Radio City Music Hall: New York’s Most Iconic Theater

Visiting Radio City Music Hall at Rockefeller Center is a trip back to a lavish New York full of glitter, cigarette smoke, and prosperity.

There are two ways to see it: buying a ticket to an event at Radio City, or taking a guided tour of the theater.

Why Radio City Music Hall matters

This theater is an art deco gem frozen in time. It has more class, anecdotes, and stories than any other theater in the United States.

In fact, it's considered the most important theater in the country, which is why it's also known as the «Showplace of the Nation.»

The moment you walk in, the classically beautiful lobby will win you over. In this temple of the arts, everything is gorgeous: elevators, lights, restrooms, mirrors, staircases. Not one corner escapes the art deco treatment.

They even say the golden curtain on the main stage is the largest in the world.

Events at Radio City Music Hall

It's striking to think that since the 1930s more than 700 films have premiered at Radio City Music Hall, including the 1933 King Kong that put the Empire State Building on the world stage.

Today the theater only hosts special screenings and premieres of big movies like Harry Potter, since it has become a venue for major live events, especially musicals and concerts.

It has also hosted well-known events like the Grammy Awards, the Tony Awards, and the MTV Music Awards.

Radio City at Christmas

For many Americans, it's a tradition to visit Radio City Music Hall at Christmas, the season of the famous Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

This show pulls together everything TV shows and movies have taught us about a white Christmas. It's a North Pole fantasy with the flawless choreography of the famous Rockettes, a dance company with more than 80 years behind it.

Beyond how fun the show is, it holds the record for annual performances running continuously since 1933. If you're after a genuinely New York experience, book the Rockettes show at Radio City with confidence.

Guided tour of Radio City

The Radio City tour is worth it for plenty of reasons, including these:

You'll get to enjoy the decor built around geometric shapes: chandeliers, murals, mirrors, carpets, doors, furniture… no object escapes a carefully considered design.

You can sit in the original armchairs where figures like Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, Ella Fitzgerald, Liberace, Ray Charles, and BB King waited before going on.

You'll peek into the workshops where they design and sew the Rockettes' costumes and outfits for other productions.

You'll hear how the lobby murals were restored to strip away the tobacco film that had darkened them after decades of smoke-filled intermissions.

You'll meet a Rockette dancer who joins you for part of the tour.

You'll catch a few moments of a Rockettes rehearsal.

That «rehearsal» is a performance staged specifically for tourists. If you hang back a bit and let your group move ahead, you'll see the same scene repeat for the next group =).

But that doesn't take anything away from the tour. Think of it as a rare chance to take in this classic performance hall, something that's very hard to do during a show because of the crowds.

A bit of history

Radio City Music Hall, which opened in December 1932, is part of the Rockefeller Center complex.

It was designed by Edward Durell Stone, and its stunning interiors are the work of art deco master Donald Deskey.

Films were screened here on its enormous screen, and Broadway-style shows and other live performances took place on its huge stage.

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Address

1260 Ave of the Americas (6th Ave), between 50th and 51st Streets

Getting there

Subway lines B, D, F, V. Rockefeller Center/50th St station

Guided tour prices

Adults US$31 / under 12, 65+ and students US$27 (you can book it here)

The guided tour is included in the New York Pass and the GO New York

Tour hours

Daily from 9:30 am to 5 pm

Map

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