Beacon Theatre (New York City)

The Beacon Theatre is an entertainment venue at 2124 Broadway, adjacent to the Hotel Beacon, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1929, the Beacon Theatre was developed by Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel and built as a movie palace, with 2,894 seats across three levels. It was designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager with decorations inspired by the Renaissance, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek, and Rococo styles. The theater is designated as a New York City interior landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The facade is relatively plain and is made of brick and stone, with a marquee above its entrance on Broadway. The outdoor ticket booth leads to a vestibule and a multi-story rotunda lobby under the hotel, with a mural by Danish artist Valdemar Kjoldgaard in the lobby. The auditorium is in an adjacent structure on the eastern part of the site, near 75th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The auditorium's side walls have ornate arched doorways and murals, while the multicolored ceiling has a chandelier. The proscenium arch has Greek columns and is flanked by large statues. The orchestra pit has a Wurlitzer organ, one of three in Manhattan.

The theater was originally proposed in January 1927 as the Roxy Midway Theatre. Roxy severed his involvement and Warner Bros. took over the theater, opening it on December 24, 1929. The Central Amusement Corporation took over the Beacon in 1932, and Brandt Theatres assumed operation in 1944, running it for three decades. The theater started presenting live entertainment in 1966, and Steven Singer and Barry Kerr renovated it into a rock venue in 1974. After Singer's bankruptcy, Kazuko Hillyer turned the theater into a performing arts center in 1976. Following a failed attempt to convert the Beacon into a nightclub and restaurant in 1986, the theater remained in use as a live music and entertainment venue. Madison Square Garden Entertainment took over in 2006 and renovated the Beacon shortly afterward.

Over the years, the Beacon has hosted numerous concerts. Some acts have appeared for extended residencies, including the Allman Brothers Band. It has also hosted other types of live performances, including dance troupes and plays. The Beacon has additionally been used for broadcasts, tapings, films, and ceremonies such as the Tony Awards.

Description

The Beacon Theatre is at 2124 Broadway, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, along the east side of the avenue between West 74th and 75th Streets. The theater is part of the Hotel Beacon building and was designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager for Samuel L. "Roxy" Rothafel. The Beacon's auditorium is mostly along the rear of the hotel, facing Amsterdam Avenue to the east and 75th Street to the north, although the main entrance is on Broadway to the west. The theater and hotel are near several other buildings such as The Ansonia apartments to the southwest, The Astor apartments to the northwest, and the Central Savings Bank Building to the south.

The Beacon Theatre had been designed as a miniature version of the earlier Roxy Theatre in Midtown Manhattan, which Ahlschlager also designed. Whereas the Roxy Theatre had been designed with Moorish and Renaissance-inspired elements, the Beacon contains a variety of styles, including Renaissance, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek, and Rococo-inspired elements. Danish artist Valdemar Kjoldgaard designed numerous murals for the Beacon as well. When the theater opened, ''Women's Wear Daily'' described Kjoldgaard's murals as being "themselves worth a king's ransom". A reporter described the theater in general as "a true bit of on Broadway", while another critic called the theater's interior "like walking into an Arab sheik's tent".

Facade

The Beacon Theatre's entrance and lobby are within the hotel building, while the auditorium is in its own structure to the east. The hotel's facade is plain in design, and the theater's entrance is on the southern section of the hotel's Broadway facade. Above the theater's marquee, the hotel building contains arched windows on the second floor and a brick facade on upper stories.

The facade of the auditorium faces 75th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, where the first floor is made of stone and the upper stories are made of brick. Both facades have blind openings without any windows. There are horizontal band courses above the first and fifth floors, corresponding to those on the hotel's facade, as well as an arcade near the auditorium's roof. On 75th Street, there is a large arch at the center of the facade, with a stone frame, along with three blind arches on the fifth-story band course above it. On Amsterdam Avenue, there is a large stone-framed ogee arch at the fifth story, along with four blind arches to the sides. A stepped gable rises atop the auditorium's Amsterdam Avenue facade.

Interior

Lobbies