13 Amazing Radio City Music Hall Facts

Radio City Music Hall is the world's largest indoor theater that provides high-quality entertainment and a great stage.

Its marquee stretches the length of the New York city block. The theater is 160 ft (48.76 m) long from back to front, and the ceiling is 84 ft (25.6 m) high.

A sequence of arches outlines the ceiling and walls, providing a magnificent and vast flowing area. Choral stairwells ascend the sides of the building to the back wall. Actors are welcome to enter to introduce live-action into the theater.

Views are not obstructed by columns. There are 6015 seats in the hall.

Three modest mezzanines provide excellent seating without obstructing the view of the back Orchestra section below. As a result, every seat in Radio City Music Hall is an excellent seat. A massive proscenium arch, measuring 100 ft (30.48 m) wide and 60 ft (18.28 m) high, frames the Great Stage.

Technical experts consider the stage to be the most well-equipped in the world. It is made up of three sections that are connected by hydraulic elevators.

They allow for the creation of dynamic setups and amazing staging effects. The entire orchestra is raised and lowered by a fourth elevator. A turntable is located around the circumference of the elevators and can be used for rapid scene changes and dramatic stage effects.

Radio city music hall History

In the year 1929, because of the stock market crash, John D. Rockefeller Jr. held a 24-year lease and 91 million dollars on a property in midtown Manhattan, which was popularly known as ‘the speakeasy belt’.

Earlier plans were to make a new building of a Metropolitan Opera House on that site, but these plans got failed because of the failed economy and fewer business opportunities.

But, instead of this many proles, Rockefeller took a decision and that decision created a lasting impact on the architecture of the city with a rich cultural landscape. He decided to construct a complex of buildings on that property in such a way as to attract commercial tenants.

This project was aimed to describe the elite ideas of design and architecture and was supposed to be a representation of hope and optimism.

During the search for a commercial partner, the Radio Corporation of America came forward, which was a young company with NBC radio programs that attracted huge American audiences.

Not just that, their RKO studios also distributed and produced famous motion pictures that were very welcoming to fight with the hard times.

The financial power of Rockefeller and the brilliant media of RCA had gathered a reputation for being a theatrical genius as they made an innovative addition of movies, vaudeville, and razz;e-dazzle decor which helped to revive struggling theatres in America.

All three of them, RCA, Roxy and Rockefeller dreamt of having a theater that was different from any other theater in the world and the first project to get completed in that particular complex which the head of RCA David Sarnoff called ‘Radio City'.

Radio City Music Hall was a palace-like place for people.

This was a palace of beauty that offered the best of entertainment at very affordable prices.

It was supposed to amuse and entertain, and apart from that inspire and elevate people in that depressing time.

Soon after the inaugural of Radio City, it became the most loved and preferred movie theater for moviegoers and moviemakers. After two weeks of the gala opening, Radio City decided to premiere the first film there, which was the Bitter Tea of General Yen.

It was not long before the first premiere at Music Hall became very popular and successful around the country.

The huge screen of Radio City and wide halls with spaced seats made it the ideal place to watch a movie. Since 1993, more than 700 movies have been showcased there.

Some of them were 'National Velvet', 'King Kong', 'White Christmas', 'Breakfast at Tiffany’s', 'Mame', 'To Kill a Mockingbird' which starred former Radio City Usher, Gregory Peck, '101 Dalmatians', 'Mary Poppins', and 'The Lion King'. During the early years, the duration of a standard movie run was about a week.

Later on, five or six-week runs became the norm.

Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, and Katharine Hepburn have all won Radio City box office awards for the number of films they have appeared in. More than 22 of the films were screened at the Hall, starred them.

Radio City had a popular format of movie and stage show which remained the Radio City signature until 1979 when a new focus came into demand to showcase new films. Now, this Music Hall showcases only a few selected films but is very famous for organizing stage shows, concerts, entertainment venue, and media events.

Talking about Radio City Music Hall, we cannot forget to mention The Rockettes.

They were earlier known as the Missouri Rockets, a female dancing crew, which was started in the year 1920. Now it is owned by Tishman Speyer Properties.

Radio City Music Hall Location

The location of this hall is 1260 Sixth Avenue, New York, New York City.

There are so many dance shows in a day that a particular dancer kicks about 1200 times a day with 300 kicks per show.

Radio city music hall has a separate room for camels. The Rockettes relax at a break room called the ‘Kickback Lounge’. And so, for the animals also. They also have made a special room to relax and eat snacks between the performance.

Purpose of Radio city music hall

There are many brilliant architectural units in the Radio City Music Hall, but one of the most notable parts is the large auditorium. It used to be the world’s largest auditorium when it first opened.

This Music hall has many varieties. The main purpose of Radio City Music Hall was to organize special events like stage shows, but later it also started to showcase movies and live performances.

Nowadays, it hosts many concerts of rock and pop musicians, and many live shows to like the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. This Music Hall has also organized many television events like the Tony Awards, the Grammy Awards, The Daytime Emmy Awards, NFL Draft, and the MTV Video Music Awards.

Design Details of Radio City Music Hall

It was the responsibility of Architect Edward Stone to impose the Art Deco exterior. But the interior of the building was more intriguing and attractive for the people, and it is even now also.

The interior decor of that place was designed by Designer Donald Deskey, he was not a well-known designer at that time. But because of the inspiring and magnificent choice of Donald, a stunning palace was created that we know today.

On the opening night in the year 1932, the audience was thrilled by the work of Donald.

One of the critics even mentioned that the new music hall building was so magnificent, it did not need any performers to make it more attractive. The art deco style of Deskey is more focused on structural ornamentation, clean lines, and European Modernist touch.

To reach the Grand Foyer, the audience had to first pass through the elegant lobby inside the building. Apart from the 30 separate spaces, there were also eight different lounges with separate smoking rooms for engaging fine artists.

All of these lounges were created with a theme to indicate a different culture.

In short, the entire building was like a celebration of the creativity of humans in different fields of science, arts, and industry. Art was the main point of that design.

Deskey used expert technicians and experienced craftspersons to make the theater's interior spaces with carpets, wall decor, draperies, murals, and sculptures. He also used the 20th-century innovations in using industrial materials like Bakelite and Aluminum.

Design enthusiasts praised the interior richness of Radio City which had many variations in color and tone, lit arches that gave the illusion of having a sunset overhead. One of Radio City's fundamental marvels, for both artists and audiences, is its innovative and high-tech set of three hydraulically-powered stage risers.

Experts have praised Radio City's stage, which is still regarded as one of the most modern and well-equipped stage settings in the world.

There was an elevator riser also constructed to help shift the orchestra. A turntable allows for rapid scene changes while also allowing for a wide range of additional effects such as rain, fog, clouds, and spouting fountains.