Radio City, New York
World famous art deco music hall in mid-town Manhattan
(Photos/words © urban75, Fri 11th Nov 2005)

Modestly known as 'the Showplace of the Nation', Radio City Music Hall is located in New York City's Rockefeller Center and first opened to the public on December 27, 1932.

The structure was designed by Edward Durrell Stone in a contemporary Art Deco style, with the interior - resplendent in glass, aluminium, chrome, and geometric ornamentation - was created by Donald Deskey.



On its opening, Radio City could house 5,933 spectators; making it the world's largest indoor theater, with its Great Stage measuring 66.5 feet (20 m) deep and 144 feet (44 m) wide.

Inside, a ruddy enormous 4,410 pipe organ - known as the Mighty Wurlitzer - had the honour of being the largest theater pipe organ built for a movie theater, and also the largest produced by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Manufacturing Company of North Tonawanda, New York.





Radio City is part of the 12 acre midtown Manhattan complex known as the Rockefeller Center, which was developed between 1929 and 1940 by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Radio City and Radio City Music Hall were named after one of the first tenants to move into the Center, The Radio Corporation of America.



For the greater part of its life, the theatre presented movies and stage shows as part of the same program, until regular film showings ended in 1979.

The venue still hosts the annual Radio City Christmas Spectacular - a tradition since 1933 - and hosts prestige shows like the Daytime Emmy Award ceremony, the Tony Awards, the annual MTV Video Music Awards and the Grammy Awards.





Hard hitting superstars to have performed at Radio City include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Liberace, Sammy Davis, Jr., The Count Basie Orchestra, Ray Charles and BB King, Tony Bennett, and, err, Sting.

Tragically, the fastest sellout kids show in Radio City's history was Barney Live!, featuring the highly litigious stuffed sock puppet



Just across from Radio City is the NBC Studios Rainbow Room.