A venue for the rest of us
TEXT OF STORY
MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: Time to open up the Marketplace Vault for a look at this week in the History of Business, a New York landmark.
[ “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Radio City Rockettes . . .” ]
STACEY VANEK-SMITH: The country certainly needed a little sparkle this week back in 1932.
It was the height of the Great Depression and the middle of winter when Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City. Thousands of people came out to see the art-deco theater.
It was built by John D. Rockefeller Jr., who partnered with RCA to create a place where ordinary people could see extraordinary entertainment.
It was also the cornerstone of the Rockefeller Complex being built in a rundown part of Midtown Manhattan.
Radio City Music Hall remains the largest indoor theater in the world.
To date, more than 300 million people have attended events there.
I’m Stacey Vanek-Smith.
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