SpColl 7: Radio City Music Hall Collection
Dubbed a "palace for the people", Radio City Music Hall was the first building completed in what has come to be known as Rockefeller Center. An incomparable performance venue since its inaugural program on December 27, 1932, Radio City Music Hall has had over 300 million visitors and has hosted countless shows and performances. Find additional information about it on the official web site.
This collection is comprised of magazine and newspaper articles, programs from decades of shows, photographs of theatre itself as well as those who have performed there, and many other printed materials about Radio City Music Hall and the world-famous Rockettes. Below is an inventory of the collection.
Inventory
| Folder | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Correspondence | ||
| 1 | Correspondence to the donors of this collection | 1973-1987 |
| Literary Productions (periodical articles) | ||
| Architectural Record | ||
| 2 | Reinhard, L. Andrew. "What is the Rockefeller Radio City?" Architectural Record, Vol. 69, No. 4, p. 277-281. | April 1931 |
| "Theater Designs for Rockefeller Center," Architectural Record, p.418-420, 438. | June 1932 | |
| "Rockefeller Center in the Making," Architectural Record, p. 14-15. | July 1932 | |
| Advertisement for National Tube Company using examples of tubing craftsmanship at Radio City Music Hall, Architectural Record, p. 19. | August 1933 | |
| 3 | Journal of the Theatre Historical Society, Vol. 4, No. 4, | Fourth Quarter 1972 |
| Popular Mechanics | 1933-1950, n.d. | |
| 4 | "The Temple of Sound," Popular Mechanics, p. 818-821. (photocopy) |
1933 |
| "The Greatest Theater in the World," Popular Mechanics, p. 186-191. (photocopy) |
1933 | |
| "Secrets of the 'Magic' Theater," Popular Mechanics, p. 27-31, 146A. (photocopy) |
January, 1941 | |
| Dempewolff, Richard F. "Hall of a Thousand Illusions," Popular Mechanics, p. 97-104, 238, 244-245. | April 1950 | |
| "World's Largest Theater in Rockefeller Center will Seat Six Thousand Persons," Popular Mechanics, p. 252-253. | n.d. | |
| "A Modern Tower of Babel," Popular Mechanics, p. 354-357. | n.d. | |
| 5 | Theatre Crafts | Oct. 1974 |
| Theatre Organ | ||
| 6 | Atkins, Robert A. "Radio City Music Hall," Theatre Organ, p. [15]-18. | August 1974 |
| "Salute to Ray Bohr," Theatre Organ, p. [18]-19. | October 1974 | |
| "New York," Theatre Organ, p. 57-58. | June-July 1977 | |
| Time | ||
| 7 | "Music," Time, p. 37. | June 21, 1937 |
| "The Theater," Time, p. 41. | July 4, 1949 | |
| Trippett, Frank. "A Shrine of Showbigness Goes Down," Time, p. 37. | January 16, 1978 | |
| Okrent, Daniel. "Encore, encore," Time, p. 94-95. | September 27, 1999 | |
| Miscellaneous | ||
| 8 | Haskell, Douglas. "Roxy's Advantage over God," The Nation, Vol. 136, No. 3522, p. 11. Brenner, Anita. "Art and Big Business," The Nation, Vol. 136, No. 3522, p. 12. |
January 4, 1933 |
| "The World's Biggest Playhouse Opens," The Literary Digest, p. 16-17. | January 14, 1933 | |
| Seymans, Etta M. "Glamour Girl Hospital," Hygelia, p. 708-710. | August 1940 | |
| Birnie, William A. H. "Mr. Van Packs 'Em In," American Magazine, p.30-31, 115-116. (photocopy) | September 1941 | |
| "Radio City Music Hall," Liberty, p. 66-67. | 1972 | |
| "Radio City Music Hall…" (booklet with reprinted newspaper clippings from New York Time, Chicago Tribune, etc.) |
January 1978 | |
| Kroll, Jack. "Save the Music Hall!" Newsweek, p. 15 | January 16, 1978 | |
| Gill, Brendan. "Radio City — Without Tears," Horizon, p. 88-90, 95. | March 1978 | |
| Flaherty, Joe. "Radio City: A Crasher's Bore," New York, p. 61-62. | March 20, 1978 | |
| Pictorial on Radio City Music Hall, Horizon, p. 91-95. | March 1978 | |
| Gill, Brendan. "Stop the Music", p. 22-24. | 1978 | |
| Schmidt, Peter. "Rockefeller Center: Heart of Manhattan," Exxon Magazine, p. 4-7. | Winter 1980-1981 | |
| McGuigan, Cathleen. An article about the "Night of 100 Stars", Newsweek. | March 1, 1982 | |
| "Producer Alexander Cohen Stages the Show of the Century as New York Blazes with 100-plus Stars," People, p. 26-31. | March 1, 1982 | |
| Fowler, Charles B. "Cheers for Radio City Music Hall," Musical America, p. 13-15. | July 1982 | |
| Botto, Louis. "The Return of 'Porgy'," Playbill, p. 14-20. | April, 1983 | |
| Smith, Wendy. "Backstage at Radio City," Preservation, p. 52-59. | March/April 2000 | |
| Burris-Meyer, Harold. "Building Number 10," p. 934-937. (photocopy) |
n.d. (c. 1930s?) | |
| Number | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newspaper clippings (most original, some photocopied ) |
1966-2003 |
| Number | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Programs # 29 - # 90 | 1933 - 1983 |
| 2 | miscellaneous other programs | 1938 - 1984 |
| Number | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Programs # 91 - # 102 | 1984 — 1998 |
| 2 | miscellaneous other programs and playbills | c. 1986 — 2001 |
| Number | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miscellaneous printed materials (includes: Postcards, flyers, tickets, decals, booklet on office space available in Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall seating chart, stationery) |
1930s - 1989 |
| Number | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 x 10 black and white still photographs (13) (Radio City Music Hall building) (some are official photos from Radio City Music Hall Entertainment Center) |
c. 1930s |
| 2 | Still photographs of organist Ray Bohr (4) and the Wurlitzer organ used at the Hall (2) | n.d. |
| 3 | Miscellaneous photographs (3) | 1934 - 1972 |
| 4 | Photographs of The Rockettes and other performers (7) | n.d. |
| 5 | Miscellaneous snapshots | n.d. |
| 6 | Color snapshots of Radio City Music Hall photographs and memorabilia | n.d. |
| Number | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shopping Bags (Christmas Spectacular shopping bag, 75 Years Radio City Rockettes shopping bag, Radio City Avenue Store shopping bag, Radio City Music Hall logo plastic bags) | n.d. |
| 2 | Promotional cards ("A New York Summer" promotional card, Christmas Spectacular promotional card) | |
| 3 | Miscellaneous oversize and other promotional articles (Radio City Christmas Spectacular drink container, 3-D glasses set, Rockettes Christmas tree decoration) |
| Number | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miscellaneous programs | n.d. |
| 2 | Pictorials # 4 - # 26 (missing # 20) | 1936 — 1997 |
| 3 | Radio City Christmas Spectacular Souvenir Book | 1999 |
| Number | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Magazines with articles related to Radio City Music Hall | ||
| 1 | Life Magazines with articles related to Radio City Music Hall | January 12, 1942 |
| 2 | April 26, 1943 | |
| 3 | December 11, 1964 | |
| 4 | Life Magazine clipping of stars in the "Night of 100 Stars" gala |
April 1982 |
| 5 | Theater Week | December 17, 1990 |
| 6 | Myrtle Beach Entertainment and Lifestyles | Holiday Edition 1997 |
| 7 | Today's Active Lifetimes | 1997 |
| Oversize newspaper clippings | ||
| 8 | Newspaper clippings | 1975 — 1998 |
| 9 | Newspaper and magazine articles and clippings on Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall | 1936-1978, n.d. |
| Leaflets (promotional leaflets about New York/Radio City/Rockefeller Center) | ||
| 10 | "Let's Go See" World's Fair Edition, vol. 1, No. 3 |
1939 |
| 11 | "The New York Experience" | 1980 |
| 12 | "Radio City/Rockefeller Center" | n.d. |
| Programs | ||
| 13 | 1 photocopied program "Cheer China" | n.d. |
| 14 | 3 copies of inaugural program, folder | n.d. (1932?) |
| 15 | Audience folder | Jan-Feb 1973, vol. 3 no. 1 |
| 16 | Play Script "Ten Minutes to the Nativity" by Elise Warner, from the collection of Radio City Music Hall |
n.d. |
| 17 | Floor plan of Radio City Music Hall | 1974 |
| Musical Scores | ||
| 18 | Musical score for "Good Night Angel" | 1937 |
| 19 | Musical score for "Encore" | 1981 |
| 20 | Radio City Music Hall architectural description (Release by Publicity Department describing dimensions and appearance of Radio City Music Hall) |
n.d. |
| 21 | Photograph and business cards for Northeast Media (produced original paintings and posters of Rockettes) |
n.d. |
| 22 | Radio City Christmas Spectacular Coloring Book | n.d. (1998?) |
| Press kits | ||
| 23 | Press kit for the Golden Jubilee | 1982 |
| 24 | Press kit for Ron and Joy Holiday Cat Dancers (Biography, articles, 2 8x10 black and white photographs, 1 signed) | (1991?) |
| Number | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Album 2 - Volume 2 | December 1977-September 12, 1983 |
| 2 | Album 3 - Volume 3 | September 1983-December 1985 |
| 3 | Album 4 - Volume 4 | December 1985-January 1988 |
Updated: 06/05/2023 09:23AM