However, there was some opposition to designation of Radio City Music Hall’s building and interior.
The Rockettes, the famous company of dancers that performs in Radio City Music Hall, also petitioned to help save the building, at one point joining schoolchildren with placards. 8 Rosemary Novellino, captain of the Radio City Music Hall Ballet Company and president of The Showpeople’s Committee to Save Radio City Music Hall, motivated colleagues, friends, and media and political allies to support the cause. Milano, President of the New York Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Charles Gillett, Chairman of the State Economic Development Board Richard Ravitch, Chair of the New York State Council on the Arts Kitty Carlisle Hart, restaurateur Vincent Sardi, publicist and representative of the Association for a Better New York (ABANY) Howard Rubenstein, and Lewis Rudin (also of ABANY). Javits, Mayor of Economic Development Robert J. 7 Among those who supported this effort were Senator Jacob J. 6 During a meeting of these groups, several suggestions were made to improve the profitability of the music hall and increase its chances of survival the plan that sounded like “an immediate possibility,” according to Krusak, was to designate Radio City Music Hall as a New York City Landmark, which would offer significant tax savings. On January 8, 1978, Lieutenant Governor Mary Anne Krupsak proclaimed her commitment to preserve the building, and also announced the creation of a “rescue committee” of business, government, labor, and cultural group representatives that would join forces to save the hall. In response to this announcement, efforts were launched to protect the building. 5 Reportedly there were plans to transform the building into office space. Marshall, announced that the hall would close in 1978 because of a $2.3 million deficit in 1977. The president of Rockefeller Center at this time, Alton G.
4īy the late 1970s, because the venue was not financially successful, Radio City Music Hall came under risk of demolition. 3 The Hall opened on December 27, 1932, with a lavish variety show and continued to feature films and stage productions until 1979. At this point plans were made to convert the theater into office space, but a combination of preservation and commercial interests resulted in the protection of Radio City Music Hall and in 1980, after a renovation, it reopened to the public. As one of the principal achievements of the Art Deco style and as one of the finest theater designs in the country, the interior of Radio City Music Hall is of unique importance to the history of American architecture. These interiors are considered some of the most impressive in the history of modern theater design, with no equal in America in terms of scale or variety of architectural, artistic, and decorative elements.
2 The public areas of the music hall feature murals, sculpture, and other work by prominent artists of the time.
1 It was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone and interior designer Donald Deskey in the Art Deco style, with Samuel Lionel Rothafel, or “Roxy,” a leading expert on movie palaces, as a primary advisor. Radio City Music Hall was completed in 1932 as part of the larger development of Rockefeller Center.