Unspecified/General

A masterpiece of Art Deco design and one of the largest indoor theatres in the world, Radio City Music Hall has been a New York landmark since it opened in 1932 as part of Rockefeller Center. With 5,960 seats fanning out beneath a vast curved ceiling of telescoping arches, the auditorium is famous for both its scale and its sumptuous décor, and it was dubbed the Showplace of the Nation from the start. The hall was the brainchild of the showman Samuel Roxy Rothafel and the developers of Rockefeller Center, built on land originally intended for a new opera house. Its sweeping interior, lit by glowing bands that echo the great semicircular proscenium, was a deliberate statement of optimism in the depths of the Depression, and its size made it a venue for film premieres and grand stage spectaculars alike. Its most enduring tradition is the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, the long-running holiday show starring the precision dance troupe the Rockettes, whose synchronised high kicks have become a fixture of the New York Christmas season. Beyond that annual run, the hall hosts concerts, awards ceremonies and special events throughout the year, and it underwent a careful restoration in the late 1990s. Designated a city landmark in 1978 after a period of financial struggle that nearly closed it, the hall remains a working theatre and a monument to a golden age of American entertainment architecture. For visitors the hall can be experienced either at a show or through a guided Stage Door tour that takes in the auditorium, the art and a meeting with a Rockette. It sits in the heart of Rockefeller Center, steps from the skating rink and the shops of Fifth Avenue, easily reached by subway and busiest around the holiday season. Beyond the Christmas show, the hall has staged the premieres of major films, the broadcasts of awards ceremonies and concerts by some of the biggest names in music, its sheer scale lending every event a sense of occasion. The Stage Door tour reveals the cavernous backstage machinery, the elevators that raise whole sections of the stage and the private apartment of its founding showman, giving a glimpse of the engineering behind the spectacle out front.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: 1260 6th Avenue, New York City, NY, United States

Website: https://www.msg.com/radio-city-music-hall

Capacity: 5960

Opening Date: 27/12/1932