TourGuideTed Tours Radio City Music Hall

March 2010

It was a sunny, yet cold day in New York when Paul, Di and I arrived at Radio City Music Hall on 6th Avenue & 50th Street for their Stage Door tour. It was pretty quiet, as there was us, and another couple, also from England. Very exclusive. Alan was to be our guide.

Despite the stock market crash of 1929, John D Rockefeller, Jr, decided to build a complex of buildings, including the Rockefeller Center, seen here on the left. I'll have to go to the 'Top of the Rock' on a future tour. The Rockefeller Center has an ice rink out front in the winter.

Also included in the development was Radio City Music Hall (RCMH) – a high quality entertainment center, at "ordinary" prices. Opening night, in 1932, was the grandest gala in American theater history, but this was to be a theater for the people.

For 45 years, RCMH provided a successful combination of live acts and a movie. In fact, my assistant, Noreen, saw a show back in 1963! Here's the programme.

However, into the 1970s, the popularity of movies was down and RCMH fell into decline, finally closing the doors in 1978. On the verge of demolition, public outcry led to RCMH being made a 'national landmark' giving the building a new lease of life. 1999 saw the beginning of eight months and $70 million worth of refurbishment, restoring RCMH to it’s former 1932 glory.

The tour started at the highest point in the theater, overlooking the vast lobby area. Even the chandeliers were huge, each weighing 4000lbs. The ceiling contains vents inset into curved wooden trim, providing air conditioning – this was one of the earliest buildings to have it. Near the top of the walls is a track, where they can attach ladders/scaffolding that can then be moved around the entire lobby area, saving time, effort and risk by putting ladders up and down or setting up scaffolding everywhere. Very foresighted.

After the lobby overview, we went to the restrooms. No, really, it was part of the tour! We started in the 'Men's Lounge' which had a cowboy motif - intricate wood marquetry shows a picture of a cowboy on a horse. Some of the chairs and furry brown and white cow-hide seats. Then we went to the 'Ladies Lounge', which was even more swish, with large sofas, stylish decor and foot-operated hand dryers. Very classy, especially in 1932!

Next stop was the auditorium. Boy, were we high up! Containing about six thousand seats golden red seats, the design, in art deco style, was designed to be representative of the sun coming up over the deck of a ship. The curtain of the proscenium arch [go look it up] was yellow, with metallic threads to make it reflect the light.

On stage is a huge Wurlitzer organ. The roof fans outwards like the sun's rays and Alan says the acoustics are fantastic – unfortunately we didn’t have time this trip to find out. The two balconies are designed to enable them to be supported without pillars blocking anyone's line of sight - there are no bad seats at RCMH.

Alan then took us to see a movie - just a short one - and we got to sit in some of the original 1930s seats as we watched. Part of the film explained the RCMH’s four hydraulic lifts which can transport sets, or even the orchestra over a 12m range. The US Navy studied the technology for use on it’s aircraft carriers, and government agents were assigned to secure the area during World War II. The stage lifts are so advanced that they were not replaced during the refurbishment.

Then we got to meet a genuine Rockette! Sarah explained she was one of 200 Rockettes hired each year for the shows held, not just in New York, but also on tour around the USA and Canada. They are contracted for a single year, and each year have to re-audition to regain a place in the Rockettes the following year.

The creator of the Rockettes, Russell Markert, had seen the English dance troupe formed by John Tiller - The Tiller Girls - in 1922, and believed a similar group of American girls would “knock your socks off!” The group pre-dates RCMH, but have become synonymous with the theater, a stunning achievement, particularly as now they only perform at the RCMH in the Christmas spectacular.

Each girl must meet a strict height requirement (between 5’6” and 5’10½”) and the difference in height is ‘hidden’ by their placement to the center (tallest) or end (shortest) of the line (sneaky, huh?). They're having open auditions in April/May, so maybe there's still hope for me? Okay, maybe not. I can't even point my toes. Come to think of it, I don't even have toes!

Copyright Radio City Music Hall

Since the refit, RCMH dropped the movie element of the show, opting instead for more live shows and concerts. That said, they still do the occasional movie premiere, awards show or 3D-movie show. I loved my visit to RCMH. It was cool to be transported back to the 1930s and it was unfortunate there was no time to see a live production.

TGTips Don't buy anything (other than your ticket) from the gift shop until after the tour. They give you a 15% discount off all merchandise in the store, if you are wearing your tour badge.

If you chose to have an 'official' photo taken with the Rockette of the day, you'll also be able to pick that up in the gift shop. It was $15 for a single 5" x 7" photo or only $20 for 7 photos of various sizes. Obviously I made Di buy them all. But, even if you don't want to buy them, you can just take a look - there's no pressure or obligation to buy.

In March 2010, the tour cost $18.50 each and was a good 1.5 hours of historic entertainment. It was a great tour, helped by both Alan and Sarah (hope I spelt your names right, guys) and I'd totally recommend it to others.

TourGuideTed