Opening of Radio City Music Hall in 1932...
Item # 729431
·
THE DETROIT FREE PRESS, Dec. 28, 1932
* Radio City Music Hall in NYC
* Opening night theatrical debut
Page 12 has a one column heading: "Opening Held by Radio City" with subhead. (see image)
Complete with all 18 pages, light toning and a little wear at the margins, generally nice.
Background: On December 27, 1932, Radio City Music Hall debuted as a stunning Art Deco "palace for the people" amidst the Great Depression, delivering a lavish yet notoriously overambitious opening-night spectacle that remains a rare piece of theatrical lore. Brainchild of theatrical impresario Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel, the staggering six-hour vaudeville marathon crammed over 500 performers onto the world’s largest stage—featuring a historic lineup that uniquely bridged high art and popular entertainment, from modern dance pioneer Martha Graham and the Tuskegee Choir to comedian Ray Bolger and the debut of the high-kicking Roxyettes (later world-famous as The Rockettes). What made the night so notable, however, was its immediate failure: the cavernous, 5,960-seat auditorium completely swallowed up individual acts, turning the Star-Spangled spectacle into an infamous misfire that dragged until 2:00 a.m. and forced the venue into a rapid, radical pivot just two weeks later, abandoning live vaudeville to become the iconic premiere movie palace that defined 20th-century American entertainment.
* Radio City Music Hall in NYC
* Opening night theatrical debut
Page 12 has a one column heading: "Opening Held by Radio City" with subhead. (see image)
Complete with all 18 pages, light toning and a little wear at the margins, generally nice.
Background: On December 27, 1932, Radio City Music Hall debuted as a stunning Art Deco "palace for the people" amidst the Great Depression, delivering a lavish yet notoriously overambitious opening-night spectacle that remains a rare piece of theatrical lore. Brainchild of theatrical impresario Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel, the staggering six-hour vaudeville marathon crammed over 500 performers onto the world’s largest stage—featuring a historic lineup that uniquely bridged high art and popular entertainment, from modern dance pioneer Martha Graham and the Tuskegee Choir to comedian Ray Bolger and the debut of the high-kicking Roxyettes (later world-famous as The Rockettes). What made the night so notable, however, was its immediate failure: the cavernous, 5,960-seat auditorium completely swallowed up individual acts, turning the Star-Spangled spectacle into an infamous misfire that dragged until 2:00 a.m. and forced the venue into a rapid, radical pivot just two weeks later, abandoning live vaudeville to become the iconic premiere movie palace that defined 20th-century American entertainment.
Category: The 20th Century
Price
$48
100% Authentic: Original printing, never a reproduction.