The Beacon Theatre is an entertainment venue at 2124
Broadway, adjacent to the
Hotel Beacon, on the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
. 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
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
,
Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
,
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
, and
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
styles. The theater is designated as a
New York City interior landmark and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...
.
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
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
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
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guit ...
. 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
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
.
Description
The Beacon Theatre is at 2124
Broadway, on the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, 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
The Astor is a building at 235 West 75th Street, on Broadway between 75th and 76th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. William Waldorf Astor hired the ubiquitous New York City architects Clinton and Russell to design the ...
apartments to the northwest, and the Central Savings Bank Building
The Apple Bank Building, also known as the Central Savings Bank Building and 2100 Broadway, is a bank and residential building at 2100–2114 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Constructed as a branch of the Centra ...
to the south.[
The Beacon Theatre had been designed as a miniature version of the earlier ]Roxy Theatre Roxy Theatre or Roxy Theater may refer to:
Australia
*Roxy Theatre (Warner Bros. Movie World), a movie theatre within Warner Bros. Movie World, Queensland
*Roxy Community Theatre in Leeton, New South Wales, originally called the Roxy Theatre
*Roxy ...
in Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
, which Ahlschlager also designed. Whereas the Roxy Theatre had been designed with Moorish
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
and Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
-inspired elements, the Beacon contains a variety of styles, including Renaissance, Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
, Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
, and Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
-inspired elements.[ Danish artist Valdemar Kjoldgaard designed numerous murals for the Beacon as well. When the theater opened, '']Women's Wear Daily
''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides inf ...
'' 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
An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinati ...
arch at the fifth story, along with four blind arches to the sides. A stepped gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...
rises atop the auditorium's Amsterdam Avenue facade.[
]
Interior
Lobbies
Under the theater's marquee is a semicircular outdoor ticket lobby with tile flooring, which is recessed from the sidewalk. There is a ticket booth in the middle of the outdoor ticket lobby. The ticket booth was originally gilded and was made of marble, glass, and metal. Prior to its renovation in 2009, the ticket booth had been painted over several times. East of the outdoor ticket booth are glass and metal doors, topped by transom windows, which lead to an indoor vestibule
Vestibule or Vestibulum can have the following meanings, each primarily based upon a common origin, from early 17th century French, derived from Latin ''vestibulum, -i n.'' "entrance court".
Anatomy
In general, vestibule is a small space or cavity ...
. This vestibule has a low ceiling with lamps and Renaissance-style molded bands. The north wall contains mirrors and signs, while the south wall has another ticket booth and an office. The doors to the west (leading from the street) and to the east (leading to the main lobby) both curve into the vestibule.[
East of the vestibule is a circular rotunda with Rococo-inspired decorations. The rotunda ceiling is as high as the auditorium itself; it contains moldings of rosettes and ]coffer
A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault.
A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, al ...
s, as well as a large chandelier hanging from its center. The western wall of the rotunda, which leads from the entrance vestibule, contains fluted pilasters
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...
on either side. Above the doorways is a landscape mural by Valdemar Kjoldgaard.[ Some time before a renovation in 2008, the mural had been covered with wallpaper, though the artwork was restored during the renovation.][ On the eastern wall of the rotunda is a passageway flanked by Ionic-style pilasters, which reach from the floor to the ceiling. Above the passageway is a decorative panel, as well as an archway with full-height colonettes on the mezzanine and balcony levels.][
On either side of the passageway on the rotunda's eastern wall are Rococo-style stairways. The lowest flight connects to the ]mezzanine
A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...
level. Two more flights provide access to both the bottom and the top rows of the steeply raked balcony.
Auditorium
The auditorium has three levels of seating and a proscenium arch. The space is designed with both sculpted decorations and murals by Kjoldgaard.[ , the Beacon Theatre has 2,894 seats. The theater's operator, ]MSG Entertainment
Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (also known as MSG Entertainment) is an American entertainment holding company based in New York City. The company was established in 2020 when The Madison Square Garden Company (now MSG Sports) spun off ...
, classifies the mezzanine level directly above the orchestra as a loge level. Two stories above the orchestra is the balcony level, which is divided into two sections: a lower balcony in the front and an upper balcony in the back. When the theater opened, there was a smoking-room balcony behind the auditorium, with ventilation ducts in the ceiling. There was also a fireproof projection booth in the rear. The original seats were characterized as "fully upholstered" folding seats with large amounts of legroom.
The side walls of the orchestra contain ornate arched doorways. Above each of the arches are theatrical masks, which are flanked by swags and cartouches. Above these arches are the balcony's side walls, which are divided into two bays by fluted pilasters. Each bay contains a piece of a mural by Kjoldgaard; according to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
, these represent "oriental scenes with caravans of elephants, camels, and traders".[ The ceiling above the front of the auditorium contains a red, gold, green, and blue color scheme and is designed to resemble the draped roof of a tent. A Venetian-style chandelier hangs from the center of the ceiling.][
The proscenium arch consists of Doric-style columns on either side, supporting the top of the proscenium.] The latticework of the proscenium had openings for the sound coming from the theater's organ.[ Flanking the proscenium are bronze female figures,][ which measure and depict Greek goddesses.][ ''Women's Wear Daily'' described these figures as "heroic-size bronzes of Amazons with spear and shield".][ Above the proscenium are green and gold plaster draperies.][ The theater originally had a curtain that contemporary media described as the only "contour curtain" in a movie theater in the United States.][
The Beacon also retains its original ]Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
organ in its orchestra pit. The organ was manufactured in 1928[ and contains four manuals and 19 ranks.] The Beacon is one of three theaters in Manhattan that retains its original organ, along with Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for th ...
and the United Palace.[ The organ was abandoned by the early 1960s, but it was not removed because the removal cost was too high for the theater's operators. The organ was restored in 1967] and remained in use at the Beacon until it was sealed in 2009.[
]
History
Movie palaces became common in the 1920s, between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression. In the New York City area, only a small number of operators were involved in the construction of movie palaces. Relatively few architects were responsible for these theaters' designs, including Walter Ahlschlager, Thomas W. Lamb, C. Howard Crane
Charles Howard Crane (August 13, 1885 – August 14, 1952) was an American architect who was primarily active in Detroit, Michigan. His designs include Detroit's Fox Theatre and Olympia Stadium, as well as LeVeque Tower in Columbus, Ohio, whic ...
, and John Eberson.[ Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel was a successful theater operator who was prominent in the city's movie theater industry, having built the 5,920-seat ]Roxy Theatre Roxy Theatre or Roxy Theater may refer to:
Australia
*Roxy Theatre (Warner Bros. Movie World), a movie theatre within Warner Bros. Movie World, Queensland
*Roxy Community Theatre in Leeton, New South Wales, originally called the Roxy Theatre
*Roxy ...
on 50th Street in midtown during 1927. The Chanin brothers also had some experience in theatrical development, having built six Broadway theaters in the mid-1920s.
Movie palace
Development and opening
The Chanins acquired a site on 75th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue in 1925 for the construction of a hotel and an attached theater. Two years later, in January 1927, the Chanins sold the site to the Havemeyer Construction Company. Film producer Herbert Lubin negotiated the sale on behalf of Roxy, who would operate the theater on the site, known as the Roxy Midway Theatre. Roxy retained Ahlschlager to design the new hotel and theater, and the Chanins were hired as the consulting engineers for the project. The sale came one month after Lubin established the Roxy Circuit, which planned to operate numerous movie theaters in New York City, with the midtown Roxy Theatre as its flagship. In April 1928, S. W. Straus & Company underwrote a $4.45 million loan on the Midway project, which at the time was nearly completed. An airway beacon was placed on top of the hotel, and the project was renamed the Midway Beacon, a name that was kept as late as June 1928.
The Roxy Circuit never operated the Midway Theatre because, in July 1928, the company sued to get out of its lease.[ None of the other planned theaters in the Roxy Circuit were ever built, in part because of the start of the Great Depression shortly afterward.][ The '']New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'' was using the "Beacon" name exclusively by June 1929. At the time, Warner Theatres was considering acquiring the theater, which had been completed for a year but was unused. After RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...
considered leasing the Beacon, Warner Theatres ultimately bought the theater in November 1929, turning it into a first-run showcase for Warner Bros. films on the Upper West Side. Warner Theatres then conducted changes to the acoustical properties of the auditorium to accommodate sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...
s.[ Warner Bros. unsuccessfully attempted to obtain the rights to screen ]First National Pictures
First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...
films at the new Beacon. The renamed Warner's Beacon Theatre opened on December 24, 1929, with the talking picture '' Tiger Rose'' featuring Lupe Vélez.[
]
Film screenings
Originally, the Beacon played one motion picture per week, which ran continuously from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.[ Among the early films screened at the Beacon were '' Once a Gentleman'' (1930), '' A Soldier's Plaything'' (1931), and '']The Lawless Woman
''The Lawless Woman'' is a 1931 American crime film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Vera Reynolds, Carroll Nye and Thomas E. Jackson.Pitts p.89
Cast
* Vera Reynolds as June Page
* Carroll Nye as Allan Perry
* Thomas E. Jackson as ...
'' (1931). The Chanins took over the Beacon Hotel and Theatre in April 1930, four months after the theater had opened. Amid speculation that the Chanins might redevelop the site (in the past eleven years, the brothers had torn down every structure that they had bought), Irwin Chanin announced that the Beacon Hotel and Theatre would remain operational. The Beacon Enterprise Company, in which Warner Bros. owned 75 percent of the stock, was subsequently recorded as having leased the theater. The Beacon was one of several movie theaters that Warner Bros. operated along Broadway; the others included the Warners, Hollywood, Winter Garden, and Strand.
At the end of January 1932, Warner Bros.' operating lease on the Beacon Theatre expired, and the Central Amusement Corporation took over. The Chanins said the new management allowed the Beacon to show movies from more than one producer.[ The Beacon largely continued to produce straight pictures, but it also broadened its offerings to radio broadcasts, such as Tru Blu Beer's ''Broadway Bandwagon'' in 1935. To recruit soldiers during ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
exhibited a mortar and a machine gun in the Beacon's rotunda lobby while playing a short film in the auditorium. The theater also hosted bond-buying events during the war. Brandt Theatres
Brandt may refer to:
Places United States
* Brandt, Ohio, an unincorporated community
* Brandt, South Dakota, a town
* Brandt Township, Polk County, Minnesota
Elsewhere
* Mount Brandt, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica
* Brandt Cove, South Georgi ...
acquired the Beacon in 1944 as the 120th theater in its chain. Two years later, the Beacon began presenting films and stage performances for children during Saturday matinees.
The Beacon implemented a policy of presenting only first runs at the end of 1948; the British picture '' Don't Take It to Heart'' was the first to be screened under this policy. During 1949, the films shown under this policy included double feature
The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.
Opera use
Opera ho ...
s such as '' Easy Money''/''My Brother's Keeper
"Am I my brother's keeper?" is a saying from the Bible. It comes from the story of Cain and Abel. After Cain murdered his brother Abel, God asked him where his brother was, and Cain answered: "I know not; am I my brother's keeper?" This quote enter ...
'', as well as traditional single features like '' A Yank Comes Back'' and '' Temptation Harbour''. The Beacon continued to show double features throughout the 1950s, such as ''The Frightened Bride
''The Tall Headlines'' is a 1952 British drama film directed by Terence Young and starring André Morell, Flora Robson, Michael Denison, Peter Burton, Sid James and Dennis Price. It was shot at Walton Studios outside London. In the United Sta ...
''/''The Caretaker's Daughter
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
'' in 1953. The Beacon also screened Warner Bros. films. This caused a dispute in 1959, when the owners of the nearby Embassy Theatre filed a lawsuit, alleging that Warner Bros. had showed favoritism by selling distribution rights for three films to the Beacon rather than to the high bidders, the Embassy. Starting in 1962, the Beacon also showed United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...
pictures through the UA's "Premiere Showcase"; the first film shown under this program was ''Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
''.
In January 1966, Brandt announced that the Beacon would present legitimate plays along with films. The first live show under this policy, a Yiddish vaudeville show, was canceled after two days. The next year, members of the American Association of Theatre Organ Enthusiasts restored the Beacon's long-unused organ. The Beacon then screened silent pictures accompanied by organ music, starting with '' The General''.[ By then, '' Boxoffice'' magazine characterized the Beacon as one of the Upper West Side's few movie palaces that remained in theatrical use.][ The Beacon also continued to screen talking pictures such as '' Ulysses'', as well as live shows including a ballet production in 1968. The Beacon implemented a "first ]second run
A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated.
Variations
In the United Kingdom, the wo ...
" policy in 1971, showing reruns of films that had just premiered (as opposed to reruns that had already been shown at other theaters).[ Accordingly, the Beacon reduced its ticket prices to $1.00–1.50, even as its competitors retained higher ticket prices.] Though the reduced ticket prices increased the theater's income by 15 to 20 percent, the Beacon's owners were looking to sell the theater.
Conversion into live venue
Early live shows
Following the closure of rock venue Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the (at the time) Lower East Side neighborhood, now called the East Village neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan of New York City. I ...
, Bow Wow Productions proposed hosting rock concerts at the Beacon in 1971. The concert series began later that year, and the theater charged ticket prices of up to $7.50 on these shows. The Beacon's concerts in 1971 tended not to have long runs due to disagreements between promoters and the theater's operators. By the early 1970s, the theater was still showing movies but was dimly lit and deteriorating.[ In March 1974, the Beacon was leased by Vidicoth Systems, a company operated by Steven Singer and Barry Kerr.][ The new operators spent $250,000 on renovations, including $75,000 on a new sound system.][ The operators reupholstered the seats, installed new carpets, and repainted the ceiling and statues. The theater continued to show movies until the renovations were finished.][
When the Beacon reopened in October 1974, Stephen Metz took over the theater's bookings, using the Beacon primarily for rock concerts. A writer for '']Newsday
''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and ...
'' said of the Beacon: "A rock ballroom is not just what Manhattan needs, but that may be what it's getting." By the next year, the Beacon had gained a reputation as a rock venue. A ''New York Amsterdam News
The ''Amsterdam News'' (also known as ''New York Amsterdam News'') is a weekly Black-owned newspaper serving New York City. It is one of the oldest newspapers geared toward African Americans in the United States and has published columns by s ...
'' reporter said in 1976 that the Beacon "has transcended a galaxy of live-entertainment theaters" and had become a competitor to the Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a n ...
in Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...
.[ Some residents raised complaints about the noise and crowds at the rock concerts, though Singer and Metz addressed most of these complaints. Singer and Metz formed a firm in August 1976, Singmet, which produced some of its own shows for the Beacon. The theater was closed in 1976 after Singer and Metz went bankrupt,] and it was planned to be replaced by a supermarket.[
Kazuko Hillyer announced plans in February 1977 to convert the Beacon into a performing arts center.] Hillyer, a Japanese-American, said she wanted to make the theater "a center for the two heritages we all have".[ Hillyer immediately booked dance shows for the Beacon,] and she intended to spend $75,000 on renovations.[ The same year, Concert Arts Society was recorded as having leased the theater for 15 years.] The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
(LPC) designated the Beacon Theatre as an interior landmark on December 11, 1979, citing the theater's "dramatic effects of rich ornamental details". 50/50 Productions, a company operated by Steve Martin, took over the Beacon's bookings in October 1981[ and booked jazz and contemporary musicians for the theater. Martin wanted to stage Broadway shows at the theater, but he faced competition from the Shubert Organization and the Nederlander Organization, the two largest operators of Broadway theaters. The Beacon was renovated in 1982, and it was added to the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...
the same year.[ The theater was renovated again in 1985.]
Failed conversion into nightclub
Andy Feltz became the Beacon's manager in 1986. That February, the theater's owners announced plans to convert the Beacon into a nightclub and restaurant with a discotheque
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
. At the time, the Beacon was the only mid-sized live-concert venue in Manhattan; the two other similarly sized venues in the borough, Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall, were largely used for classical music. The operator of the planned nightclub, Olivier Coquelin Olivier Coquelin, nicknamed “Disco Daddy,” was a French expatriate entrepreneur and nightclub promoter. He opened Le Club, the first American discotheque, on New Year's Eve 1960, on East 55th Street in Manhattan. By 1962, ''The New York Times'' ...
, said he and his architect Charles A. Platt (a former LPC commissioner) had chosen the Beacon Theatre for conversion specifically because of its landmark status. Coquelin's company signed a seven-year lease for the theater that April.[ The nightclub would be built as a freestanding structure within the auditorium, thus reducing the need to modify the protected interior spaces.] Area residents expressed concerns that the renovations would damage the landmarked design features. Preservationists and community groups, including the Committee to Save the Beacon Theatre, organized in opposition to the plans.[
The LPC voted to approve the plan in July 1986. Afterward, Coquelin said he would need to spend $3 million to renovate the theater because of its deteriorated condition. The city rejected the conversion proposal that December because the planned dance floor was too large under ]zoning
Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a s ...
regulations. The city government approved the plan after the dance floor's size was reduced.[ Two benefit concerts were hosted to fund the groups that opposed the theater's conversion.] In September 1987, a New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...
judge overturned the LPC's approval of the conversion on the grounds that it would threaten the quality of the theater's architecture. During this time, the Beacon was still hosting concerts; along with the Apollo, it was one of two venues in Manhattan with frequent rock, pop, and soul concerts. The theater's operators filed an appeal of the Supreme Court's ruling in October 1988. The New York Court of Appeals overturned the Supreme Court decision, sending the plan back to the LPC.
Continued use as live venue
By 1989, the theater's operators no longer intended to turn the theater into a nightclub, having hired MSG Entertainment as the theater's exclusive booking agent for several years. The Committee to Save the Beacon Theatre expressed optimism but continued to monitor the theater's usage. Following the efforts of the Committee to Save the Beacon Theatre, Nanci Callahan founded the West Side Cultural Center, which was to stage children's programming, dances, and operas at the Beacon. In late 1991, the Beacon was temporarily converted into an IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graem ...
theater; the IMAX format's large screen necessitated that most of the seats be closed off due to poor sightlines. The theater was then refurbished again in the early 1990s for rock concerts.
Feltz continued to manage the Beacon until 2006.[ That November, the theater was leased for 20 years to MSG Entertainment's parent company ]Cablevision
Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...
, which also leased Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for th ...
and owned Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...
. Cablevision committed at least $10 million toward a future restoration of the Beacon,[ which closed for a major renovation in August 2007.][ Beyer Blinder Belle was hired for the project, fixing longstanding issues such as a leaking roof and damage to original decorations.][ The restoration also involved replacing the electrical system, upholstering the seats, restoring decorations in the lobby and the auditorium, and upgrading backstage functions.] The workers restored features such as the Broadway ticket booth, which had been painted over numerous times, and the chandelier above the auditorium, which had been hanging from a coffee tin.[ The project involved 1,000 workers and was completed in February 2009 for $16 million.][
MSG Entertainment split from Cablevision in mid-2009 but continued to operate the Beacon Theatre and its other venues. The Beacon's lighting system was upgraded in 2014 to accommodate the venue's events, which at the time included concerts, comedy, broadcasts, and film screenings. The Beacon Theatre closed temporarily in 2020 due to the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, reopening in July 2021 after over a year.
Entertainment
After the Beacon Theatre started presenting live performances, it became one of the most popular concert halls in New York City. In addition, it has hosted other types of live events such as comedy specials. By 2006, the theater hosted about 70 performances a year; box-office figures were available for 52 of these events, which collectively grossed $8 million and had 136,000 total patrons.[ During the Beacon's 2008 renovation, ''The New York Times'' referred to the venue as the " Carnegie Hall of rock rooms".][
]
Concerts
The theater has long hosted R&B, pop, and jam bands and rock concerts. Early in the Beacon's history as a venue for live show, it hosted concert appearances such as those of rock band Steve Miller Band, blues singer Dr. John, soul singer Wilson Pickett, and pop singer Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
.[ When the theater was briefly used as a rock venue in the mid-1970s,][ several rock bands had appearances at the Beacon, including ]Supertramp
Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending ...
, Queen (as part of their A Night at the Opera Tour), Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
, and Return to Forever
Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Hea ...
. Additional concerts in the 1970s included a three-night appearance by singer Carole King in 1976. After Kazuko Hillyer took over in 1977, she moved her Coffee Concerts to the Beacon from Alice Tully Hall. Under Hillyer's operation, the theater also hosted acts such as Canadian Brass and Peter Schickele
"Professor" Peter Schickele (; born July 17, 1935) is an American composer, musical educator, and parodist, best known for comedy albums featuring his music, but which he presents as being composed by the fictional P. D. Q. Bach. He also hosted ...
in 1978.
Among the Beacon's concert bookings in the early 1980s were those by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
, R&B singer Millie Jackson, bluegrass acts Osborne Brothers and Jim & Jesse, and jazz musicians Sarah Vaughan and Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...
. Other acts during the decade included gospel singers Al Green
Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...
and Shirley Caesar, pop musician Laurie Anderson
Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...
, pop/jazz guitarist Earl Klugh
Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy award and thirteen nominations. Klugh was awarded the “1977” Best Recording Award For Performance and Sound” for his album “Fing ...
, juju singer King Sunny Adé
Chief Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye (born 22 September 1946), known professionally as King Sunny Adé, is a Nigerian jùjú singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is regarded as one of the first African pop musicians to gain international ...
, and jazz singer Cab Calloway
Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocali ...
. In the early 1990s, the Beacon hosted such musical offerings as folk-rock duo Indigo Girls, a rock-and-soul revue, a concert with several country performers, singer Tracy Chapman, pop rock band Crowded House
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later ...
, and gospel singers BeBe Winans and CeCe Winans. The latter half of the decade saw appearances by performers including rock musician Ian Anderson, jazz tenor Sonny Rollins
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as ...
, Italian blues singer Zucchero Fornaciari, as well as a classical music concert.
Concert performances continued in the early 2000s, including those by singer Liza Minnelli, the Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...
Septet, singers Norah Jones
Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. '' Billboard'' named her the ...
and Gillian Welch
Gillian Howard Welch (; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, count ...
, rock band Radiohead, and blues musician Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporate ...
. Paul Simon gave the first performances at the Beacon after it reopened in 2009, and Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
performed the same year. Artists who performed at the Beacon in the 2010s included Goldfrapp, Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released five albums from 1996 to 2020, which have all reached the top 20 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Apple has received numerous awards a ...
, Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...
, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, and The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassi ...
.
Residencies
The rock band the Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guit ...
was at one point the most frequent performer at the Beacon,[ appearing there nearly every year from 1989 to 2014.] After their first performance in 1989, the band returned in 1992 1994, and annually after 1996; a ''New York Times'' article in 2002 called the band's performances "as sure a sign of spring as the reappearance of robins and bellybuttons". The band recorded a live album at the theater in March 2000, releasing '' Peakin' at the Beacon'' that November. In 2009, the Allman Brothers Band celebrated its 40th anniversary at the Beacon with shows dedicated to the band's founder and original frontman, Duane Allman. The band could not perform at the Beacon in 2010 because the theater was hosting an extended run of a Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 ...
production, but the band was invited back in 2011. The band played the final show of its career at the Beacon Theatre on October 28, 2014, after 238 total concerts at the theater.[
Other bands and musicians have also had residencies at the Beacon. The band Hot Tuna performed annually through the 1990s and 2000s, and rock band Steely Dan has also had many residencies at the theater. From 2014 to 2017, singer ]Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the ...
hosted her annual residency All I Want for Christmas Is You: A Night of Joy and Festivity at the Beacon, featuring songs from her Christmas albums ''Merry Christmas
The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...
'' and '' Merry Christmas II You'' alongside some of her biggest hits. The first leg of Carey's residency commenced in December 2014, followed by performances in 2015,[ 2016, and 2017. ]Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
has also had numerous annual residencies at the Beacon Theatre, and guitarist Trey Anastasio performed an eight-week virtual residency called "The Beacon Jams" in late 2020.
Other live appearances
The first live show in the Beacon's modern history was the Yiddish vaudeville ''Bagels & Yox'', which closed after two days in 1967.[ The Beacon hosted a performance of ]Erik Satie
Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an un ...
's symphonic drama '' Socrate'' in 1967, in tribute to the mobile
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ...
artist Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and his ...
, featuring a recreation of Calder's set for a 1936 production of the work. During the early 1970s, the Beacon featured weekly professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
matches. When the Beacon operated as a performing arts center in the late 1970s, it hosted appearances by dance companies such as the Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre, the Murray Louis Dance Company,[ the Grand ]Kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought ...
troupe of Japan, and a festival called "Ballet at the Beacon". During that era, the Beacon also hosted another performance of ''Socrate'' alongside the opera '' Four Saints in Three Acts'', as well as an Elizabeth Swados musical with a cast composed entirely of children.
In the early 1980s, the Beacon continued to host dance and musical performances, including the National Dance Company of Senegal, an annual Hasidic Song Festival, the Guangdong Yue Opera, and a production of the opera cycle '' Der Ring des Nibelungen''. Michaele Vollbracht
Michaele Vollbracht (November 17, 1947 – June 7, 2018) was an American fashion designer who worked under his own name and as head designer for Bill Blass Limited from 2003 until his resignation in 2007. He was well known as an illustrator, thou ...
held a fashion show at the Beacon in 1982, although the theater's stage was poorly equipped to host such events. Near the end of the decade, the theater also hosted the melodrama ''1000 Airplanes on the Roof
''1000 Airplanes on the Roof'' is a melodrama in one act by Philip Glass which featured text by David Henry Hwang and projections by Jerome Sirlin. It is described by Glass as "a science fiction music drama".
The work was commissioned by the D ...
''. Live performances in the 1990s included a production of the musical '' The Wiz'' with an all-Black cast in 1993 and a comedy routine by Sandra Bernhard
Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, singer, comedian and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy, where she often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures.
She is perhaps ...
in 1994. The 14th Dalai Lama also gave two series of lectures 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
Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmak ...
's play '' Madea Goes to Jail'' in 2005; and Perry's off-Broadway drama ''The Marriage Counselor
''The Marriage Counselor'' is a 2008 American stage play created, written, directed and produced by Tyler Perry. It is his tenth play. The show toured from January 2008 to June 2009. It stars Tamar Davis as Dr. Judith Jackson and Tony Grant as ...
'' in 2009. Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 ...
staged the short-lived vaudeville-based show ''Banana Shpeel
''Banana Shpeel'' was a touring stage show created by Cirque du Soleil which premiered on November 19, 2009, at the Chicago Theater. The vaudeville-based show was directed by David Shiner (clown), David Shiner, who also created Koozå. The show la ...
'' at the Beacon in 2010, and the musical '' The Lightning Thief'' had performances at the Beacon before opening on Broadway in 2019. In addition, comedian Jerry Seinfeld started a residency at the Beacon in 2015, and comedian Ali Wong appeared at the theater in 2021.
Recordings and broadcasts
The theater's stage has hosted a variety of broadcasts and films. For example, VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
broadcast its popular production '' Divas Live'' from there in 1998 and 1999. Many of George Carlin's HBO comedy specials were broadcast from or filmed at the Beacon, including ''You Are All Diseased
''You Are All Diseased'' is the 16th album and 11th HBO live broadcast stand-up special by comedian George Carlin, recorded on February 6, 1999 at the Beacon Theater in New York City
New York, often called New Yor ...
'' (1999). Conan O'Brien taped his '' Late Night'' 10th anniversary special at the theater in 2003, and O'Brien briefly returned in late 2011 to tape shows for his series '' Conan''.
Some of the concerts at the Beacon have been taped as well. Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger Taylor the following year the band wen ...
recorded a live concert at the Beacon on August 31, 1987, called ''Live at the Beacon Theatre''. The theater was also used in late 2006 for the filming of ''Shine a Light'', a film of a live concert by the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
. Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
celebrated her 75th birthday with a concert at the theater on January 27, 2016, which was broadcast on PBS's '' Great Performances'' and released on CD and DVD. She also included the theater in her worldwide Fare Thee Well tour with three concerts in September 2018 and in May 2019.
Even after being converted into a live-performance venue in the 1970s, the Beacon still occasionally hosted film screenings. These included a series of Cuban films in 1978, a marathon run of Russian films in 1979, and a "worst-film festival" in 1980. The theater also hosted a silent-film festival in 1985, accompanied by music from the organ,[ as well as the film '' Koyaanisqatsi'' with a live accompaniment in 1988. The Beacon was temporarily converted to an IMAX theater for the screening of the film '' Stones at the Max'' in 1991.][ Some film screenings continued at the Beacon through the 21st century, such as the film '' Walk the Line'' in 2005 and a premiere of the film '']Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...
'' in 2016. The Beacon has also hosted some films for the annual Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...
, including ''Love, Gilda
''Love, Gilda'' is a 2018 American-Canadian documentary film directed and co-produced by Lisa Dapolito. The film is about the life and career of American comedian Gilda Radner. ''Love, Gilda'' premiered on April 18, 2018 at the Tribeca Film Festi ...
'' in 2018 and ''Apocalypse Now
''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph C ...
'' in 2019.
Other events
The Beacon has hosted several tributes. These included a memorial to actor John Barrymore
John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Barrymore family, Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage ...
in 1982; a show in honor of jazz musician Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...
in 1989;[ and the Zappa Plays Zappa concert in 2006, a tribute to musician Frank Zappa. The Beacon has also been used for parties, such as a 1988 event to celebrate the opening of the Broadway musical '' The Phantom of the Opera'', as well as a birthday party for then-U.S. Senator ]Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...
in 2006.
The Beacon has also been used for benefits. For example, in 1975, the theater hosted a jazz concert to fund opposition to Riverside Church
Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Mornin ...
's planned sale of its radio station WRVR-FM. A concert was hosted in December 1986 to fund opposition to the Beacon Theatre's proposed conversion into a nightclub, followed by another concert in June 1987 for the same purpose.[ The biennial autism-awareness benefit " Night of Too Many Stars", hosted by ]Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted '' The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts '' ...
, has also been hosted at the Beacon several times, including in 2008, 2010, and 2015.
The Beacon Theatre started hosting the New York Music Awards in 1987, the year after the award had been founded. The awards were hosted annually at the Beacon until 1992. The Broadway League
The Broadway League, formerly the League of American Theatres and Producers and League of New York Theatres and Producers, is the national trade association for the Broadway theatre industry based in New York, New York. Its members include thea ...
temporarily relocated the Tony Awards
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
, the annual ceremony for Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...
, to the Beacon in the early 2010s due to prior bookings at the ceremony's traditional home, Radio City Music Hall. The Beacon thus hosted the 65th Tony Awards in 2011; the theater also hosted the 66th Tony Awards in 2012 because the Beacon had a "multi-year contract" with the Tonys, Another extended run at the Music Hall forced the Tonys to again relocate to the Beacon in 2016, when the theater hosted the 70th Tony Awards.
See also
* List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 59th to 110th Streets
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 59th to 110th Streets
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
External links
*
* , Theatre Historical Society of America, Joe Coco Collection
{{Portal bar, Architecture, New York City, NRHP, Theatre
1929 establishments in New York City
Broadway (Manhattan)
Madison Square Garden Sports
Movie palaces
Music venues in Manhattan
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
New York City interior landmarks
Public venues with a theatre organ
Theatres completed in 1929
Theatres in Manhattan
Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
Upper West Side