With tickets for Phish going on sale shortly, Daniel Pearson wanted to fill us all in on the history of Radio City Music Hall.

As always, if you would like to let us know about your favorite home for live music, send your submission to venue@jambands.com.

Art Deco meets Greezy Fizeek

By Daniel Pearson
jibboo@earthlink.net

Anyone lucky enough to snag tickets to Phish's two-night run at Radio City Music Hall knows they are in for an intimate, memorable show.

Discussions are in high gear on rec.music.phish, where people have been speculating about the performance itself, and comparing it to other stand-alone shows, such as 5-15-1995 in Lowell, Mass. Surprisingly, not much has been mentioned about the theater itself, although it is one of the most hallowed slices of Americana that's still around.

Dave Checketts, president and CEO of Madison Square Garden, which manages Radio City, said in a 1999 press release regarding the theater's grand restoration that it's a tribute to a remarkable legacy that still has a brilliant future in the 21st century.

"Radio City Music Hall, with the largest proscenium stage in the world, has played host to the best and brightest talent this century," Checketts said.

It has been host to The Rockettes, a 150-woman precision dance troupe originally from St. Louis that still travels the country and manages to check in at The David Letterman Show once in a while, since Babe Ruth was smashing home runs out of ball parks across the country (Dec. 27, 1932). But the theater is known more for its architecture than the events it has hosted, including the famed 1980 Grateful Dead shows that later were released as "Dead Set."

Radio City is one of the largest indoor theaters in the world (basketball and hockey arenas don't count), complete with a 24-karat gold leaf on the Grand Foyer ceiling the "Fountain of Youth" mural, painted by Ezra Winter, towering above the Grand Staircase. Every inch of the place was designed to celebrate the affluence of America, even though the country was still in the throws of The Great Depression, right down to the 2.5-ton Wurlitzer organ, which takes 11 rooms to house all of its pipes.

But the most enduring symbol of Radio City has to be the arch curving from the floor to the ceiling above the stage that is supported by a 300-ton steel truss. Without a doubt, all of the 300 million people who have attended performances at the theater sit in awe of the structure until their attention is drawn back to the stage at the opening curtain. In fact, the arch is so immense it took 750 gallons of to cover while the theater was being restored.

Actually, the restoration process in itself was quite a feat. Cablevision Systems Corporation spearheaded the effort, which cost $70 million and more than seven months to complete.

"Radio City Music Hall is one of the world's most enduring landmarks," said James Dolan, president and CEO of Cablevision. "(We wanted) to preserve the original art deco character of (the theater)."

If the term "art deco" isn't familiar, or only conjures up images of pink buildings on Miami's South Beach, it may be time for a quick architecture lesson. Art deco is considered to have blossomed from 1920-1939 but continues to influence architects to this day, and even managed to seep into the works of applied and fine artists. The easiest way to distinguish art deco works is to think of the Empire State Building, or some of the automobiles designed in the 1950s. It's glitzy, no doubt, but most art deco designs share the hallmarks of simplicity and geometry, combined with near day-glo colors.

It is supposed to represent a simpler time, and if there's one thing Phans can appreciate, it's the simple life.

There are more than 2 million people that pass through Radio City's doors every year. In 2000, almost 12,000 of them will be Phishheads. And who knows? Maybe the boys will close the two-night run with a rendition of "New York, New York."

For more information about Radio City Music Hall or art deco visit these Web sites:

http://www.radiocity.com
Radio Cty's officials site

http://orathost.cfa.ilstu.edu/students/pcfare/deco.html
Art Deco home page

http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Art_History/Periods_and_Movements/Art_Deco/
Yahoo! Art deco links