL draft between 2006 and 2014 and televised events like the Grammy Awards and Tony Awards.
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Common questions
When did Radio City Music Hall open?
Radio City Music Hall opened on the 27th of December 1932. The venue hosted a lavish stage show featuring Ray Bolger and Martha Graham during its opening program.
Who designed the interior of Radio City Music Hall?
Donald Deskey won a competition against 34 other designers to create the interior of Radio City Music Hall. He used materials like glass, aluminum, chrome, bakelite, and leather throughout the auditorium in an Art Deco style.
Why did Radio City Music Hall become a movie house?
Radio City Music Hall became a movie house on the 11th of January 1933 after losing $180,000 in its first year. Managers announced the switch just two weeks after the theater originally opened due to poor audience retention.
How was Radio City Music Hall saved from closing in 1978?
The Urban Development Corporation voted to keep Radio City Music Hall open by creating a nonprofit subsidiary hours before the planned closing date. This decision followed public hearings where over 100,000 people supported designating the interior as a city landmark.
What is the history of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular?
The Radio City Christmas Spectacular has been an annual tradition since 1933. The show features the Rockettes precision dance team and remains a core part of the venue's programming.