Radio City Music Hall Opened in New York
On this day · 27 December 1932
At the depths of the Great Depression, a 6,000-seat Art Deco palace threw open its doors and crowds waited in the rain to get in.
On December 27, 1932, Radio City Music Hall opened to the public inside Rockefeller Center, in the heart of midtown Manhattan. The theater was the brainchild of John D. Rockefeller Jr., who built it in partnership with the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and entrusted the program to the showman Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel.
The gala opening was one of the great social events of the season. Tickets sold out well in advance, and thousands of hopefuls waited in the rain outside, drawn to a glittering interior of glass, aluminum, chrome, and bold geometric ornament designed by Donald Deskey.
Widely recognized for its artistic and technical excellence, it became known as the “Showplace of the Nation.”
At its debut the Music Hall was the largest theater of its kind, and it remains the world’s largest indoor theater. It is home to the precision dance troupe the Rockettes and to the world’s largest theater organ, and it has hosted films, concerts, and stage spectaculars for generations of New Yorkers.
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