Beacon Theatre (New York City) facts for kids
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Marquee in 2019
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| Location | 2124 Broadway (at 74th Street), New York City |
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| Public transit | Subway: 72nd Street |
| Owner | Beacon Broadway Company |
| Operator | Madison Square Garden Entertainment |
| Type | Indoor theater |
| Seating type | fixed |
| Capacity | 2,894 |
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Beacon Theater and Hotel
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| Location | 2124 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City |
| Built | 1929 |
| Architect | Walter W. Ahlschlager |
| NRHP reference No. | 82001187 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 4, 1982 |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1929 |
| Opened | December 24, 1929 |
| Renovated | 2009 |
The Beacon Theatre is a famous entertainment spot in New York City. It's located on Broadway in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The theater first opened its doors in 1929. It was built by Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel as a grand movie palace. It has 2,894 seats spread across three levels.
The building was designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager. Its decorations are inspired by many old styles. These include Renaissance, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek, and Rococo designs. The Beacon Theatre is so special that it's protected as a New York City interior landmark. It's also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The outside of the theater is quite simple, made of brick and stone. A large sign, called a marquee, sits above the entrance. Inside, there's a ticket booth, a lobby, and a round main hall. This hall has a beautiful mural by Danish artist Valdemar Kjoldgaard. The main seating area, called the auditorium, is in a separate part of the building. It has fancy arched doorways and more murals. The ceiling is colorful and has a big chandelier. The stage area has Greek columns and large statues. The theater also has a special Wurlitzer organ, which is very rare to find in Manhattan theaters today.
The Beacon Theatre was first planned in 1927. After some changes in ownership, Warner Bros. opened it on December 24, 1929. Over the years, different companies managed the theater. In 1966, it started hosting live shows. In 1974, it was turned into a rock music venue. Later, it became a performing arts center. After a plan to turn it into a nightclub failed in 1986, it continued as a live music and entertainment spot. Madison Square Garden Entertainment took over in 2006 and gave the theater a big makeover.
The Beacon has hosted many famous concerts and shows. Bands like the Allman Brothers Band played there often. It has also been used for dance shows, plays, TV broadcasts, and even awards ceremonies like the Tony Awards.
Contents
Discovering the Beacon Theatre
The Beacon Theatre is located at 2124 Broadway. It's on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. You can find it on the east side of Broadway, between West 74th and 75th Streets. The theater is actually part of the Hotel Beacon building.
Walter W. Ahlschlager designed the theater for Samuel L. "Roxy" Rothafel. The main seating area of the Beacon is mostly behind the hotel. It faces Amsterdam Avenue to the east and 75th Street to the north. But the main entrance is on Broadway to the west. The theater and hotel are close to other famous buildings in the area.
The Beacon Theatre was designed to be like a smaller version of the Roxy Theatre in Midtown Manhattan. Ahlschlager also designed that theater. While the Roxy Theatre had Moorish and Renaissance styles, the Beacon mixes many different looks. These include Renaissance, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek, and Rococo styles. Danish artist Valdemar Kjoldgaard created many beautiful murals for the Beacon. When the theater first opened, people said Kjoldgaard's murals were "worth a king's ransom." One reporter even called the theater's inside "like walking into an Arab sheik's tent."
Outside the Theatre
The entrance and lobby of the Beacon Theatre are inside the hotel building. The main seating area, or auditorium, is in its own building next door. The hotel's outside walls are simple. The theater's entrance is on the south part of the hotel's Broadway side. Above the theater's marquee (the big sign), the hotel has arched windows on the second floor. The upper floors are made of brick.
The outside of the auditorium faces 75th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The first floor is made of stone, and the upper floors are brick. Both sides have fake windows, which are just openings without glass. There are horizontal stone bands above the first and fifth floors. These match the hotel's design. There's also an arcade (a row of arches) near the auditorium's roof. On 75th Street, a large stone arch is in the middle. On Amsterdam Avenue, there's a big stone arch on the fifth floor. A stepped roof, called a gable, rises above the Amsterdam Avenue side of the auditorium.
Inside the Theatre
Lobbies and Entrance
Under the theater's marquee, there's a half-circle outdoor ticket area. It has tile floors and is set back from the sidewalk. A ticket booth sits in the middle of this outdoor area. It was originally shiny and made of marble, glass, and metal. After many years, it was painted over, but it was restored in 2009.
East of this outdoor area are glass and metal doors. They lead to a smaller indoor entrance space called a vestibule. This vestibule has a low ceiling with lights and fancy molded bands in the Renaissance style. The north wall has mirrors and signs. The south wall has another ticket booth and an office. The doors from the street and to the main lobby both curve into this vestibule.
Beyond the vestibule is a round main hall, or rotunda. It has Rococo-inspired decorations. The rotunda ceiling is as high as the auditorium. It has moldings of rosettes (flower shapes) and coffers (sunken panels). A large chandelier hangs from the center. The west wall of the rotunda, coming from the entrance, has fluted pilasters (flat columns) on each side. Above the doorways is a landscape mural by Valdemar Kjoldgaard. This mural was once covered by wallpaper but was brought back to life during a renovation in 2008.
On the east wall of the rotunda, there's a hallway with Ionic-style pilasters. These go from the floor to the ceiling. Above the hallway is a decorative panel and an archway with smaller columns on the mezzanine and balcony levels. On each side of this hallway are Rococo-style staircases. The first set of stairs goes to the mezzanine level. Two more sets of stairs lead to the upper and lower parts of the steeply sloped balcony.
Auditorium Seating and Design
The main seating area, the auditorium, has three levels. It also has a proscenium arch, which frames the stage. The space is decorated with sculptures and murals by Kjoldgaard. As of As of 2022[update], the Beacon Theatre has 2,894 seats. The theater's operator, MSG Entertainment, calls the level right above the main floor the loge level. Two levels above the main floor is the balcony. It's split into a lower and upper section. When the theater first opened, there was also a smoking room balcony behind the main seating area. The original seats were very comfortable and had lots of legroom.
The side walls of the main seating area have fancy arched doorways. Above each arch are theater masks, surrounded by decorative swags and cartouches. Above these arches are the balcony's side walls. These are divided into two sections by fluted pilasters. Each section has a part of a mural by Kjoldgaard. These murals show "oriental scenes with caravans of elephants, camels, and traders." The ceiling above the front of the auditorium is red, gold, green, and blue. It looks like the draped roof of a tent. A beautiful Venetian-style chandelier hangs from the middle of the ceiling.
The proscenium arch has Doric-style columns on each side that support the top of the arch. The arch's design had openings for the sound from the theater's organ. On either side of the proscenium are tall bronze statues of female figures, about 30 feet (9.1 m) high. They look like Greek goddesses. Above the proscenium are green and gold plaster decorations that look like drapes. The theater originally had a special curtain that was unique for movie theaters in the U.S.
The Beacon still has its original Wurlitzer organ in the orchestra pit. This organ was made in 1928. It has four keyboards and 19 sets of pipes. The Beacon is one of only three theaters in Manhattan that still has its original organ. The organ was not used for a long time but was restored in 1967. It was sealed off in 2009.
History of the Beacon Theatre
In the 1920s, after World War I, large movie palaces became very popular. Only a few companies and architects built these grand theaters in New York City. Walter W. Ahlschlager, who designed the Beacon, was one of them. Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel was a very successful theater owner. He had already built the huge 5,920-seat Roxy Theatre in midtown in 1927.
Early Days as a Movie Palace
Building and Opening
In 1925, the Chanin brothers bought land on 75th Street to build a hotel and a theater. In 1927, they sold the land to Havemeyer Construction Company. Film producer Herbert Lubin helped Roxy get involved. Roxy planned to run the theater, which was first called the Roxy Midway Theatre. Roxy hired Ahlschlager to design the new hotel and theater. The Chanins helped with the engineering. In 1928, the project got a big loan. An airway beacon (a light for airplanes) was put on top of the hotel. The project was then called the Midway Beacon.
Roxy's company never actually ran the Midway Theatre. In 1928, they tried to get out of their lease. Other planned theaters by Roxy were never built, partly because of the start of the Great Depression. By June 1929, the theater was simply called the "Beacon." Warner Theatres bought the theater in November 1929. It had been finished for a year but was not used. Warner Theatres made changes to the sound system for sound films. The renamed Warner's Beacon Theatre opened on December 24, 1929. The first movie shown was Tiger Rose.
Showing Films
At first, the Beacon showed one movie per week, all day long. Early films included Once a Gentleman (1930) and A Soldier's Plaything (1931). In 1930, the Chanin brothers took over the Beacon Hotel and Theatre. They said the theater would stay open. Warner Bros. still had a big share in the company that leased the theater. The Beacon was one of several movie theaters Warner Bros. ran on Broadway.
In 1932, the Central Amusement Corporation took over the Beacon. This allowed the theater to show movies from different studios. The Beacon mostly showed regular movies. But it also hosted radio broadcasts, like "Broadway Bandwagon" in 1935. During World War II, the United States Army displayed military equipment in the lobby. They also showed a short film to help recruit soldiers. The theater also hosted events to sell war bonds. Brandt Theatres bought the Beacon in 1944. In 1946, the Beacon started showing films and live stage shows for children on Saturday afternoons.
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In 1948, the Beacon started showing only first-run movies. These were films that had not been shown anywhere else yet. In 1949, they showed double features (two movies for one ticket). The Beacon continued to show double features in the 1950s. Starting in 1962, the Beacon also showed United Artists films.
In January 1966, Brandt announced that the Beacon would show live plays along with films. The first live show, a Yiddish vaudeville show, closed quickly. The next year, people who loved theater organs restored the Beacon's old organ. The Beacon then showed silent movies with live organ music. By then, the Beacon was one of the few old movie palaces still used as a theater. The Beacon also showed talking pictures and live shows like ballet. In 1971, the Beacon started showing "first second run" movies. These were reruns of films that had just premiered. They lowered ticket prices to $1.00–1.50. This increased income, but the owners still wanted to sell the theater.
Becoming a Live Music Venue
Early Live Shows
After a famous rock venue closed, Bow Wow Productions suggested hosting rock concerts at the Beacon in 1971. The concerts started that year, with tickets up to $7.50. In March 1974, Steven Singer and Barry Kerr leased the Beacon. They spent $250,000 on renovations. This included $75,000 for a new sound system. They also fixed the seats, put in new carpets, and repainted the ceiling and statues. The theater continued to show movies until the renovations were done.
When the Beacon reopened in October 1974, Stephen Metz handled the bookings. The theater was mainly used for rock concerts. By the next year, the Beacon was known as a rock venue. Some neighbors complained about noise and crowds. However, Singer and Metz usually solved these issues. In 1976, Singer and Metz faced financial challenges. The theater closed and was planned to be replaced by a supermarket.
In February 1977, Kazuko Hillyer announced plans to turn the Beacon into a performing arts center. She wanted it to be a "center for the two heritages we all have." Hillyer immediately booked dance shows. She planned to spend $75,000 on renovations. In 1979, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) made the Beacon Theatre an interior landmark. This was because of its "dramatic effects of rich ornamental details." In 1981, 50/50 Productions took over bookings. They brought in jazz and modern musicians. The Beacon was renovated in 1982 and added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was renovated again in 1985.
Plan to Become a Nightclub (and why it failed)
In 1986, the theater's owners wanted to turn the Beacon into a nightclub and restaurant. At the time, the Beacon was the only medium-sized live concert venue in Manhattan. The operator of the planned nightclub chose the Beacon because of its landmark status. His company signed a seven-year lease. The nightclub would be built inside the auditorium. This would avoid changing the protected interior. But local residents and groups worried the changes would harm the theater's design. They formed the Committee to Save the Beacon Theatre to fight the plans.
The LPC approved the plan in July 1986. But the city later rejected it because the dance floor was too big for the rules. The city approved it after the dance floor was made smaller. Two benefit concerts were held to support groups against the conversion. In September 1987, a judge stopped the plan. The judge said it would threaten the theater's architecture. The Beacon still hosted concerts during this time. In 1988, the theater's operators appealed the ruling. The New York Court of Appeals sent the plan back to the LPC.
Continuing as a Live Venue
By 1989, the owners no longer wanted to turn the theater into a nightclub. They hired MSG Entertainment to book shows. The Committee to Save the Beacon Theatre was happy but kept watching. Nanci Callahan started the West Side Cultural Center. It planned to host children's shows, dances, and operas at the Beacon. In 1991, the Beacon was briefly an IMAX theater. The huge screen meant many seats had to be closed. The theater was then fixed up again in the early 1990s for rock concerts.
The Beacon's manager, Andy Feltz, stayed until 2006. That November, Cablevision (MSG Entertainment's parent company) leased the theater for 20 years. Cablevision promised at least $10 million for a future restoration. The Beacon closed for a big renovation in August 2007. Beyer Blinder Belle was hired for the project. They fixed problems like a leaky roof and damaged decorations. The renovation also replaced the electrical system, fixed the seats, restored decorations, and improved backstage areas. Workers restored the Broadway ticket booth and the chandelier. The project cost $16 million and finished in February 2009.
MSG Entertainment became a separate company in 2009 but kept running the Beacon Theatre. In 2014, the lighting system was improved. From early 2020 to July 2021, the Beacon Theatre closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A new sound system was installed in August 2022.
Entertainment at the Beacon
After the Beacon Theatre started hosting live shows, it became one of New York City's most popular concert halls. It also hosted other live events like comedy shows. By 2006, the theater hosted about 70 shows a year. The New York Times called the Beacon the "Carnegie Hall of rock rooms" during its 2008 renovation.
Concerts and Music
The theater has long been a place for R&B, pop, jam bands, and rock concerts. Early live performers included Steve Miller Band, Dr. John, Wilson Pickett, and Tina Turner. In the mid-1970s, rock bands like Supertramp, Queen, Grateful Dead, and Return to Forever played there. Carole King also performed for three nights in 1976. After Kazuko Hillyer took over in 1977, she brought her "Coffee Concerts" to the Beacon. The theater also hosted acts like Canadian Brass and Peter Schickele in 1978.
In the early 1980s, the Beacon hosted jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, R&B singer Millie Jackson, and jazz musicians Sarah Vaughan and Zoot Sims. Other acts in that decade included gospel singers Al Green and Shirley Caesar, pop musician Laurie Anderson, and jazz singer Cab Calloway. In the early 1990s, the Beacon had folk-rock duo Indigo Girls, country performers, singer Tracy Chapman, and gospel singers BeBe Winans and CeCe Winans. Later in the 1990s, performers included rock musician Ian Anderson and jazz tenor Sonny Rollins.
Concerts continued in the early 2000s with singer Liza Minnelli, the Wynton Marsalis Septet, Norah Jones, Radiohead, and Bonnie Raitt. Paul Simon gave the first performances after the Beacon reopened in 2009. Leonard Cohen also performed that year. Artists in the 2010s included Goldfrapp, Fiona Apple, Cat Stevens, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, The Tragically Hip, and Coldplay.
Long-Running Shows (Residencies)
The rock band the Allman Brothers Band played at the Beacon more than any other group. They performed almost every year from 1989 to 2014. After their first show in 1989, they returned often. A New York Times article in 2002 said their shows were "as sure a sign of spring as the reappearance of robins." The band recorded a live album, Peakin' at the Beacon, there in 2000. In 2009, the Allman Brothers Band celebrated their 40th anniversary at the Beacon. They could not perform in 2010 because the theater hosted a Cirque du Soleil show. The band played their very last show at the Beacon Theatre on October 28, 2014. They had performed 238 concerts there in total.
Other bands and musicians have also had many shows at the Beacon. The band Hot Tuna performed yearly through the 1990s and 2000s. Rock band Steely Dan has also had many long-running shows. From 2014 to 2017, singer Mariah Carey hosted her annual Christmas show, All I Want for Christmas Is You: A Night of Joy and Festivity, at the Beacon. Bob Dylan has also had many yearly shows at the Beacon Theatre. Guitarist Trey Anastasio performed an eight-week online show called "The Beacon Jams" in late 2020.
Other Live Performances
The first live show in the Beacon's recent history was a Yiddish vaudeville show in 1967. The Beacon hosted a performance of Erik Satie's Socrate in 1967. This was a tribute to the artist Alexander Calder. In the early 1970s, the Beacon featured weekly professional wrestling matches. When the Beacon was a performing arts center in the late 1970s, it hosted dance companies. These included the Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre and the Grand Kabuki troupe of Japan. The Beacon also hosted another performance of Socrate and an opera.
In the early 1980s, the Beacon continued to host dance and music. These included the National Dance Company of Senegal and an annual Hasidic Song Festival. Michaele Vollbracht held a fashion show there in 1982. Later in the decade, the theater hosted the show 1000 Airplanes on the Roof. Live performances in the 1990s included a musical called The Wiz with an all-Black cast in 1993. Comedian Sandra Bernhard performed in 1994. The 14th Dalai Lama also gave two series of talks at the Beacon in 1999 and 2003.
The Beacon continued to host plays, musicals, and other live acts in the 21st century. These included the children's musical Questionable Quest in 2000. Tyler Perry's play Madea Goes to Jail was performed in 2005. Cirque du Soleil staged a show called Banana Shpeel at the Beacon in 2010. The musical The Lightning Thief had shows at the Beacon before going to Broadway in 2019. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld started performing regularly at the Beacon in 2015. Comedian Ali Wong also appeared there in 2021.
Recordings and Broadcasts
The theater's stage has been used for many TV broadcasts and films. For example, VH1 broadcast its popular show Divas Live from there in 1998 and 1999. Many of George Carlin's HBO comedy specials were filmed at the Beacon. Conan O'Brien taped his Late Night 10th anniversary special there in 2003. O'Brien also returned in 2011 to tape shows for his series Conan.
Some concerts at the Beacon have also been recorded. Duran Duran recorded a live concert there in 1987. The theater was also used in 2006 to film Shine a Light, a concert film of the Rolling Stones. Joan Baez celebrated her 75th birthday with a concert at the theater in 2016. It was broadcast on PBS and released as a CD and DVD. She also included the theater in her worldwide tour in 2018 and 2019.
Even after becoming a live-performance venue, the Beacon still sometimes showed films. These included a series of Cuban films in 1978 and a "worst-film festival" in 1980. The theater also hosted a silent-film festival in 1985 with live organ music. The Beacon was temporarily an IMAX theater in 1991 for the film Stones at the Max. Some film screenings continued into the 21st century. These included Walk the Line in 2005 and a premiere of Suicide Squad in 2016. The Beacon has also hosted films for the annual Tribeca Film Festival.
Other Special Events
The Beacon has hosted several tribute events. These included a memorial for actor John Barrymore in 1982. There was also a show honoring jazz musician Duke Ellington in 1989. The Zappa Plays Zappa concert in 2006 was a tribute to musician Frank Zappa. The Beacon has also been used for parties. One example is a 1988 event to celebrate the opening of the musical The Phantom of the Opera. It also hosted a birthday party for then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton in 2006.
The Beacon has also been used for benefit concerts. In 1975, a jazz concert was held to help stop the sale of a radio station. In 1986 and 1987, concerts were held to raise money to oppose the plan to turn the Beacon into a nightclub. The "Night of Too Many Stars" benefit for autism awareness has also been hosted at the Beacon several times.
The Beacon Theatre started hosting the New York Music Awards in 1987. The awards were held there every year until 1992. The Broadway League temporarily moved the Tony Awards (for Broadway theatre) to the Beacon in the early 2010s. This was because their usual home, Radio City Music Hall, was already booked. So, the Beacon hosted the 65th Tony Awards in 2011 and the 66th Tony Awards in 2012. Another booking at Radio City meant the Tonys returned to the Beacon in 2016 for the 70th Tony Awards.
See also
