Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall Pixabay Public Domain
Best known as the home of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and the dancing Rockettes, Radio City Music Hall has wowed, lured, and entertained visitors since its opening in 1923. Built as part of John D. Rockefeller’s revolutionary Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall is an art deco masterpiece and a national landmark theater that has hosted movie premieres, sold-out concerts, and award shows for decades.
The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is a generational tradition and the number one holiday production since 1933 when it first debuted. Since then, Radio City has been used for movie premieres of greats like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, Mary Poppins, and White Christmas. Music idols such as Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and Liberace have taken the stage in the past. Today, you may buy tickets to see Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga share the stage among other artistic productions. Visit during the winter to catch the Christmas Spectacular performed by the Rockettes or take a tour and meet one in person.
The building itself is a monument to Rockefeller’s roaring ‘20s architecture, an artistic remnant of the art deco movement. The Great Stage arches 60 feet into the air and reaches its arms 100 feet wide to envelop the more than 6,000 seats in the audience. The Mighty Wurlitzer organ was built specifically for the theater and is still in use to captivate the audience in its grand groans, angelic sopranos, and fantastic bass notes.
