Special Offer: Receive a complimentary registration to this online program on Zoom by registering for the December 12 Radio City Music Hall: Front and Center for the Christmas Spectacular in-person tour by November 1. Further information will be shared with qualifying registrants via email in October.
When the doors of Radio City Music Hall opened in 1932, New Yorkers entered a new world: a dazzling Art Deco fantasy of an entertainment palace far removed from the drab realities of the Great Depression. With its Hollywood films and lavish stage shows, what came to be known as “The Showplace of the Nation” has given generations of audiences a place to escape from the everyday and dream.
Actor Tim Dolan, owner of Broadway Up Close tours in New York City, surveys the history of this iconic theater, whose midtown 6th Avenue location was once the site of America’s first botanical garden, built by Alexander Hamilton’s personal physician. He covers the origins of the beloved Christmas Spectacular, in which the Rockettes have been kicking up their heels since 1933, and the equally spectacular Rockefeller Center holiday tree lighting. Dolan explores the Music Hall’s stories, secrets, traditions, and trivia, illustrated by rare photos that bring its excitement and glamour to life.
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