Sony Hall

Last updated
Sony Hall
The Diamond Horseshoe
Century Theatre
Mayfair Theatre
Stairway Theatre
Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe
Sony Hall 2 (cropped).jpg
The exterior of the Paramount Hotel. Sony Hall is located in the basement of this building.
Sony Hall
Address235 W. 46th St.
New York City
United States
Coordinates 40°45′34″N73°59′13″W / 40.75944°N 73.98694°W / 40.75944; -73.98694
Operator Blue Note Entertainment Group
TypeFormer Broadway house
Capacity 1,000 standing, 500 seated
Current use Concert venue
OpenedDecember 24, 1938 (1938-12-24)
Website
www.sonyhall.com

Sony Hall is a concert venue operated by Blue Note Entertainment Group located on West 46th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, New York City. Like many theaters in NYC, it has served many functions since its opening in 1938. Located in the basement of the Paramount Hotel, it began as Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe nightclub where the 1945 film Diamond Horseshoe was filmed, and later spent time as a burlesque theater before becoming a legitimate Broadway theatre under the names Century Theatre, Mayfair Theatre, and Stairway Theatre. As a Broadway theater, it is best known for the transfer of the Tony Award-winning original Broadway production of On Golden Pond in 1979. After becoming a private venue through the 1980s and remaining mostly closed through the 1990s and 2000s, it reemerged in 2013 after a 20-million-dollar renovation as a theater hosting the immersive production Queen of the Night. It is currently run as a live music performance venue showcasing audio and visual technology by Sony.

Contents

History

A disused sign on the exterior of the building for the "Diamond Horseshoe". Diamond Horseshoe sign 1 (cropped).jpg
A disused sign on the exterior of the building for the "Diamond Horseshoe".

The Paramount Hotel was constructed in 1927 near Times Square. The French Renaissance-inspired building was the only hotel designed by Thomas W. Lamb who is mostly known for his theaters and cinemas. [1] The hotel opened in 1928, and ten years later, on Christmas of 1938, Billy Rose opened a nightclub in the basement of the building, named Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe. [1] [2] Rose, a theatrical producer, was already well known for his work with the Ziegfeld Follies and with Oscar Hammerstein II on the large-scale production of Jumbo, but he also was the creating force behind themed nostalgic nightclubs in New York such as the Billy Rose Music Hall. [2] [3] The Diamond Horseshoe was one of these themed clubs with Rose designing it as a Gay Nineties saloon. [2] The first show in the venue was The Turn of the Century, a romantic retelling of Diamond Jim Brady and Lillian Russell's relationship interspersed with burlesque acts. The club became well known for the "Long-Stemmed Roses", the scantily clad house chorus girls who were all over 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) tall, [1] [2] [3] and was called by a critic at the New York Times , “the most zestful, gorgeous and lovable pleasure palace in town.” [4] Gene Kelly is known to have choreographed one performance of the Long-Stemmed Roses, W.C. Handy was a regular entertainer, and the club attracted the likes of Orson Welles and Sugar Ray Robinson. [3]

1945 saw the premiere of Diamond Horseshoe , a film by George Seaton starring Betty Grable, set and filmed in the Diamond Horseshoe. [2] [5] [6] The influence of this film could not keep the club afloat and it closed in 1951 due to shifts in taste in entertainment away from lavish revues and towards more intimate fare. [2] For some time afterward, the basement operated as the Sonja Henie Ice Palace, with a skating rink. [7]

The hotel's operators leased the Paramount's basement as a theater in December 1960. [8] The space was operated by the partnership of Irving Maidman and Norman Twain. [9] [10] Russell Patterson renovated the basement into the Mayfair Theatre, a 299-seat off-Broadway venue. [7] [11] A skating rink was removed from the space and a 56-foot-wide (17 m) stage was installed, an unusually wide stage for an off-Broadway venue; the stage's width could be reduced to 26 feet (7.9 m) for intimate productions. [7] The theater opened in March 1961 with the play Roots by Arthur Wesker. [12] [13] The Mayfair lasted two years before Maidman converted it to a cabaret. Maidman cited the large number of competing off-Broadway venues as a reason for the closure. [14]

By 1969 the theater was being used to show burlesque and a new agreement specified that beginning April 25, 1970, the space would no longer be rented as "a Burlesque Theatre or for the exhibition of 'adult' or 'sex exploitation' films". [8] Shortly after this agreement the space was renamed the Stairway Theatre and hosted two short-lived Broadway productions, The Castro Complex and A Place Without Doors over three months. [15] [5] These productions were not successful and in 1971 the theater returned to a burlesque house in violation of its lease. [8]

Two theatrical productions were hosted between 1974 and 1976 under the moniker Mayfair Theatre, [15] but in 1978, the theater was once again renamed, this time to the Century Theatre and began presenting Broadway caliber theater once more. [5] The most notable production of this time period was the transfer of the original Broadway production of On Golden Pond in 1979, which won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Frances Sternhagen as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play. [5] [15] The theater's run as a Broadway house ended in 1982 with Waltz of the Stork, a musical written and performed by Melvin Van Peebles. [5] [15]

Throughout the 1980s the theater was used for a few notable special events including the memorial luncheon for Andy Warhol in 1987 and Vanity Fair's fifth-anniversary celebration in 1988. [2] Over the next few decades there were attempts to reimagine the space as concert halls, supper clubs, and discotechs but each attempt failed due to costs and other issues. Mostly the space sat empty and slowly decayed. [16]

In 2011 the developer Aby Rosen purchased the Paramount Hotel and, after a 20-million-dollar renovation, the theater reopened in 2013 on New Year's Eve as the Diamond Horseshoe. [2] [4] The new incarnation of the space was specifically designed for the new immersive theater piece Queen of the Night, produced by Randy Weiner and Simon Hammerstein, the creators of The Box [2] and instruments in bringing Sleep No More from London to New York. [4] Giovanna Battaglia, the creative director of Queen of the Night, called the redesign of the space, "a cross between a church, an opera house, and a bordello." [3] The renovations included "hammered-gold floors, green velvet stage curtains held back by four-foot-long hands, and a bejeweled ceiling inspired by Catholic monstrances." [3] Most original elements in the room were not able to be preserved due to deterioration. [17] The lavish production, which was loosely based on Mozart's The Magic Flute , was directed by scenic designer Christine Jones, and the title role was performed by Martha Graham Dance Company principal dancer Katherine Crockett. [4] [2]

Queen of the Night ran for exactly two years, closing on December 31, 2015. For the next few years the theater existed as a private venue until reopening on March 27, 2018, as Sony Hall, a concert venue. [18] This new space is run by Blue Note Entertainment Group, who also run New York's Highline Ballroom, in partnership with Sony. [19] [18] Many of the design elements introduced for Queen of the Night were retained, only minor paint and upholstery details were changed as well as extending the stage slightly into the room. [18] The real changes came in the audio visual realm as Sony used the hall to showcase new sound, video, and listening technologies it developed, and introduced a new street level cafe. The current 12,000 square foot (1,100 m2) venue includes a full-service restaurant and bar and can hold 1,000 people standing or 500 people seated. [19] The first concert in the renovated space was by MGMT, a Sony Music-signed rock band. [18]

Design

The street level lobby of Sony Hall Sony Hall lobby 2.jpg
The street level lobby of Sony Hall

The original incarnation of the space was designed by Thomas W. Lamb as a nostalgic take on a saloon from the 1890s, including walls painted deep red and white, period-appropriate light fixtures, and posters of vaudeville stars dotting the walls. [2] [20] This interior crumbled due to years of neglect and most original elements in the theater were not able to be preserved due to deterioration. [17] Due to the state of the hall, it was gutted as part of its renovation for the 2013 production of Queen of the Night. [21] This renovation and redesign was carried out by architectural firm Stonehill & Taylor with Meg Sharpe designing the interiors, creative direction by Giovanna Battaglia, and Douglas Little designing the production's scenery. [17] [22] Due to the nature of immersive theater, the Queen of the Night scenery was fully integrated into the architecture, but edited out during the minor 2018 Sony Hall renovations. [17] [18] The overall design nods to the real history of the space while infusing an imagined history created for the production of Queen of the Night. [21]

The exterior of the hall is marked by one of a pair of ornate marquees that were installed as part of the 2013 renovation, with the other marking the entrance to the Paramount Hotel. [17] Once inside, the entrance to Sony Hall is down a grand marble staircase, restored in 2013, which has been distressed with scenic painting techniques to appear more dilapidated than it truly is. [21] [23] The base of the stairs features preserved bronze display cases, [17] and the entrance door has knobs in the shapes of hands with open palms. [23]

Once inside, the main room's interior, while largely new construction, takes design cues from Lamb's original intent. The lunettes and frieze recall the former design of the space, and the grand ceiling design draws precise inspiration from the original ceiling. [17] While the whole space is designed with curves to give a sense of motion, this is most noticeable in the highly ornamental ceiling. [23] This ceiling breaks classical architectural traditions and is designed with multiple domes and trim framing out a center ellipse containing a fiber optic night sky that gives the illusion of volume. [17] [23] [20]

The walls are lined with antique faceted mirrors above curving banquette seating built in tiers with additional curving railings. [22] [20] [23] Additional raised seating pods dot the space and, according to an article on Architizer, the bar is designed to resemble an, "intricate 19th century distillery with tubes and flasks traveling up the walls and along the ceiling. [23]

Production history

Theater nameProductionopenedclosedref
The Diamond Horseshoe Century Theatre Queen of the Night December 31, 2013December 31, 2015 [2] [18]
Century Theatre Waltz of the Stork January 5, 1982May 23, 1982 [15]
A Taste of Honey June 24, 1981November 8, 1981
Heartland February 23, 1981March 15, 1981
Emlyn Williams as Charles Dickens January 14, 1981February 1, 1981
Banjo Dancing October 21, 1980November 30, 1980
Of the Fields, Lately May 27, 1980June 1, 1980
On Golden Pond September 12, 1979April 20, 1980
Lone Star & Pvt. Wars June 7, 1979August 5, 1979
Manny April 18, 1979May 13, 1979
Are You Now or Have You Ever Been February 6, 1979March 4, 1979
Taxi Tales December 28, 1978December 31, 1978
The American Dance Machine June 14, 1978December 3, 1978
Patio / Porch April 13, 1978April 30, 1978
Mayfair Theatre Dance With Me January 23, 1975January 4, 1976
Tubstrip October 31, 1974November 17, 1974
Stairway Theatre A Place Without Doors December 22, 1970January 16, 1971
The Castro Complex November 18, 1970November 22, 1970

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Rose</span> American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist

Billy Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman, lyricist and columnist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with shows such as Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt (1931), Jumbo (1935), Billy Rose's Aquacade (1937), and Carmen Jones (1943). As a lyricist, he is credited with many songs, notably "Don't Bring Lulu" (1925), "Tonight You Belong To Me" (1926), "Me and My Shadow" (1927), "More Than You Know" (1929), "Without a Song" (1929), "It Happened in Monterrey" (1930), and "It's Only a Paper Moon" (1933).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palace Theatre (New York City)</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Palace Theatre is a Broadway theater at 1564 Broadway, facing Times Square, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Milwaukee architects Kirchhoff & Rose, the theater was funded by Martin Beck and opened in 1913. From its opening to about 1929, the Palace was considered among vaudeville performers as the flagship of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II's organization. The theater had 1,743 seats across three levels as of 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Sullivan Theater</span> Television studio in Manhattan, New York

The Ed Sullivan Theater is a theater at 1697–1699 Broadway, between 53rd and 54th Streets, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Built from 1926 to 1927 as a Broadway theater, the Sullivan was developed by Arthur Hammerstein in memory of his father, Oscar Hammerstein I. The two-level theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp with over 1,500 seats, though the modern Ed Sullivan Theater was downsized to 370 seats by 2015. The neo-Gothic interior is a New York City landmark, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nederlander Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Nederlander Theatre is a Broadway theater at 208 West 41st Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, it was designed by William Neil Smith for theatrical operator Walter C. Jordan. It has around 1,235 seats across two levels and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. Since 1980, it has been named for American theater impresario David Tobias Nederlander, father of theatrical producer James M. Nederlander. It is the southernmost Broadway theater in the Theater District.

Beatrice Kay was an American singer, vaudevillian, music hall performer, and stage and film actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramount Theatre (Manhattan)</span> Former movie theater in New York City

The Paramount Theatre was a 3,664-seat movie palace located at 43rd Street and Broadway on Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1926, it was a showcase theatre and the New York headquarters of Paramount Pictures. Adolph Zukor, founder of Paramount predecessor Famous Players Film Company, maintained an office in the building until his death in 1976. The Paramount Theatre eventually became a popular live performance venue. The theater was closed in 1964 and its space converted to office and retail use. The tower which housed it, known as the Paramount Building at 1501 Broadway, is in commercial use as an office building and is still home to Paramount Pictures offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nederlander Theatre (Chicago)</span> Theater in Chicago, Illinois

The James M. Nederlander Theatre is a theater located at 24 West Randolph Street in the Loop area of downtown Chicago, Illinois. Previously known as the Oriental Theatre, it opened in 1926 as a deluxe movie palace and vaudeville venue. Today the Nederlander presents live Broadway theater and is operated by Broadway In Chicago, currently seating 2,253.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramount Hotel</span> Hotel in Manhattan, New York

The Paramount Hotel is a hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, the hotel is at 235 West 46th Street, between Eighth Avenue and Broadway. The Paramount Hotel is owned by RFR Realty and contains 597 rooms. The hotel building, designed in a Renaissance style, is a New York City designated landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saenger Theatre (New Orleans)</span> Theatre

Saenger Theatre is an atmospheric theatre in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Once the flagship of Julian and Abe Saenger's theatre empire, today it is one of only a handful of Saenger movie palaces that remain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somerville Theatre</span> Independent movie theater and concert venue in Somerville, Massachusetts

The Somerville Theatre is an independent movie theater and concert venue in the Davis Square neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. Over one hundred years old, the Somerville Theatre started off as a vaudeville house and movie theater. The theater has since transitioned and now operates as a live music venue and first-run movie theater. As a music venue, the theater has played host to many historic concerts, including the first of the two Last Dispatch concerts, two shows by Bruce Springsteen in 2003, and a performance by U2 in 2009. Recent live performances have included Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Cursive, Norah Jones, The Jonas Brothers, Joan Baez, and the John Butler Trio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Victory Theater</span> Childrens theater in Manhattan, New York

The New Victory Theater is a theater at 209 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, near Times Square. Built in 1900 as the Republic Theatre, it was designed by Albert Westover and developed by Oscar Hammerstein I as a Broadway theater. The theater has been known by several names over the years, including the Belasco Theatre, Minsky's Burlesque, and the Victory Theatre. The theater is owned by the city and state governments of New York and leased to nonprofit New 42, which has operated the venue as a children's theater since 1995. The New Victory presents theater shows, dance shows, puppet shows, and other types of performance art shows from all around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atmospheric theatre</span> Type of movie theater

An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace design which was popular in the late 1920s. Atmospheric theatres were designed and decorated to evoke the feeling of a particular time and place for patrons, through the use of projectors, architectural elements and ornamentation that evoked a sense of being outdoors. This was intended to make the patron a more active participant in the setting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudson Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Hudson Theatre is a Broadway theater at 139–141 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the Hudson was built from 1902 to 1903. The exterior was designed by J. B. McElfatrick & Son, while Israels & Harder oversaw the completion of the interior. The theater has 970 seats across three levels. Both its exterior and interior are New York City designated landmarks, and the theater is on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramount Plaza</span> Office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

Paramount Plaza, also 1633 Broadway and formerly the Uris Building, is a 48-story skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Emery Roth and Sons, the building was developed by the Uris brothers and was renamed for its owner, the Paramount Group, by 1980. Paramount Plaza occupies a site bounded by Broadway to the east, 51st Street to the north, and 50th Street to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">44th Street Theatre</span> Former Broadway theater

The 44th Street Theatre was a Broadway theater at 216 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City from 1912 to 1945. It was originally named Weber and Fields' Music Hall when it opened in November 1912 as a resident venue for the comedy duo Weber and Fields, but was renamed to the 44th Street Theatre in December 1913 after their tenure at the theatre ended. It should not be confused with the Weber and Fields' Broadway Music Hall, often referred to as simply Weber and Fields' Music Hall and also known as Weber's Music Hall or Weber's Theatre, which was used by both Weber and Fields or just Weber from 1896 through 1912.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaiety Theatre (New York City)</span> Former theatre in Manhattan, New York

The Gaiety Theatre was a Broadway theatre at 1547 Broadway in Times Square, Manhattan, New York City from 1909 until 1982, when it was torn down.

Randy Weiner is an American playwright, producer and theater and nightclub owner. Weiner co-wrote the Off-Broadway musical The Donkey Show and, as one-third of EMURSIVE, produced the Drama Desk Award winning New York premiere of Punchdrunk's Sleep No More. He is co-owner of NYC "theater of varieties" The Box and The Box Soho. His latest creation The Stranger is a Time Out New York 2023 "Best of the City" award winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1501 Broadway</span> Office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

1501 Broadway, also known as the Paramount Building, is a 33-story office building on Times Square between West 43rd and 44th Streets in the Theater District neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Rapp and Rapp, it was erected from 1925 to 1927 as the headquarters of Paramount Pictures. The building is designed in the Art Deco and Beaux-Arts styles. The office wing on Times Square contains numerous setbacks as mandated by the 1916 Zoning Resolution, while the rear wing housed the Paramount Theatre from 1926 to 1967. Newmark & Company owns 1501 Broadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apollo Theatre (42nd Street)</span> Former theater in Manhattan, New York

The Apollo Theatre was a Broadway theatre whose entrance was located at 223 West 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City, while the theatre proper was on 43rd Street. It was demolished in 1996 and provided part of the site for the new Ford Center for the Performing Arts, now known as the Lyric Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympic Theatre (New York City)</span>

Olympic Theatre was the name of five former 19th and early 20th-century theatres on Broadway in Manhattan and in Brooklyn, New York.

References

  1. 1 2 3 History. Paramount Hotel. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Monahan, Patrick.The Diamond Horseshoe, the World War II-Era Nightclub Resurrected by Randy Weiner and Simon Hammerstein. Vanity Fair . January 24, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Lawrence, Vanessa. Diamond Horseshoe. W Magazine . January 17, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Grimes, William. Subterranean Acts of Sudden Intimacy. New York Times . December 26, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Culwell-Block, Logan. 9 Former Broadway Theatres Still Visible Today. Playbill . July 6, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  6. ↑ Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe(1945). TCM. Retrieved May 12, 2020,
  7. 1 2 3 "Hotel Basement Gets Theatre, Its 3d Show Business Venture". The New York Times. March 5, 1961. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 Century Paramt. Htl. v. Rock Land Corp. Civil Court of the City of New York, Trial Term, New York County. 68 Misc. 2d 603, 604-5 (N.Y. Misc. 1971). November 3, 1971. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  9. ↑ Little, Stuart W. (January 16, 1961). "Broadway Area Will Get Off-Broadway Type Plays". New York Herald Tribune. p. 12. ProQuest   1325462711.
  10. ↑ "Theatre Will Open on March 1". The New York Times. January 16, 1961. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Engineering Firm Leases Two Floors on 7th Ave". New York Herald Tribune. March 2, 1961. p. 37. ProQuest   1327545379.
  12. ↑ Little, Stuart W. (March 2, 1961). "New Broadway Theater: Below-Broadway Prices". New York Herald Tribune. p. 15. ProQuest   1327544863.
  13. ↑ Taubman, Howard (March 7, 1961). "Play by Arnold Wesker at the New Mayfair". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  14. ↑ Zolotow, Sam (August 13, 1963). "Theater Tickets Hold Price Line; Broadway Seats Will Cost Same as Last Season's Mayfair to Bow Out Holmes Role Is Cast". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Century Theatre. Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  16. ↑ Williams, Alex. Making His Life the Party. New York Times . May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Diamond Horseshoe: Stonehill & Taylor. Restaurant & Bar Design Ltd. Retrieved Mat 12, 2020.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 A 1930s basement theater becomes NYC's new high-tech Sony Hall. Metro . March 26, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  19. 1 2 About. Sony Hall. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  20. 1 2 3 Sullivan, Megan. Diamond Horseshoe Club at the Paramount. Lodging. November 6, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  21. 1 2 3 Robin, Natalie. Noble Concepts: Queen Of The Night. Live Design . Mar 24, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  22. 1 2 Santiago , Rebecca. The Diamond Horseshoe Club and Theater Reopens in New York's Paramount Hotel. Architectural Digest . December 31, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Diamond Horseshoe at The Paramount Hotel. Architizer. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.