Radio City Music Hall: The Showplace of the Nation
Why is it significant?
Look up at the brilliant three-tiered neon marquee wrapping around the corner of Sixth Avenue and 50th Street, glowing in vibrant crimson, blue, and gold.
Key Facts
| Place | Radio City Music Hall: The Showplace of the Nation |
|---|---|
| Address | 1260 6th Ave, New York, NY 10020, USA |
| Geo Coordinates | 40.75980, -73.97930 |
| Part of Walk | New York: Midtown Art Deco and Grand Central Cathedrals |
| Generated | Generated |
Look up at the brilliant three-tiered neon marquee wrapping around the corner of Sixth Avenue and 50th Street, glowing in vibrant crimson, blue, and gold. You are standing before Radio City Music Hall, proudly christened the Showplace of the Nation since its triumphant opening night in December 1932. Conceived by theatrical impresario Samuel Roxy Rothafel in partnership with John D. Rockefeller Jr., this magnificent venue was designed to offer world-class popular entertainment in an environment of unprecedented grandeur.
Step inside the breathtaking Grand Foyer, rising sixty feet to a ceiling covered in gold and aluminum leaf. A sweeping imperial staircase leads patrons beneath Ezra Winter's colossal sixty-foot mural The Fountain of Youth, while monumental chandeliers of Lalique-style glass cast a warm glow over polished terrazzo floors. Interior designer Donald Deskey curated custom furniture, geometric carpets, and murals by leading American modernists, making Radio City the crowning jewel of interior Art Deco design. The theater's legendary mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ, featuring two twin consoles flanking the stage, fills the cavernous acoustic hall with four thousand pipes of thunderous symphonic resonance that have moved audiences to tears for nearly a century.
The cavernous auditorium seats nearly six thousand people beneath a proscenium arch that resembles a radiant sunrise, framed by eight concentric plaster arches. The colossal stage features a turntable hydraulic elevator system so advanced that during World War II, the United States military placed armed guards on the mechanism to protect its engineering secrets. Here, the world-famous precision dance troupe the Rockettes has dazzled millions with their iconic eye-high kicks.
Over three hundred million people have attended theatrical spectacles, movie premieres, and Grammy ceremonies in this hall, making it an eternal temple of American showmanship.
Here in the golden glow of Radio City's neon lights, surrounded by soaring cathedrals of stone, steel, and transit, our Midtown Art Deco odyssey comes to its triumphant close.