Music Hall of Fame (Part 1)

Welcome back, everyone! It’s been quite some time since my last WordPress post and I just had a huge champagne birthday celebration (a link to my Instagram page for those that want to watch it), though I am now ready to write my next blog post:

Music, by definition of the word, is a pair of vocal or instrumental sounds (sometimes both) combined in such a way to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. Throughout each point in our lives, from early infancy to late elders, we have been exposed to all sorts of music whether it be atmospheric music in a restaurant, pop charts that play in your car radio and overhead speaker in a grocery store, and energizing tunes at a party that gets everyone on the dance floor. Listening to music, depending on which genre you prefer, is very easy; especially with platforms like iTunes, Spotify, Shazam, and Apple Music that lets people play songs at the tap of a screen, though becoming a musician or picking up an instrument is a whole other story and can take months, if not, years to perfect. In this first post of a new series, we’ll explore the physical aspect of music including instruments used by famous musicians, past concerts that I’ve happened to pass by, live theatres used for Broadway musicals & symphonies, niche record stores, and even types of instruments/dances practiced by unique cultures around the world. I will not be including photos of every single CD album or iTunes playlist that me and my family own as that is mostly personal and there would be far too much to list. Anyway, to quote Leonard Welk during the introduction of his symphonies: “A one, and a two, and ah..:”

Amusement Park Venues

Disney on Ice, originally named Walt Disney’s World of Ice, is a series of touring ice shows produced by Feld Entertainment’s Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice, Inc. under agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at children, the shows feature figure skaters portraying the roles of Disney characters in performances derived from various Disney films. The idea to produce this show came directly after Mattel’s Irvin & Kenneth Feld Productions purchased Ice Follies and Holiday on Ice in 1979. The first show began in 1981 with timeless vignettes from Snow White & the Seven Dwarves and Dumbo’s Flying Circus. Audiences were delighted and a family tradition was born. After Irvin & Kenneth Feld purchased back Feld Productions from Mattel in March 1982, they made their second show Happy Birthday Donald Duck and in 1986, it began its first international tour. Many of their productions over the years are based on popular Disney films like Beauty & the Beast and Monsters, Inc.; though the most well-known and longest running program of theirs is 100 Years of Magic, originally known as 75 Years of Disney and The Magical World of Disney on Ice. It first premiered in 1999 and has ran for many years, sans 2020 (Source). I remember seeing the show live at the CORTEL Place of Kanata in 2003 and while no longer the currently layout, its storyline consisted of scenes from The Mickey Mouse Club, Pinocchio, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Aladdin, It’s a Small World, an original sketch named “Goofy and the Zamboni” with hockey players, Mulan, and The Lion King. Many of the skaters they had in the ensemble cast for this version include Russian pair Natalia Zaitseva and Dmitri Savine, American Scott Irvine, Australian Brian Duckworth, American Anne Ramos, Japanese Isao Matsuura amnd Tomosaki Koyama , and Hungarian Dora Vikar. My Mom and sister would see this show again at the same venue in March 2013 along with a friend of theirs, though me and the rest of the family did not get to go that time. I also saw a similar Disney ice show performed by my sister’s junior skating league at the Silver Dart Arena in CFB Petawawa in March 2012. I also remember watching an official High School Musical stage show at the K-Rock Centre of Kingston in March 2008 with Mom and my sister, though I don’t think it was the 2006-07 version that had the original cast; sans Zac Effron.

Kingswood Music Theatre is an amphitheatre that’s been located in Canada’s Wonderland of Vaughan, Ontario since 1983. Owned by the Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, it is an open-air theater with a covered bandshell and exposed lawn seats for an audience that limits up to 15,000 for one single showing. On August 18th 1986, the reunion of Canadian folk duo Ian & Sylvia was filmed at Kingswood by CBC Television, with guests Gordon Lightfoot, Judy Collins, Emmylou Harris, and Murray McLachlan. For a while, this was one of the top music venues in the Greater Toronto Area until two specific arenas were built: the Molson Amphitheatre [circa 1995] and the Air Canada Centre [1999]. As a result, Kingswood was rarely used for big name concerts and the box office at the gates were removed; though the area is often used for cultural festivals like. I’ve never seen a show at KMT during the many times I’ve been to Canada’s Wonderland, though I have walked by the front entrance to the theatre. To name every artist that played here would take up a whole paragraph and you can easily find them in the Wikipedia link I’ve provided at the end, though some of the highlights include Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Classified, Burton Cummings, Gowan, Barry Manilow, John Denver, Harry Belafonte, Eric Clapton, Bette Midler, The Grateful Dead, Busta Rhymes, The Fugees, Culture Club, Barenaked Ladies, B-52’s, Iggy Pop, Roger Waters, Iron Maiden, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Young, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stevie B, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Smiths, Tina Turner, ZZ Top, Talking Heads, Sting, The Ramones, and The Beach Boys (Source). Canadian rock musician Kim Mitchell won an award for over 100,000 ticket sales for his performances at the venue. Another music venue in the park is the 1,200 seat Wonderland Theatre in the Medieval Faire section which is appropriately shaped like a castle. Some of the shows they’ve had inside there over the years include The Best of Broadway, Rock Around the Clock, Those Magnificent Movies, Endless Summer on Ice (Source), and Snoopy Rocks! On Ice. In June 2022, the band from my old Catholic high school in Kingston, Regiopolis Notre-Dame, travelled to Canada’s Wonderland for the annual Festival of Music and my sister was in it. (Source)

While often considered a rival or even knock-off of Hard Rock Cafe, the Planet Hollywood restaurants still have/had their fair share of musical items in their collection and are/were displayed in their restaurants. For instance, formerly exhibited in the original layout of their flagship Downtown Disney restaurant was this record award presented to Louis Jay Pearlman; former American record producer who formed and founded The Backstreet Boys, an American vocal group native to Orlando and was one of the most dominating boy bands throughout the 1990’s. The group consists of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson who are still performing today as an entourage. Displayed right under the record was an original slate board that was used for filming the third take of Scene 8 for the music video of their 1995 debut single “We’ve Got It Going On.” Directed by Lionel Martin and shot by Raven Knite, it was filmed in the Trans Continental Live Studio and has more than 23.9 million views on YouTube. The Backstreet Boys also have their concert residency at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Accompanied next to the slate board was a plaid shirt and denim jeans worn by Joey Fatone as Mark Cohen; along with some prop dollar bills, in the 2002 version of the Broadway musical Rent: which was based on Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 opera La Boheme and told the story of a group of impoverished East Village artists hustling throughout the AIDS epidemic. Mr. Fatone is best known for being the baritone member of another 1990’s boyband named N-SYNC, which was also founded by Lou Perlman; though was mainly formed by Chris Kirkpatrick. Other members included Lance Bass, JC Chasez, and Justin Timberlake who went on to become a huge superstar. N-SYNC was heavily affiliated with Planet Hollywood during their revival efforts in the 2000’s as the band held several “Challenge for the Children” charity basketball games around restaurants and some memorabilia from them were displayed in select locations like the contract signed by all five N-SYNC members in Orlando, an autographed shirt and jeans by Kirkpatrick in Niagara Falls, and the green costume that JC Chasez wore to the 2002 Billboard Music Awards in Times Square. Another boy band that visited Planet Hollywood Downtown Disney was Big Time Rush in 2012 for a party that was being held prior to a concert of theirs in the former Amway Arena (I originally wrote this information for the update of my Movie Props REDUX Part 1 post, though I’ve decided to move them here). Another music item that was formerly displayed in the same aforementioned restaurant was one of Sammy Davis Jr.’s socks and shoes.

Me and Dad in the gift shop of the Hollywood Studios version

Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is an enclosed, launched roller coaster that first opened in Disney’s MGM Studios on July 29th 1999. It was built as part of the Sunset Boulevard expansion that first started in 1999, built on a patch of land originally reserved for “Roger Rabbit’s Toontown;” and was one of many Disney attractions throughout the nineties that spoke to much older audiences. Designed by Vekoma, the ride uses linear motor electromagnetic technology for acceleration, which propels riders from 0 to 57 mph (92 km/h) in 2.8 seconds. Riders experience up to 5 Gs and travel through three inversions that include a sea serpent roll and a corkscrew. The exterior of the attraction is eye-catching as it features a large Fender Stratocaster guitar whose strings morph into a ride track attached to the underside of the entrance archway; with the vehicle rigged on top. The ride’s story line involves guests taking a tour to the fictional record label G-Force Records where they witness the original members of the Boston band recording “Walk This Way.” Though when they are asked to arrive to a schedule concert they’re running left behind, Steven objects to leaving the guests behind and has his manager order a 12-inch long “super stretch” limousine that goes really fast, effectively serving as the ride’s vehicle (most of the music equipment in the pre-show room was donated by Aerosmith themselves, including a black Joe Perry guitar that a cast member would pretend to hand to him; an acoustic guitar signed by all members of the influential Boston band is in the Hard Rock Vault at London). Ride commentary before the launch is provided by Bill St. James, the radio DJ for LA’s Classic Rock Station and former host of ABC Radio’s Flashback (before that, Uncle Joe Benson, another rock DJ from the City of Angels; served the role), as the limo stops in front of a highway tunnel where the voice of Tyler counts down from five; launching the limo to 57 mph into a high-speed chase around LA where riders pass by a huge donut sign, faux road signs, and the Hollywood sign. Each train features different Aerosmith songs and besides “Walk This Way,” they include “Nine Lives,” “Young Lust,” “F.I.N.E.*,” “Back in the Saddle,” “Dude (Looks Like A Lady),” “Sweet Emotion (live, as featured in A Little South of Sanity),” and “Love in an Elevator”; which also has a version redubbed as “Love in a Rollercoaster” (I own some of their songs on their 1994 compilation album Big Ones). Each car also has a unique license plate like “1QKLIMO,” “UGOBABE,” “BUHBYE,” H8TRFFC,” and “2FAST4U.” The ride ends with the limo reaching a VIP backstage area that exits through a red carpet and into a faux-concert showing archive footage of Aerosmith concerts. Upon its debut, Rock N’ Roller Coaster became an instant classic for Disney park fans and during its grand opening, a special, invitation-only party was held where Aerosmith themselves were the guests of honour. Winners were taken to the park in stretch limousines where they received complimentary meals, a performance by speed painter Denny Dent, and the chance to ride the roller coaster with one of the band members (a picture memorializing this special event is on display near the exit). [Source] Though not everyone is a big fan of the ride as on June 29th 2009 (a month from its 20th anniversary), a 12-year old boy from Fort Campbell, Kentucky was found to be unresponsive after the ride had ended and was declared dead at the Celebration Hospital, despite his father administering CPR. The ride was shut down for investigation, though it reopened the next day as inspectors determined the ride was operating normally that day while a medical examiner determined the kid died of an undiagnosed congenital heart defect. Very few changes, like new overhead queue TV monitors and additional Joe Perry dialogue in the pre-show, have been made to the attraction; though on December 17th 2015, to promote the release of The Force Awakens, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster was given a quick Star Wars overlay with film posters in the queue, the Aerosmith show disabled, and the speakers playing music from the film (the overlay would occur again on April 14th 2017). There have also been some rumours spreading that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster may be due for the chopping block with several other attractions to take its place. They include “Cars: Piston Cup Challenge,” “Monsters Inc. Door Coaster,” or even a retheme of RnRC to feature either the band Queen or Electric Mayhem from The Muppets (Source). Its also worth noting that before Aerosmith signed off on the project (mostly because they were already doing the soundtrack for the Touchstone film Armageddon), other rock bands Disney considered attaching to the attraction included The Rolling Stones and KISS, who asked for way more licensing fees than the company was willing to cough up; and U2, whose frontman, Bono, straight up told the House of Mouse “no” (Source). Other fun facts about this attraction can be found in this link that cover Hidden Mickeys, an Elvis catchphrase, and the address of Walt Disney Imagineering. Another music inspired attraction they had in Disney’s MGM Studios was The American Idol Experience, though it was open from 2009 to 2014; which I did not get to see and only my Mom & sister got to see when they went to Disney World for a 2009 October vacation.

When the bare-bones Walt Disney Studios Park opened as part of the EuroDisney Resort on March 16th 2002, a clone of Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster was one of its opening day attractions and was still themed after the Aerosmith with many of the same on-ride songs that played on the Florida trains. However, the name for the fictional music label of this version was now Tour de Force Records and unlike the original Florida version, this one had a corporate sponsor; most appropriately, guitar manufacturer Gibson. Its queue also has at least a few genuine artifacts in the queue line that belong to famous musicians like a Pink Floyd poster, a John Lennon & Yoko Ono record, guitars signed by Bono, Supertramp, The Cure and Deff Leppard; and drumheads autographed by AC/DC, Pearl Jam and Radiohead. The France duplicate had a new storyline where Aerosmith worked with engineers on creating a revolutionary experience for a future music video of theirs; involving the ride vehicle. While still resembling a superstretch limo, the Paris trains were prototype vehicles known as “Soundtrackers” and looked a lot more mechanical in appearance. Instead of passing by the LA freeway, the Walt Disney Studios version had an overfull of lighting rigs, projectors, strobes, and smoke effects that emulate a music video. Each train had five different lightshows accumulated to a single colour (green, purple, multicolour, red, blue) and the one song that was exclusive to this version was “Nine Lives.” While not as good as the original, Paris’ Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster was unique in that it held the world record, by default, for the “fastest roller coaster in France;” due to lack of competition in the country. During the 2018 D23 Expo in Japan, it was announced that the surrounding Backlot area of Walt Disney Studios Park would be paved over to start construction on the Marvel-themed land “Avengers Campus” and as a result, their version of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster was closed. It was originally thought to be refitted with a name and theme named Iron Man Jukebox; though the final name ended up being called Avengers Assemble: Flight Force. There has also been a rumour that Disney’s California Adventure would’ve featured another version of the Rock ‘n’ Roller, though would’ve been themed after No Doubt, a rock band local to Anaheim and was best known for launching the career of Gwen Stefani (Source).

Putting the "Eh" in Festivals — They sure know how to put the “Eh” in festivals, eh?

At the opening of the EPCOT Center in 1982, the original musical talent for the Canada Pavilion in World Showcase was a trio called the “Caledonian Pipe Band“, consisting of two pipers and one drummer. The performers were Robert (Bob) Proctor (lead, drummer), Kenneth Mauchin (piper) and Robert Mauchin (piper). They were recruited by Ron Rodriguez (talent co-ordinator for Walt Disney World) from the Rosie O’Grady’s Pipe Band of Orlando. Because all three had ties to Scotland, they also performed in the British pavilion at various times. On July 1st 1997, Florida-based rock band Off Kilter made their debut in Epcot’s Canada pavilion where they played both traditional Celtic tunes and songs produced by well-known Canadian artists. The band consisted of Jamie Holton who is from Ormond Beach, Florida on bagpipes, penny whistle and vocals; Mark Weldon from Cork, Ireland on bass and vocals; Randy Holbrook from Richmond, Kentucky on guitar and vocals; and Scott Zymowski from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on drums and vocals. These guys enjoyed a 17-year long run at the park and when we went to Epcot for the 3rd time in summer of 2008, which happened to be on Canada Day (July 1st), these guys were up on stage where they played Bryan Adams’ “Summer of 1969.” On August 28th 2014, it was announced that Off Kilter would be permanently leaving the park with their last performance taking place on September 27th. They would be replaced by the Canadian Lumberjacks that fall, though their tenure barely lasted one year as they also departed for good after November 30th 2015. Debuting the next day would be the Canadian Holiday Voyagers while the folk/pop/country inspired Alberta Bound has been the pavilion’s prime live venue act since May 1st 2016. As for Off Kilter, the band disbanded forever on December 11st 2021, though keyboarder Tony Escapa had left beforehand.

Music Capital of the World

A lot of cities, a majority of them hailing for America, have often fought tooth and nail to claim the rightful status of “Music Capital of the World” as Nashville is where several live musicians got their start, Vienna, Austria is the starting point of classical music in Europe, New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz, and Austin, Texas has more music venues per person than anywhere else in the States. New York City is also a very good contender as alongside its own music scene and several famous artists hailing from that area, it has been mentioned in several songs like “Empire State of Mind” by Alicia Keys and is the theatre capital of North America (in worldwide terms, it is beaten out by London). This section will cover both the Broadway theatres, music halls, and even artifacts of foreign music that I’ve seen throughout my travels to the Big Apple; though mainly when we first started in 2007.

During the construction of Rockefeller Center from 1932 to 1940, on a patch if land leased from Columbia University, the complex’s site was originally supposed to be occupied by a new opera house for the Metropolitan Opera. By 1928, Benjamin Wistar Morris and designer Joseph Urban were hired to come up with blueprints for the house, though the new building was too extensive for the opera to fund by itself, and it needed an endowment. The planned opera house was cancelled in December 1929 due to various issues, but Rockefeller made a deal with RCA to develop RC as a mass media complex with four theaters (later downsized to two). In 1930, theater operator Samuel Roxy Rothafel joined the center’s advisory board in 1930 where he offered to build two theaters: a large vaudeville “International Music Hall” on the northernmost block with more than 6,200 seats, and the smaller 3,500-seat “RKO Roxy” movie theater on the southernmost block. The idea was inspired by Roxy’s failed expansion of the Roxy Theatre on 50th Street. After NBC managers failed to find architectural details in Europe to help their theater, Roxy turned to his friend Peter Clark who came up with some ideas: a tiered balcony system, 6,201 seats that include the orchestra pit and elevator stools, and no large balcony over the box seating. Regardless, the Music Hall’s general design was determined by the Associated Architects, the architectural consortium that was designing the rest of Rockefeller Center. The International Music Hall later became the Radio City Music Hall, derived from one of the complex’s first tenants, the Radio Corporation of America, which planned a mass media complex called Radio City on the west side of Rockefeller Center. Construction started in December 1931 with the half topped out by August 1932 and several records set during its construction, including the use of 15,000 miles (24,000 km) of copper wire and 200 miles (320 km) of brass pipe.

Radio City Music Hall eventually opened to the public on December 27th 1932 with a lavish stage show featuring numbers by Doc Rockwell, Martha Graham, and Ray Bolger (Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz). Its opening did not go along smoothly and despite its intention of being high-class variety entertainment, the program spanned for a very long time (8 PM to 2 AM), several of the acts were canned together and several audience members, including John Rockefeller Jr., either waited in the lobby or left early. The one bit of praise RCMH received during its disastrous first impression was for the neon Art Deco exterior by Donald Deskey that still exists today. Throughout the 1960’s, Music Hall was successful regardless of how NYC’s economic, business, and entertainment sectors were doing as a whole and by 1964, it was projected to have 5.7 million annual visitors, who paid ticket prices of between 99 cents and $2.75 (equivalent to between $6 and $18 in 2019). Although Radio City Music Hall was initially intended to host stage shows, it hosted performances in a film-and-stage-spectacle format through the 1970s, and was the site of several movie premieres like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the original King Kong, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and even the Game of Thrones TV series. On top of that, it was even used for filming locations of films like New Year’s Eve, the “Let’s Go to the Movies” number of Annie, The Godfather where Michael finds out about the attempted assassination on his father, and is where the Emmy Awards are usually held. However, the Music Hall’s operating costs were almost twice as high as those of smaller performance venues. In addition, with the loosening of regulations on explicit content, the Music Hall’s audience was mostly relegated to families and popular films of the day (Blazing Saddles, Chinatown, The Godfather Part II). The proliferation of subtitled foreign movies and changes in film distribution rights only hurt the Music Hall’s attendance even more and in 1977, amidst their period of debt, annual attendance reached an all-time low of 1.5 million. In January 1978, Alton Marshall, president of Rockefeller Center, announced that RCMH would close on April 12. Plans for alternate uses for the structure included converting the theater into tennis courts, a shopping mall, an aquarium, a hotel, a theme park, or the American Stock Exchange. Rosemary Novellino ended up forming the Showpeople’s Committee to Save Radio City Music Hall which was supported by politicians, the media, and performers. Plans for a 20-story mixed-use tower above Radio City were announced in April 1978, with rents from the proposed tower providing the necessary funds to keep the hall open; though the building was never constructed and Rockefeller opted to restore Radio City to its original condition; the renovation was finished in January 1980. In January 1987. A new golden curtain was installed in the main stage and was the third one to be installed since 1932; it had last been replaced in 1965 and was carefully matched to the same style as the previous curtains. In 1997, Radio City Music Hall was leased to the Madison Square Garden Company (then known as Cablevision) who would provide them with funds, though RCMH was once again closed down for a comprehensive renovation on February 16th 1999, and would later reopened with a gala concert on October 5th. In March 2020, Radio City announced a decision to remain an open on March 12th-13th, which was controversial in light of the “ban of 500 gatherings” as a precaution against the rising Coronavirus, whereas most other venues and public events immediately closed down as ordered by mayor Bill de Blasio. Regardless, Radio City caved in and closed down City Hall on March 13th 2020. After a whole year of sitting empty, Andrew Cuomo, months before he resigned, announced in April 2021 that Radio City could open with limited capacity, but only to those that had already been vaccinated with masks being mandatory (Source).

It would take practically an entire blog post to properly document each and every musician or theatrical act that has played in Radio City Music Hall and you an browse them right here, though for writer’s sake; we’ll be focusing on some of the more noteworthy ones. For instance, the first musician to hold a concert here was David Bowie on February 14th 1973 during his Ziggy Stardust years and Pink Floyd played “The Dark Side of the Moon” there on March 17th the same year. In October 1980, The Grateful Dead played eight shows here in Halloween and were released as the video Grateful Dead: Dead Ahead. On Halloween night the next year, Devo performed here during the New Traditionalists tour to promote their fourth studio album of the same name. In the 1980s, Liberace grossed $2.5 million from fourteen performances with a combined audience of 82,000, setting a box-office record for Radio City Music Hall at the time. Everone else that has performed here include A-ha, best known for their one-hit-wonder “Take On Me;” Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett for their 2015 Cheek to Cheek tour, a one-night only Adele concert that aired on NBC in December 2015, Britney Spears during her Piece of Me tour in 2018, Christina Aguilera’s 2018 Liberation Tour, Mariah Carey’s sold-out 2019 Caution World tour, The Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, Stevie Wonder, The Allman Brothers Band, Tina Turner and Cyndi Lauper, Meat Loaf, Janet and Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Metallica, Bastille, Prince, Duran Duran, New Kids on the Block, Ringo Starr, Diana Ross, BB King, Ray Charles, and many, many more. Some of the musical acts that were cancelled as a result of COVID were Alicia Keys, Rus, Third Eye Blind, and Tenacious D. Some advertisements for concerts in Radio City that I remember seeing during my visits in 2011, 2016 and 2018 were Texas post-rock band Explosions in the Sky, all-female Irish ensemble Celtic Woman, indie rock band Cold War Kids, a live show based off the Dreamworks film Madagascar, multigenre band Lake Street Dive, progressive metal band Dream Theater, Swedish rock band Opeth, Ray Lamontange “Just Passing Through,” Italian singer Laura Pausini, Ringo Starr & His All Star Band, and Colombian song-writer Carlos Vives.

Besides hosting international concerts, Radio City Music Hall has plenty of original music of their own as inside the auditorium, the largest indoor version of its time, has two Wurlitzer organs with one of them being the largest built by the company. Consisting of 58 ranks of pipes and 4,178 pipes, played from twin 4-manual consoles located to the left and right of the stage, which permits two organists to play the instrument simultaneously. The smaller one on the broadcast has been unplayable for some time, though both were used extensively by Ashley Miller, Dick Leibert, Raymond Bohr and Eddie Layton, and Leibert presented a daily program of organ music broadcast from the Hall on the NBC Radio Network in the 1930s and 1940s. The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is an annual Christmas stage musical produced by MSG Entertainment, current operator of Music Hall, and has been a festive tradition since 1933. Some of the many live shows that have been hosted here include Riverdance where it made its box-office smashing North American debut in March 1996, Cirque du Soleil’s Zarkana from 2011 to 2012, Come Together: A Night for John Lennon’s Words and Music in the wake of 9/11, Barney Live! by Lyons Group in 1993, and the infamous 1990 Pizza Hut-endorsed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coming Out of Their Shells tour that was lambasted by both the Nostalgia Critic and Angry Video Game Nerd. Though as we all know, the most famous act to come from Radio City are the Rockettes. Founded in 1925 in St. Louis, they are a precision dance company primarily made up of woman and were inspired by the UK’s Tiller Girls. The heart and image of Music Hall, they appear in its Christmas Spectualar, several films made by RCMH Productions (Legs, Brighton Beach Memoirs) and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; along with conducting the Rockette Summer Intensive for dancers that aspire to become one of them. When Russell Market saw a troupe of Tiller Girls sent to perform in the US in 1922, he was inspired to create an American version that was originally called Roxettes after the impresario Roxy. The Rockettes have landed under some controversy every so often with their “discriminatory lack of representation,” though there has been diversity every now and then including Japanese-born Setsuko Maruhasi, who became the first non-white Rockette in 1985; Jennifer Jones, who became the first African-American Rockette in 1987; and Sydney Mesher, the first Rockette with a visible disability; specifically a left hand missing due to symbrachydactly, who was hired in 2019. The Rockettes came under fire when MSG agreed to have them perform at the inauguration of Donald Trump and while some Rockettes like Phoebe Pearl and Autumn Withers objected to going, others went to social media where they posted vitriolic boycotts of both the troupe and Radio City itself (I’ve never seen a live Rockette show, though I’ve seen a brick-built representation of them at the nearby Rockefeller LEGO Store) [Source].

While I have been writing a lot on this particular section and some of you (assuming you are reading this all the way through) want to move onto the next part, its important to note that Radio City has also dipped its toes into venues for sports events with the first occasion being a boxing card headlined by Roy Jones Junior and David Telesco on January 15th 2000. On August 5th 2004, due to Madison Square Garden being used for that year’s Republican National Convention, the WNBA’s New York Liberty played six home games at the Music Hall with the entire court moved over to the theatre, facing off the Detroit Shock with 5,945 fans in attendance and the Rockettes performing halftime. On April 13th 2013, Nonito Donaire faced Guillermo Rigondeaux in another boxing card held here. From 2006 to 2014, Radio City was the site of the National Football League (NFL) Draft that was normally held in other locations across New York City, but later hosted the draft in other cities nationwide since 2015.

While the American Museum of Natural History is prominently known for their collection of taxidermied specimens and ancient fossils, it is also a great place to see artifacts from foreign cultures like Central America, the Oriental Asias, the Plains Indians, and Africa; though many people have often complained that institutions like these have stolen from their culture and that they should be returned to their rightful owners, and some have also been called out as “duplicates” that the curators try to disingenuously pass off as real; along with pointing out how outdated the galleries are and are rarely upkept compared to other galleries in the Natural History Museum. Regardless, the AMNH’s Hall of African Peoples is a great place to see a slice of the kind of dances and music that tribes in the vast countries of that continent celebrate. A majority of them are worn by masquerade dancers that enact legends and stories which recount history and express social values through music, dance, and drama. They often represent spirits who possess the dancers, giving them special knowledge.

On the very left of the first picture is a costume worn by a Bira tribesman in Zaire during the nkumbi ceremony that usually takes place in a forest and involves circumcision. Made for the priest, the costume represents tribal spirits (a leopard and mythical bird) and is worn for the purpose of frightening the boys and scaring off any curious non-initiates. Initiates learn, above all, the scared Way of the Fathers, and are placed directly under the power of the ancestors who enforce the law by threat of sickness or death. The skin mask has a genet-skin adornment with raffia armbands that represent the mythical bird, ankle rattle to drive off evil spirits, painted with spots like the mythical leopard, and carries the bass stick of a set of seven of eight manta; a portable xylophone only used for initiations. Coiled whips are used to “strengthen” the boys. The banana is used to set the catechism in motion which forces the boys to sing as it moves. The basket contains their severed foreskin, the blood-soaked leaves used to wrap the wound, and is hidden to rot in the forest once the initiation is over (Source).

On the left of the second photo is a Gelude Society costume worn by a Yoruba dancer, one that directly relates to the connection of women and motherhood in society. Their masks are worn with a costume made of several colourful cloth layers and a variety of headdresses used for initiations. The most common one is the Ori Enyan, also known as “human head,” which is split into three categories: those with hairdos, those with head wraps/hats, and those carrying small creatures or objects. Most headdresses have facial adornments, ranging from lineage marks to decorative tattoos; either incised or painted. The daytime performances of the Gelede festival are much more elaborate and colourful compared to the nighttime performances, with the exception of the Efe costume. Although the Gelede ceremony may be staged at any time of the year (to better the lot of an individual, to cleanse the society of pestilence, to induce rain, to enrich human fertility, to enlist the support of supernatural forces and the “powerful mothers” in wartime, and to honor the dead), the most elaborate performance occurs during the annual festival. Sponsorship plays a big role in the size and elaborateness of these performances. The larger the performance the more likely to be sponsored by the community instead of an individual or family, which tends to be smaller (Source). In the middle of the photo is a cowrie shell and bead-decorated Egungun costume that is also worn by a Yoruba dancer. The layers of cloth lappets that make up the costume are made from expensive and prestigious textiles, expressing the wealth and status of a family; along with the power of their ancestor. The layer worn closest to the masker’s skin, the undersack, must be made of Aso-Oke, the indigo and white strip-cloth (Source).

On the left of the last photo is the “Fun Mask,” commonly referred to as Kok-Pah, which is worn by the Poro male secret society in the Val and Gola tribes in Liberia (Source). The costume in the middle left with the black cotton and mask is worn by the Mende women of Sierra Leone and Liberia; pertaining to a tribe of two million rice farmers. The woman wearing the costume must dance for two hours to complete certain initiation stages, though it can also be used to bring justice to offenders of Sande law and perform in respect of an important leader’s funeral. Carved in secret by commissioned male carvers using palm oil and leaves, the mask not only represents an ideal form of feminine beauty (elaborate hairstyle, full forehead and small facial features), but also represents the deceased founder of Sande society and harkens back to a time when women could hold the position of chief of a village cluster [Source]. The set in this photo is worn by Zoe-Ba, chief instructress of the Sande’s female secret society training school (Source). The costume in the middle right is one worn by a male from the Poro secret society in the Gola forest of Sierra Leone. Made from raffia palm straw, this costume is worn by a “devil dancer:” a common feature at ceremonies of weddings, funerals, and the Islamic Feast of Ramadan. Even though it is not featured with the example shown in this image, the costume comes with a “Devil’s mask” that has been used by the Mendes for thousands of years. In full costume, the dancer has very poor vision and requires everal aids to direct his movements. The poro devil addresses the meeting through a long tube of wood and the dancers have the ability to inflict punishment on individuals that wrong society. The devils used to dance strictly for traditional festivals, though with the arrival of the freed and freeborn American settlers in the 1800s, they brought their dance to imported Christian holiday celebrations such as Christmas. Though despite being willing to adapt, the Christian Americans became the ruling class and pushed these unorthodox traditional customs to the underground.

Other examples of instruments from foreign cultures that can be found in the several Peoples Halls of AMNH include horn rattles and drums used by the Plains Indians, an Asian dancing devil mask, and a long vuvuzela used by Amazonian tribes, and a pre-Columbian jaguar-shaped drum, wind instruments used by tribes in New Guinea and the Philippines, a flute made from a bull’s horn, and Pacific Island drums.

Symphony of the Times

As I’ve already mentioned, Times Square is the Broadway capital of United States and is where a majority of the theatrical shows in New York City are located. Up until the late 2010’s, this building on 701 7th Avenue became a cluster of several billboards to promote Broadway musicals like Jersey Boys, which ran from 2005 to 2017; Wicked at the Gershwin Theater, and La Cage aux Folles at the Longacre Theatre, which inspired the movie The Birdcage. I could go on a long tangent about the tenants that used this building and you can read the Flickr link if you want, but to sum it up, this area was once the Columbia Theatre; which opened on January 19th 1910 and was owned by the Columbia Amusement Company. Designed by William McElfatrick, Columbia was a Beaux Arts styled “Home of Burlesque De Luxe” that held 1,385 seats, had ceiling art adorned with Arthur Thomas’ The Goddesses of the Arts murals, and Will Rogers would perform his rope tricks at the theatre. Jack Haley and Bert Lahr, future Wizard of Oz stars, would also perform some burlesque acts here with Florence Mills and the coloured Tennessee Ten. An African-American troupe opened at the Columbia in July 1925, including a jazz band featuring the clarinetist Sidney Bechet. Some of the shows that were performed there include Alexander’s Ragtime Band and College Girl starring Fanny Brice. To keep up with the competition, the Columbia Theatre switched its “clean” burlesque to more risqué content by 1925, and decked out the theater’s square-facing corner was with a marquee that ran the building’s full height. However, the changers were not enough to save the theater as it closed down in 1927. A year later, Walter Read bought the building and hired architect Thomas W. Lamb to overhaul the theater into an Art Deco movie palace known as the Loew’s Mayfair Theatre, which was operated by RKO and was only allowed to premiere their films like Birds of Paradise. In the 1950’s, it was taken over by Brandt who replaced the iconic marquee with a single, curved billboard that rose to the eight floor where they promoted films like The Day the Earth Stood Still. The upstairs corner had Whelan Drugs and Parisian Danceland, a dime-dance joint that was featured in the Stanley Kubrick film Killer’s Kiss. In 1960, the venue was transformed into the DeMille Theatre and saw the premieres of Paramount films like Psycho and Spartacus.

During Times Square’s notoriously gritty period in the 1970’s, the grand movie place had lost its luster and in 1976, DeMille was split into three separate, narrow spaces and re-branded as the Mark I,II,III triplex. Guild Enterprises took over in the following year and renamed it Embassy 2,3,4. By that time, the corner billboard was expanded again and switched to displaying third party advertisements. Its minimalist Panasonic banner was a Times Square icon starting in the 1980s. Two more large spectaculars were added on the flanks. In 1997, the theater was renamed as Embassy 1,2,3, but the projectors were turned off for good at the turn of the millennium. The corner spectacular was rented out to tenants that included Sbarro Pizzeria on the corner, Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que, and a variety of souvenir shops such as the Phantom of Broadway. Some of Mayfair’s Art Deco motifs still lingered on in the building’s railings, wall ornaments and lavish ceilings. Over its century of existence, the Beaux Arts façade was altered almost beyond the point of recognition, while the once-grand theater inside became a mutilated shell. In late 2012, Maefield Development, Infinity Urban Century, The Witkoff Group, and Vector Group LTD’s New Valley unit purchased the building for $430 million. In its place, the 452-room Marriott Edition hotel, designed by PBDW Architects, would stack 39 stories about 500 feet high and feature 76,000 square feet of retail at the base. An 18,000-LED spectacular will cover virtually the entire base, wrapping around the square-facing corner in a gentle curve much like its predecessor. The base roughly follows the massing of the old theater, with a green terrace set in front of the set-back tower. Two more grand balconies will face the square above the terrace. Famous Dave’s closed in May 2013, around the same time as the rest of the tenants left the building, as demolition began to reveal ads of yesteryear layered underneath. Most of the building was dismantled over the course of 2014 and 2015. By the time Mayor Bill de Blasio wielded the ceremonial shovel at the October 2015 groundbreaking, he stood within a 100-foot-deep pit. Even as the new tower is prepped for vertical ascent, the old theater refuses to fully leave its Times Square home. The L-shaped frame of the office floors will be incorporated into the new tower, possibly as a concession to Midtown’s quirky zoning where larger footage is permitted if a portion of the old building is retained.

Pictured in this part of Times Square is Duffy Square, the northern triangle of the intersection and is a common resting place for tired tourists; complimented by the 50″ statue of Chaplain Francis P. Duffy of New York’s “Fighting 69th” Infantry Regiment, sculpted by Charles Keck in 1937. A few feet away from it is another statue devoted to playwright George M. Cohan, sculpted by Georg John Lober and designed by architect Otto Langman, as part of a $100,000 commission in 1959 by lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II (Source). Also in the area was an eight-ton plaster named Purity (Defeat of Slander) by Leo Lentelli that used to be there around 1909. Right behind the bleachers is the TKTS ticket booths: the number one place in NYC to buy tickets for Broadway shows, music, and dance events. Some of the ones one could see at the time this picture was taken in 2011 include Billy Elliot at the Imperial Theater, an adaptation of the 2000 film with music by Elton John; and Avenue Q at the John Golden Theatre, an adult version of Sesame Street that tackles topics like racism and gay marriage head-on with showtunes by the future songwriters of Frozen. Back to TKTS, the booth is wedge-shaped with wide bleacher-like stairs that cover the roof and besides seating arrangements, allow pedestrians to sit down or climb the steps for an unobstructed panoramic view of the city. According to the Theater Development Fund, its total cost was $19 million.

The Palace Theatre is a Broadway 1,740 seat theatre located at 1564 Broadway that was designed by Milwaukee architects Kirchoff & Rose and funded by vaudeville entrepreneur Martin Beck; in an attempt to compete with Keith-Albee’s east-coast monopoly. First opening on March 24th 1913 with headliner Ed Wynn, it was a flop at first, though it soon became to premiere venue for Keith-Albee and hosted vaudeville performances from celebrities like Ethel Barrymore, Guido Deiro, Lou Clayton and Cliff Edwards, Mae West, Ethel Waters, The Marx Brothers, Fred Astaire, Sophie Tucker, Benny Fields, Rudolph Valentino, Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Bob Hope, and more. Upon the Great Depression and the rise of film & radio, vaudeville saw a steep decline and in 1929, the Palace was placed in the ownership of RCA and the Film Booking Office. During that year, the two-a-day shows at the Palace increased to three and by 1932, the number went up to four. In November that year, the Palace was rebranded as the RKO Palace where they briefly returned to the live format in 1936 (“Broadway Heat Wave,” female maestro Rita Rio, Jerry Lewis, Harry Belafonte, Danny Kaye, Betty Hutton, Lauritz Melchior, Judy Garland) until 1957; following the popularity of TV. It was also used as a premiere venue for films like Man of a Thousand Faces starring James Cagney, The Diary of Anne Frank, and the most famous one being Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. In 1965, the Nederlander Organization purchased the Palace and reopened on January 29th the following year as a playhouse with the original production of the musical Sweet Charity, though would also use it to show films and concert performances (ie. Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross, Shirley MacLaine, Bette Midler and Vikki Carr). A towering hotel was built above the theater in the late 1980’s and for the rest of its life, the exterior was littered with billboards advertising Broadway shows with only the marquee really standing out. Palace Theatre was the original home to long-running musicals like La Cage aux Folles and Beauty & the Beast, the latter of which would transfer to another theater, the four Tony Award winner Aida, and revivals of West Side Story and Annie. Other shows that played here include Legally Blonde, An American in Paris, a limited engagement of The Illusionists: Turn of the Century, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as you can see in this photo; and a five month limited engagement of Sunset Boulevard starring Glenn Close. The last show to play there, as of writing, was a musical based off SpongeBob SquarePants which ran until September 16th 2018 as after that day, the Palace Theatre was closed to begin construction on the TSX Broadway Hotel, whose finishing date is still unknown, and will see the theatre’s height raised up to 30 feet; along with the inclusion of Times Square’s first outdoor stage to date (Source). Demolished during construction was the neighboring DoubleTree Guest Suites Hotel that was opened by Hilton around the 1980’s-1990’s and was covered in their fair share of billboards. The theatre was allegedly haunted by the spirit of acrobat Louis Bossalina, who was said to have fell to his death in the 1950’s and that according to stagehands, whenever the theater is empty, a blood-curling scream can be heard from the acrobat re-enacting his nose dive. In reality, Bossalina, a member of the Four Casting Pearls, was never fatally wounded and just suffered some painful injuries on August 28th 1935 (his real death was in 1963). He was also not a trapeze artist, but rather fixed towers in which the acrobats performed from. Comedian Pat Henning started his act in front of a curtain that was pulled right after the accident. One person that did perish here was Valeida Snow, the “Queen of the Trumpet,” in backstage after her last performance in 1956, due to her health being compromised by her lifetime in a Nazi concentration camp. Before the Palace was built, this area was home to a brownstone building that housed the Barrymore kids – Lionel, Ethel and John – in 1889. As of August 2022, the auditorium was lifted by 30 feet and construction is expected to be complete by 2023.

Next to the Palace Theatre when I took this photo was the Times Square Visitor Center and a McDonald’s restaurant. The former is a museum that opened in 1998 and takes a look at all the generally overlooked aspects of Times Square with artifacts like hats from Broadway shows, the New Year’s Eve “Wishing Wall,” the infamous “Peep-O-Rama” sign, and sex booths. Before that, it used to be the French-salon styled Embassy Theater which housed 556 seats with one movie screen. Operated by Loew’s since 1925, it was known for being the only theater in the country managed by a woman (Gloria Gould, granddaughter of railroad baron Jay Gould) and would adopt an all-newsreel format; the first of its kind. It closed in 1997 after its decline of only showing foreign films and TV overshadowing it, though was designated as an interior landmark in 1987. The latter is a restaurant that opened sometime around the 1980’s and next to it, when I took the photo, was a T.G.I.F. restaurant that was once the site of the 5,920 seat moviehouse Roxy Theatre, which opened on March 11th 1927 as the idea of producer Herbert Lupin with its premiere screening the Gloria Swanson silent film The Love of Sunya. Noted for its lavish stage shows and Broadway showcase, the theater’s male ushers were not only dressed in well-dressed military uniforms, but even performed politely and efficiently; along with going through training, inspections and drills by a retired Marine officer. They were referenced in the song “You’re the Top” for Cole Porter’s Broadway classic Anything Goes. It was rebuilt twice in 1948 and 1952 to add an ice surface for skating shoes where in January 1956, Sonja Henie brought her revue to the Roxy in her final NY appearance. After its final film premiere, The Wind Cannot Read, Roxy went the way of the wind on March 29th 1960. “Thank God Its Friday” was also part of the I. Miller Building that was finished in 1929 and features sculptures of leading ladies by A. Stirling Calder: notably Marilyn Miller as Sunny, Rosa Ponselle as Norma, Mary Pickford as Little Lord Fauntleroy and Ethel Barrymore as Ophelia; bearing the motto, “The Show Folks Shoe Shop Dedi- cated to Beauty in Foot-wear.” After years of being ignored and left in disrepair, the historic building was given a restoration process that was finished in 2014 and saw the opening of an Express clothing store that took the place of the now defunct T.G.I.F. restaurant.

Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by English business magnate Richard Branson and owned by the multinational venture capital conglomerate of the same name. It wasn’t the company’s first venture in the retail industry as both Branson and Nik Powell ran a small record shop called Virgin Records and Tapes on Notting Hill Gate, London, specializing particularly in “krautrock” imports, and offering bean bags and free vegetarian food for the benefit of customers listening to the music on offer. Using the shop’s success, they were able to turn into their business into a fully fledged record label named Virgin Records (the name arose from a colleague of Branson’s when they were brainstorming business ideas; she suggested it because they were new to the business); which is entirely separate from the Virgin Megastore chain. The first release on the label was the progressive rock album Tubular Bells by multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield in 1973; its title track is best known for being used in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and the opening theme of the 1973 horror film The Exorcist. The first formal Virgin store opened on London’s Oxford Street between January-February 1971 and their first Megastore opened at the end of Oxford and Marble Arch in 1979. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Virgin Megastores opened over 100 stores in the UK, and many others around the world, including expansion into Asia Pacific and North America, under the leadership of Ian Duffell – President & CEO of Virgin Entertainment Group until 1998. They all sold a wide selection of CDs, games, books, DVDs, vinyl records, magazines, portable media players, accessories and additional products. The larger stores came with stock electronic equipment and computer peripherals; and in 2003, all US stores increased their focus on fashion categories that spanned pop culture, street, urban, and video games.

The first Virgin Megastore in the United States opened in the Sunset Strip of Los Angeles in 1992, after firming a joint venture with Blockbuster and unlike most Virgin stores across the world, the US counterparts had a DJ-operated hard-line systems as opposed to broadcast radio and had a FSA private network linked to all North American stores; along with a Customer Loyalty Program. The Times Square store, as to be expected, was their flagship location and opened on April 22nd 1996; built in the Bertelsmann Building, owned by a German media conglomerate that owns Random House and RCA Records. Both Branson, Tina Arena, Billy Stritch, Robin Leach, and Liza Minnelli attended the opening ceremony (Source). In this location, DJ selections were heard on the retail floor, in the office areas, processing areas, and even out on the shop’s Broadway sidewalk frontage. Just north of the Megastore, from 2000 to 2002, was the club/video arcade Bar Code. I never went inside the store, but Virgin Records was still open during our first visit to New York City in July/August 2007 when we went to Times Square (there was also a Virgin Megastore in Downtown Disney Orlando that I passed by before it closed down on May 12th 2009). Two years later, on January 14th 2009, it was announced that Virgin Megastore would close forever. They leased the ground floor of the store to Nordstrom Rack for the holiday season, though the deal fell through and the space was eventually taken up by the flagship Forever 21 store (Source); for a while, the Virgin sign could still be seen hanging from the building when F21 was being constructed. The reason for Virgin’s closure had something to do with long-term leases and rent deals no working out and led to the closure of not just all Virgin Megastores in the US, but also in Europe and Asia. Today, the only remaining operations are exclusive to the Middle East and North Africa; consisting of approximately 40 stores (Source). Another Virgin store was located in Union Square, which closed down in May 2009, and the third one in Terminal 3 of the JFK Airport would be the last remaining Virgin Books & Music outlet in America to close down in the middle of 2013. The first and only Virgin Megastore to be built in Canada was in Vancouver; lasting from December 1996 to September 5th 2005, due to the dominance of HMV Canada. Toronto came very close to getting the second store at Metropolis (now known as 10 Dundas East, though was the second renaming after Toronto Life Square), just south of what was once Sam the Record Man and the HMV flagship. However, the exit from Canada resulted in the cancellation of these plans. Today, an Adidas Performance store stands in the site originally mapped out for Canada’s second Virgin Megastore. As for the Forever 21 store in Times Square, it is one of the few remaining stores left in the US and worldwide after they declared bankruptcy in 2019.; though its future still hangs in the balance.

Long before either Virgin or Forever 21, this site in Times Square was the Loew’s State Theatre; which opened on August 29th 1921 as part of a sixteen-story office building for the Loew’s company, designed by Thomas Lamb in the Adams style. Broadway’s first $1 million theatre, it was initially managed by Joseph Vogel who became the president of both Loew’s and MGM, and was the last theatre in the area to continue vaudeville acts even during the 1930’s. Its final show on December 23rd 1947, in a way, served as a sentimental goodbye to the end of an era and in March 1959, Loew’s completed an $850,000 remodeling that reduced the number of seats from 3,316 to 1,885, but made them wider and increased the space between rows. The proscenium arch also was eliminated and a wide-screen projector was installed to permit the showing of CinemaScope and VistaVision (but not Cinerama) motion pictures. The interior was redecorated using a beige-on-gold palette. Loew’s State would go on to have several premieres of timeless films like The Three Musketeers (1948), Annie Get Your Gun, Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe in attendance, Ben-Hur (1959), Becket, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and The Godfather Part I. In 1968, Loew’s was split into two separate theaters with the former balcony re-opening on December 18th 1968 as the State I, and the orchestra reopening on the following day as the State II. The theater closed forever on February 19th 1987 and in 1990, the site eventually became home to the Bertelsmann Building (also known as 1540 Broadway) we know of today [Source].

The Paramount Theatre is a historic venue in Times Square that was once served as a 3,664-seat movie palace, opening on November 19th 1926 with the gala showing of God Gave Me 20 Cents, produced by John Murray Anderson with Mayor Walker and Thomas Edison as guests. Every time, 15 minutes, before the movie began, “Give My Regards to the Broadway” would play on chimes. It housed one of the largest and most admired theater organs built by the Wurlitzer company, designed for famed organist Jesse Crawford with 36 ranks of metal & wooden pipes, and was used for solos and to accompany silent films. When Crawford retired in 1933, it was used other noted organists like George Wright and Richard Leibert, who played Sing a Song with Leibert and was recorded for a 1959 single. The domed murals in the Grand Hall and Elizabethan Room were painted by Chicago artist Louis Grell. Over the years, Paramount began hosting live music along with its feature films as the swing era got underway with Glen Gray’s being the first orchestra to play there in Christmas 1935. Other acts that followed include Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Guy Lombardo, Tommy Dorsey, the Andrews Sisters, Harry James, and more (Barry Manilow payed tribute to Paramount’s use of big bands in his 1994 song “Singin’ with the Big Bands”). Live performances were also held in there by Leo Fuld, Billy Eckstine, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Jerry Lewis. With the theater spin off in 1950, Paramount Pictures rented the theater to United Paramount Theater and along with the similarly named theater in Brooklyn, Paramount played host to several live rock ‘n’ roll shows presented by Alan Freed and was also the world premiere of Elvis Presley’s first movie, Love Me Tender, which was a huge deal to say the least. There was also a performance by Buddy Holly & The Crickets were they sang “Peggy Sue” after it became a hit. Its last ownership under UPT was The Carpetbaggers and on August 4th 1965, only to be reopened later that year on September 4th; owned by Webb and Knapp. The theater was gutted and turned into retail space and office space for The New York Times, who removed the entrance arch and marquee, though in 2000, a large section of the Broadway office building was leased by Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation, who recreated the famous arch and marquee (along with the Paramount logo restored) for an attraction they were building – WWF New York, a club and restaurant devoted to their wrestling franchise. Along with selling merchandise and playing superstar entrace music, mainly composed by Jim Johnston, it was used to host segments for Monday Night Raw, Sunday Night Raw, as hosted by Michael Cole and Tazz; Raw’s 10th Anniversary, and had an underground arcade. A few musical performances were also held there by The Misfits, Prince, Alicia Keys, Questlove, George Clinton, Larry Graham, and Doug E. Fresh. The interior venue and sidewalk even appeared as a wrestling location for WWF games like SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, SmackDown! Just Bring It, SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth and SmackDown Here Comes the Pain. In May 2002, due to an “initial battle” with the World Wide Fund for Nature, the World Wrestling Entertainment company changed the name to just The World which still sold WWE merchandise and would host special events & superstar appearances in the nightclub. In February 2003, Linda McMahon, the CEO at the time, elected to close the restaurant and nightclub sections so WWE could concentrate more on their global efforts. The retail shop closed two months later. Before the Paramount, this area was the site of the Putnam Building, named after American Revolutionary War General “Old Put” Israel, which was used as a base by racketeer Kid Dropper and also once held the offices of Fawcett Comics where Captain Marvel (now Shazam) was born [Source]. As for the Wurlitzer organ, it was relocated to the Century II Convention Hall in Wichita, Kansas where it has been played since 1968.

The complex remained closed for two years until 2005, when Hard Rock Cafe took over the lease and opened their new restaurant on August 12th that year, to replace the one that was previously built on West 57th Street from April 1984 to January 23rd 2005 (was featured in Jersey Girl) [Source]; the ceremony was christened with 100 guitars getting smashed. Just to be clear, Hard Rock Cafe is well known for their collections of genuine music memorabilia that they disperse in each of their past/present locations. Some of the more unique costumes they have in this flagship restaurant include a shirt worn by Chris Henderson of 3 Doors Down during the band’s appearance on The David Letterman Show, a guitar smashed on stage during the Linkin Park “Projekt Revolution” tour, a signed keyboard used in Nine Inch Nails concerts, a 1974 Moto Guzzi 850 Eldorado motorcycle owned by Billy Joel, Gwen Stefani’s costume during her tenure with No Doubt, a piece of the wall from the former CBGB music club on Bleecker Street, some of Jim Morrison’s high school sketches, one of several schoolchildren masks worn in Pink Floyd’s The Wall, a prisoner property receipt for John Entwistle, Jimi Hendrix’s purple velvet suit, the gold satin suit worn by James Brown at the Apollo Theater in 1964, and more (Source). Many musicians that have performed concerts in the restaurant include Jessie J, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Pat Benatar, Cohered & Cambria, The Jellybricks, Palmyra Delran, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, Echosmith, Jason Derulo, Lights, Phillip Phillips, Ne-Yo, Goo Goo Dolls, Lifehouse, Weezer, Kenny Chesney, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, David Cook, Judas Priest, and more (Source). Overlooking the escalators, past the giant Stratocaster as soon as you head in is an art installation of a golden sun with a cigar in his mouth and the restaurant’s stage proscenium is a replica of how the Paramount Theatre looked in its glory years. As part of a promotion for Travis Scott’s “Houston Astroworld” album in 2018, a giant installation of Travis’ golden head, as seen on the album cover, was installed above the marquee to the entrance. As for more information regarding the Paramount Building, also known as 1501 Broadway; it was designed in the Beaux-Arts and Art deco style by the Rapp brothers, it once had Greek statues and busts carved in wall niches, the four-faced clock on the top with its ornamental glass globe has its hours denoted by twelve five-pointed stars, similar to the Paramount Pictures logo; and that during World War II, both assets were painted to maintain blackout conditions for fear of an enemy invasion (Source). Other tenants that call/called this historical landmark its home include the Spanish-American Institute, Taco Bell (formerly Lids), Bubba Gump, and Bella Vita’s Brick Oven Pizza. The Paramount signage was also replicated for Universal Studios Florida where it was used for the entrance to the Screen-Test Home Video Adventure next to what was once Kongfrontation. When that ride closed down to make way for Revenge of the Mummy, the theater signage became the new entrance for the ride until 2018 when it was moved to the “Museum of Antiques” facade; much like the original “Grand Central Terminal” facade for Kong (Source). As for what they placed in the Paradise building, I’m not sure.

On April 2nd 2009, Hard Rock Cafe opened another restaurant in the world-famous Yankee Stadium in the Bronx district which is available to both ticket and non-ticket holders. Much of the memorabilia on display there all pertain to concerts that were performed there including drumsticks used by Anthrax’s Charlie Benante, a guitar used by Megadeth’s Dave Ellefson, a custom Gibson guitar shaped to look like a pinstripe Yankee uniform, the sunglasses that John Lennon wore on the cover of his Live in New York City, Elton John’s glittery Statue of Liberty costume from a 1976 performance, a guitar used by KISS’ Ace Frehley as his single “New York Groove” is usually played before Yankee games, and a costume worn by Billy Joel in the stadium’s very first concert (Source). Designed by Berg + Moss Architects, a 35-story Hard Rock Hotel in New York opened in April 2022 on 159 West 48th Street with 446 rooms, 291,000 square feet and plenty of music memorabilia (Source).

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42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough that runs primarily in Midtown Manhattan and Hell’s Kitchen and is home to some of NY’s best known landmarks (the Port Authority Bust Terminal, NYPL, etc.), though its the Times Square intersection that’s home to good chunk of theaters. Mentioned in many songs, 42nd Street is also the subject of a long-running Broadway musical of the same name that first began in 1933. During the American Revolutionary War, there was a cornfield between 42nd Street and 5th Avenue which was where General George Washington rallied his troops when the British landed at Kip’s Bay until they made him retreat. West 42nd Street was a prosperous theater and entertainment district until World War II when, according to historian Robert A. M. Stern, the streetcars were replaced with less efficient buses. From the 1950’s to late 1980’s, the area became known as the “Deuce” because it became the cultural center for grindhouse theaters and unsavory peepshows. In the early 1990’s. when the city government ordered a cleanup of Times Square, they prioritized 42nd Street by registering their theaters as a landmark and since the mid 1990’s, “New 42nd Street” has become home to mainstream theatres and multi-screen cinemas, along with shops (ie. Sephora), restaurants, hotels, and attractions like Madame Tussaud’s, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (closed in 2021), and Dave & Busters:

In the first photo, on the left, is the New Amsterdam Theatre: which was built in 1902-03 and designed in a Beaux Arts facade by Hemru Hertz and Hugh Tallant. The first production to be held there on October 23rd 1903 was William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and for many years, it hosted the Ziegfeld Follies which showcased such talents like Bert Williams, Will Rogers, W.C. Fields, and more. Some say the ghosts of actors like Olive Thousand and Sophie Tucker haunt this building. In 1936, the New Amsterdam closed to the Great Depression, though it reopened the following year as a converted movie theatre. In 1982, the New York City Industrial Development Corporation raised a US$4 million bond issue to purchase the property and retained title while responsibility for development and bond payment rested with the Nederlander Organization. In 1984, the Empire State Development Corporation and New York City Economic Development Corporation purchased the property. After having spent US$15 million, Nederlander announced in 1990 that it did not consider restoration of the property to be economically feasible; thereafter in 1992, a settlement was reached where the New York State Urban Development Corporation would take ownership and begin “structural stabilization” immediately through the 42nd Street Development Project. In May 1995, Disney Theatrical Productions signed a 49-year revenue based lease for the property in May 1995 and they have since owned the building where the movie Hercules premiered in 1997. The first production to be held there by them was The Lion King and once it moved to the Minskoff Theatre in 2006, on November 16th that year, they officially opened a stage production of Mary Poppins after it first premiered in London the previous year. Since March 20th 2014 it has been home to the Broadway rendition of Aladdin; which first opened in Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre in 2011 (half the cast from the original tryout is still in the Broadway version) and has grossed over $400 million at the Broadway theatre; the 11th highest-grossing Broadway production of all time, and has been seen by 11 million people. I did not see that version, though I did see Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular; which was once held in Disney’s California Adventure and was performed inside the Hyperion Theater, based on the Los Angeles Theatre; from January 16th 2003 to January 11th 2016, where it was replaced by Frozen – Live at the Hyperion (alongside hosting its previous shows being Disney’s Steps in Time and The Power of Blast, it hosted the world premiere of Spy Kids in 2001 {Source}). A condensed version of the Aladdin theme park show continues to play onboard the Disney Cruise Line ship Disney Fantasy. Back to the topic, other musicals that have premiered in New Amsterdam include My Fair Lady, Gypsy, Forbidden Melody, Sally starring Marilyn Miller, Roberta starring Bob Hope, and more. It was also used to film Vanya on 42nd Street, a televised Backstreet Boys concert for their 1999-2000 Into the Millennium tour, and was where the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AID charity events were held until they moved over to the Minskoff Theatre. It regularly hosts BC/EFA’s annual Red Bucket Follies (formerly known as Gypsy of the Year Competition), the fall/winter sister event to the Easter Bonnet. In recent years, the benefit’s honored guest had been centenarian Doris Eaton Travis, who originally performed on the New Amsterdam stage in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1919 (Source).

Before we move on, in the foreground of the first photo is a 17,5000 square-feet McDonald’s restaurant that was opened in 2003 by the cast of 42nd Street. I remember eating there two times in 2007 and 2017, though it closed down forever in June 2020 due to a “certain pandemic” and there already being another McDonald’s around the area. It was one of many tenants (others include Westwood One, Live Nation, the O.J. Guide Co. that pioneered the moving electric signs on Broadway, their first tenant in fact; and publisher Alfred A. Knopf’s first office was here in 1915) that took up the Asa Candler Building, a skyscraper that belonged to the Coca-Cola owner of the same name ad was built between 1912 and 1914. There are two specific former theatres in the 42nd Street area I’d like to talk about here, though I think I might save those for another day when I talk about some “musical artifacts” in Madame Tussauds. Specialized retail tenants occupied the first, second and ground levels of the building, and a street level lobby features shuttle elevators that bring guests to a “sky lobby.” It was also decorated with whimsical statues that were part of a series by Tom Otterness called Time and Money. At the east side of the base there is a large, multi-story signboard angling out from the facade; it is surrounded by a grey metal frame resembling pegboard. On the west half of the base was Modell’s Sporting Goods. Hilton Times Square closed down permanently in September 2020, following economic devastation and lack of tourist income amidst the Coronavirus situation. It was also once the site of the Liberty Theatre (ca. 1904) where George M. Cohan debuted the songs “Give My Regards to Broadway” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” along with the 1915 premiere of D.W. Griffith’s controversial 1915 KKK film The Birth of a Nation.

In the back of the second photo is the New Victory Theater, an Off-Broadway venue and the third theater built on West 42nd Street, that presents work for children and family audiences year-round, programming a full season of theater, dance, puppetry, circus, opera, physical theater and other types of performance art. In 2012, it received a special Drama Desk Award for “nurturing a love of theater in young people.” It was first opened on September 27th 1900 by Oscar Hammerstein I as the Theatre Republic with architecture by Albert Westover and its first play, James Herne’s Sag Harbor, starring Lionel Barrymore. Inside the decor was a large dome decorated with lyre-playing cherubs and much of it stil exists today. Two years later, the house was leased to David Belasco and renamed & renovated it to the Belasco Theatre; where he produced a bunch of plays starring Leslie Cartier, George Arliss, Lillian Gish, and Mary Pickford. Belasco renamed it Republic Theatre in 1910, to avoid confusion it with the Belasco Theatre that was now named for what was once called Stuyvesant Theatre. Its most famous tenant was the play Abe’s Irish Rosh that had 2,327 performances between 1922 and 1927. From 1931 to 1941, Billy Minsky converted it into Broadway’s first burlesque house which had a runway for the strippers, one of them was Gypsy Rose Lee, to walk down in the auditorium. In 1942, it became The Victory movie theater to support the war effort, though it began its decline in 1972 as the first 42nd Street theater to show pornographic flicks. It was also the first theater to be re-restored as part of the “New 42nd Street” campaign and since then, presents up to 16 Off-Broadway productions a year. In 1990 and 1991, it presented the En Garde Arts’ production of Crowbar and the Theater for a New Audience’s version of Romeo & Juliet respectively.

Right next to the New Victory is the Lyric Theatre, a theatre that has two entrances from both 42nd and 43rd Street, and was built on the land of two former theatres. The first was the similarly named Lyric that was built in 1903 by Eugene C. Potter, originally for Reginald De Koven’s American School of Opera before it went bankrupt. Alongside Shakespeare plays, it hosted Cole Porter’s Fifty Million Frenchmen, Sigmund Romberg’s operetta Maytime, and an early Broadway play from the Marx Brothers, The Cocoanuts; until it was converted into a movie theatre in 1934. The second was the Apollo, which opened on November 17th 1920, the Welwyn Brothers and designed by Eugene De Rosa. Initially a music theatre, it hosted such works like Gershwin’s Strike Up the Band, several editions of George White’s Scandals, and played movies like Around the World with Burton Holmes, Silver Wings, Orphans of the Storm, and One Exciting Night. In 1934, it became 42nd Street’s third stock burlesque house, playing host to several acts from Joey Faye, Georgia Sothern, and Ann Corio. After a unified outcry from religious and business interests, the Apollo strictly became a venue for foreign films and, ironically, 1970’s X-rated films. In ’78, it was renamed the New Apollo where it housed productions like On Golden Pond, Bent starring Richard Gere, Fifth of July, and The Guys in the Truck. Though amidst profit-bombing in the 1980’s, it reinvented itself as the Academy concert hall and later, a night club, until it was condemned (the exterior of the theatre was featured in the HBO series The Deuce). Before the Apollo, the site was once the vaudeville-movie house Bryant Theatre (circa 1910). As part of the “New 42nd Street” project, a new theatre would be built in both the Lyric & Apollo foundations and opened on January 18th 1998 with the name Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Its first production being a musical version of E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, its 1,900 seat count made it the largest theater on Broadway at the time. When Ragtime immediately closed in 2000, the venue was completely renovated and renamed the Hilton for the US premiere of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. After the closure of Young Frankenstein on January 4th 2009, the theatre sat vacant for along time until it was announced that a musical based on the Marvel superhero, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, would come there; though because of its infamous production drama, the original opening date for December 2010 was pushed to June 2011. By August 2010, the theatre was renamed after the Foxwood Resorts Casino until May 20th 2013, when the UK-based Ambassador Theatre Group acquired its lease for $60 million and changed its name back to the Lyric the following year. From 2017 to 2018, the theatre went under a massive $33 million renovation to accommodate its current production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: a play that first premiered in the Palace Theatre in 2016 and takes place nineteen years after Deathly Hallows. It opened with enthusiastic critical reception and very poor responses from the HP fandom, though has been running strong in Broadway since March 16th 2018 with half the actor’s from the West End production reprising their roles. Among many shows affected by the “virus,” it was announced that Cursed Child would be returning on November 21st 2021, but will now be condensed into one act instead of the previously performed two-part show.

A Hard Rock South

Bob Marley – A Tribute to Freedom is a Jamaican-themed restaurant that pays tribute to the Rastafarian musician and the culture his music helped to inspire. The outside of the restaurant is a replica of his home in Kingston, Jamaica; complimented by a statue honoring the belated icon. Tables are located in an open-air veranda and courtyard that is surrounded by genuine reggae artifacts and Bob Marley memorabilia. The entrees they serve here are especially Jamaican influenced with oxtail stew, vegetable patties, and Jamaican jerk chicken. (Source)

'A Pleasant Evening At Margaritaville' (Orlando,FL)

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville is the name of a United States-based hospitality company that manages and franchises a casual dining American restaurant chain, a chain of stores selling Jimmy Buffett-themed merchandise, and casinos with lodging facilities. The brand is named after the American singer’s 1977 hit song “Margaritaville” – a song named after a cocktail drink that’s about a man drowning his sorrows over a failed romance and was said to have been originally intended for Elvis Presley before he died. (Source) In 1985, Buffett got the idea to open a “Margaritaville” retail store in Key West, Florida after an initial attempt in Gulf Shores, Alabama failed and it was a huge success. In 2002, he expanded his business ventures by partnering with Outback Steakhouse to develop the first Cheeseburger in Paradise Restaurant in Southport, though it has been defunct since 2020. There are locations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, six island locations throughout the Caribbean as well as in Sydney, Australia since September 2012. (Source) Some locations are franchise owned, such as the Caribbean, Australian, and Mexican locations. In 2014, a Brazilian company bought 12 Margaritaville Restaurants and the rights to expand the company in the U.S. Both Jimmy Buffett and a fictional version of his Margaritaville chain made a cameo in the 2015 film Jurassic World where he can be seen prioritizing his drinks during an attack by escaped Dimorphodons. (Source)

The location you see in this photo opened in Universal CityWalk Orlando on March 4th 199 with a celebration concert by Jimmy himself. (Source) Inside the restaurant is a full-sized sailboat, a functional volcano as part of the Volcano Bar, a giant margarita blender, the Land Shark Bar, and the 12 Volt Bar. (Source) Outside the establishment and parked over the lagoon is a “Search and Rescue” Grumman HU-16C Albatross (N928J), nicknamed the “Hemisphere Dancer,” that was actually once flown by Mr. Buffett for his journeys in the Caribbean. Along with being recounted in his autobiographical travelogue A Pirate Looks at 50, it is the subject of the Banana Wind song “Jamaica Mistaica” that was based on a true story where Jamaican police shot down Jimmy’s plane, carrying his wife and children along with Bono of U2 fame, on suspicion that they were smuggling drugs; bullet holes were left in the plane’s body and you might be able to see some of them on display. Before its retirement to Universal in 2003, the Parrothead cultural icon [plane] made visits to places like the Experimental Aircraft Association Lakeland Sun ‘n Fun and AirVenture Oshkosh exhibitions. (Source) Another Margaritaville would open in Universal Hollywood on March 1st 2017 while one opened in the third floor of Syracuse’s Destiny USA mall in February 2015 across from the I Love This Bar & Grill, inspired by Toby Keith. (Source) I went in that mall three times from 2016 to 2018, but I don’t remember going up on that level to see it. There is a Margaritaville in the Ontario side of Niagara Falls, one of the few chains of its kind in Canada, that’s right across the Skylon Tower, though I don’t think I’ve ever been by there. (Source)

Believe it or not, the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando predates Universal Studios Florida by two months as it first opened in April 1990, edging out the park’s debut in June that year. However, the one that exists today is the not the same one that the park opened with and was built in a much different direction: located on the east side and built on an elevated platform shaped like a guitar that stretched over two roads. The restaurant was contained in a Renaissance Revival-style building that some have compared to Graceland and was built at a much higher capacity than the London original. The walkway was fitted with a roof covered in neon/fiber-optic strands that simulate massive guitar strings. The bricks used to make the gift shop were sourced from the Liverpool club that the Beatles first performed in, and a private-function room with a 1820’s Scotland mantlepiece & other woodwork from a New England mansion built in 1895. Some of the more unique items they had on display include a KGB uniform from the Moscow Music Peace Festival and even Barbara Eden’s costume from I Dream of Jeannie. When Universal started to gain more ground in the mid 1990’s, Hard Rock signed on for a new venue as part of the CityWalk expansion. The original guitar-shaped building closed down on December 11th 1998 as Hard Rock opened their current new restaurant on the west side of the park with an exterior similar to the Rome Coliseum. For a while, the structure of the first HRC continued to stand after the expansion of Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone until it was finally dismantled for the Superstar Parade’s debut in September 2011. Its only surviving remnant behind Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster: a small section of the record plaza that guests are regularly rerouted to during Halloween Horror Nights, to access one of the more unreachable haunted houses. On January 19th 2001, Hard Rock also opened one of their hotels in Universal Orlando and is the second one to open in the resort after the Venice-inspired Loews Portofino Bay Hotel in September 1999 (Source). Hard Rock has renewed their contract with Universal until 2039 and while a certain pandemic may put further dents in their future, there are still several musical artifacts you can find in the restaurant and I may not have any memories of eating in there, but these are just a few of the stuff they had on display during my trip in 2008: a 1950’s Pink Cadillac (some believe it originally belonged to Elvis Presley), Shakira’s AC/DC style “Lady” pants with punk crop-top, a wool sweater worn by a band member from The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, a cobra shirt worn by Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, a guitar signed by all members of Korn, Jay Yunger’s patch-decorated jacket from White Zombie, a piano signed by several musicians, Steven Tyler’s 2006 Red Wing Pro-Street motorcycle, Lou Reed’s guitar, Elvis Presley’s black wedding suit from Viva Las Vegas, the golden leather trunks worn by Peter Hinwood in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, original concept artwork for what the franchise’s logo looked like, and a waitress uniform worn by Rita Galligan who’s been working for Hard Rock since the original restaurant in London first opened. It also has an adjacent Hard Rock Live venue reserved for live performances which have hosted the likes of, Thrice, Touche Amore, Rick Springfield, Primus, Kesha, Glenn Frey Band with Joe Walsh, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, B.B. King, Sammy Hagar, Elton John, Flo Rida, Third Eye Blind, Good Charlotte, Megadeth, Big Bad Willie, Meat Loaf, 3 Doors Down, Poison, Hanson, Nickelback, Alice Cooper, P!nk, Jethro Tull, They Might Be Giants, DJ Khaled, KC and the Sunshine Band, and SO much more (Source). The restaurant and the hotel were also used for filming the movie Bring It On: In It to Win It (Source).

The Blue Man Group is an American performance art company that was formed in 1987 by three men in the Lower East Side: Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton. They are known for their stage productions that incorporate many kinds of music and art, both popular and obscure, in their performances. The titular performers are mute, have their skin painted blue with no hair, and always appear as a trio. They have continuing shows in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, and New York City with a production that typically employs 7-9 full-time performers that are selected by audition. They also have national & international tours, appeared on various TV programs, released multiple studio albums, contribute to a number of film scores, perform with orchestras, and appear in ad campaigns (Source). On June 6th 2007, a Blue Man Group residency was built in Universal Studios Orlando and notably took the place of the park’s opening day Nickelodeon Studios attraction, whose building was last used for Halloween Horror Nights 2005; though was re-zoned into CityWalk as a stand-alone appearance (up until some time, the off-access parts of the building still had traces of the Nickelodeon theming and YouTuber Adam the Woo snuck in to get a glimpse it; at the cost of his visits to the park and is banned from ever visiting again, though he still has access to visit Universal Hollywood). The theatre the show was housed in was sponsored by Sharp Aquos from opening day to 2012. The show featured some of the same humour and routines BMG was known for and ended their show with a remix of “Last Train to Nowhere” like they always do. Though in 2012, a new show was added as part of Universal’s “Year to Be Here” campaign with new scenes and a new finale; plus the “Booty Shaker” song. When I visited Universal in 2008, the park was working on two other music-themed attractions near BMG: the first was the Universal Music Plaza Stage which replaced The Boneyard in Production Central and opened on February 21st 2008 with a performance by Ne-Yo. It is also where the park’s various festivals like Mardi Gas are held along with concerts by musicians like Macklemore, Pitbull and Fifth Harmony (Source). The second project that was being built was the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit: an outdoor steel roller coaster and is the largest X-Coaster ever built by Maurer Sohne. It officially opened on August 19th 2009, despite original plans to do it in the spring, and is innovative for allowing guests to listen to a soundtrack of any vast genre, has on-ride photos captured from cameras in the passenger row, and his twists & turns named after music techniques (Source). While I never did get to see the Blue Man Group Theatre, I do remember that on a Halloween night around the first time we lived in Kingston (2005-2009), one of the Halloween displays in a house in my neighbourhood had no Wal-Mart/Loew’s type displays, but rather the owner dressed up in full Blue Man Group style and playing on a home-made instrument similar to the one they use; which was mesmerizing to me as a kid. On February 1st 2021, because of Corona and being put on hiatus during the early re-opening in 2020, it was announced that the Blue Man Group would be ending their residency. As or what will happen to the building, its not known yet if will either be destroyed or if something new will take its place; perhaps another Nickelodeon attraction to pay tribute to what came before the Blue Men (Source).

While I don’t remember spending that much time in Myrtle Beach during the drive home from our 2008 Florida summer vacation, we did walk around the Broadway at the Beach area for a while and they had an absolutely unique Hard Rock Cafe restaurant that opened on July 10th 1995 and was themed after a Egyptian pyramid; complete with two Sphinx statues guarding the entrance. We did not get to go in, though the theming continued all the way inside with hieroglyphics all over the walls, Egyptian styled pillars, a stained glass image of a pharaoh, mummy sarcophaguses, and a pharaoh-painted guitar owned by Jennifer Batten. Among the music memorabilia they had in that location include leather pants worn by Joan Jett of “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” fame, who performed a concert at the restaurant once (Source); a Cinderella signed guitar, a racing jumpsuit worn by Stephen Pearcy of RATT fame, a Soundgarden signed guitar, a handmade leather kilt worn by Axl Rose of Guns n’ Roses, a clear glass Joe Perry guitar, a precision bass used by Robert Bell during Kool & the Gang’s 1979 “Ladies Night” tour, a Brian Wilson guitar, a Krusty the Clown sticker drum set used by Charlie Benante of Anthrax, a Gretsch bikini twin neck guitar used by Steve Howe of Yes, drums used by Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick, a black wool suit that Paul McCartney wore in A Hard Day’s Night, the original art for the Queen album News of the World, a signed 1998 Lynyrd Skynyrd touring jacket, a black Carlos Santana Stratocaster, a skull-painted drum used by ZZ Top’s Frank Beard, Carly Simon’s shorts, a feathered outfit worn by Marilyn Manson’s guitarist John 5, a commemorative vase from the Creed “Weather Tour,” Lindsey Buckingham’s black silk short from the 1982 “Mirage” tour by Fleetwood Mac, a violin used by The Dixie Chicks, a guitar used at the 1996 Farm Aid concert in Columbia, South Carolina; Johnny Cash’s leather boots, Bruce Klick’s custom made ESP Horizon from the 1990 KISS “Hot in the Shade” tour, Willie Campbell’s guitar from The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Mark Bryan’s Gibson from Hootie and the Blowfish, Richie Sambora’s Fender Stratocaster from Bon Jovi’s 2000 “Crush” tour, a pink Women in Rock! guitar, a guitar signed by The B-52’s, Dee Dee’s guitar from The Ramones, and more. (Source). Other musicians that have performed there include Far Too Jones, Great White, The Fixx, Krisiun, Six Feet, Imagine Dragons, Decapitated, and Gabbie Rae (Source). On October 3rd 2016, the Hard Rock Cafe was reduced to rubble to begin work on a Dave & Buster’s, OZ nightclub and American Tap House that would take their place (Source). Though on October 28th 2016, a brand new Hard Rock opened in another part of the Boardwalk and ditched the Egyptian motif in favour of the classic guitar sign, a modern layout, and updated pieces of music memorabilia (Source).

It was also in Myrtle Beach that Hard Rock Cafe really tried digging their toes into the amusement park industry by opening up Hard Rock Park: a music themed park that had been in the works since 2003 and which the Hard Rock company agreed to licensing it in 2006. Though really, it was the brain child of Jon Binkowski: a veteran in both the film and themed entertainment industry who ran the Savoy ice skating show in Myrtle Beach and had previously considered other ideas for two theme parks that never got made: the season-themed “Fantasy Harbour” and another MGM park (we’ve seen them a lot in the theme park industry, haven’t we?). One of the few privatized places of its kind, it opened on April 15th 2008 with a concert by Eagles and The Moody Blues with six “rock environs” that celebrate the genre’s culture and irreverence. They included the All Access Entry Plaza, Rock & Roll Heaven, British Invasion, Lost in the 70’s, Born in the USA and Cool Country. The main attractions of the park were the roller coasters and live shows that were set to music. The park included an amphitheater with 10,000-person capacity featuring live daily shows and special performances. Other amusements included a carousel, a water play structure and swings. Most attractions prominently featured music, bands, and rock memorabilia like its cafe counterpart. All things considered, the park received generally positive reviews, though it began having trouble with securing sufficient finances to cover their planned advertising campaign. In the midst of the 2008 recession, high gas and hotel prices only hurt them further and led the park to borrow money from investors to keep the park going; along with changing operating hours and moving to weekend-only operations after Labor Day. In September 2008, HRP announced they would be laying off all their employees and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. While hoping to reopen in 2009, they filed for Chapter 7 in January that year and during an auction of the land in February, it was purchased by FPI MB Entertainment; who removed Hard Rock from the name and just called it “Freestyle Music Park;” stating it would pay homage to even more musical genres like reggae, country, beach music, pop, R&B, rap, alternative, disco, and even Christian. According to sales marketer John Stine, despite the “Freestyle” name, the park did not have an area to represent Latin music. Before the park opened on May 23rd 2009, there was some behind-the-scenes drama between HRP and FPI as the former still owned intellectual property rights relating to the original theme and that the new owners were were misusing it. In conclusion, Hard Rock Parkway was changed to Fantasy Harbour Boulevard. When FMP opened, the admission prices were slashed down heavily, yet made even less money than the park hoped for. Aside from an overall retheming, several sections got new names like “Myrtle’s Beach” (previously “Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven”) which became very “Polynesian,” “Born in the USA” became “Kids in America,” “British Invasion” became “Across the Pond,” “Cool Country” became “Country USA,” and the entrance was now “VIP Plaza.” They also added four rides purchased from Zamperla of Italy that were named after famous songs like “Get Off My Cloud,” “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Wheels in the Sky” and “Life Is a Highway.” They also added an attraction named “CSI: Live,” imported from Six Flags Magic Mountain, and was based on the TV series of the same name. Despite all the changes they made, the park was not a satisfying hit and many lawsuits were filed against the park on account of leases and taxes. After 2009, Freestyle Music Park was closed forever and it never reopened after that (the rides were dismantled and reassembled in Vietnam’s Asia Park in Da Nang). The buildings and the land itself, while slowly rotting over time, still stand and much like any abandoned amusement park, is a common stomping ground for urban explorers that in recent years, fly overhead drones to work around the gates that forbid them from getting in. Its derelict appearance was even used as the setting for an episode of Revolution that takes place in a post-apocalyptic theme park. However, its unknown just how much longer this time capsule of South Carolina will last as in 2014, Medieval Times bought roughly four acres of the park that it used prior to 2008 for its horses to exercise and graze. It was also reported on New Year’s Day 2019 that FPI sold their Freestyle property to FTPP Bishop Parkway LLC for $3,545,000; who may use it as a planned development district that’s either for housing or even another tourist attraction. Its future may also be go up in flames as at least three times in 2019, fire officials responded to small but mysterious blazes that occurred in select areas. While it could be due to heat corrosion or humid heat combusting with flammable materials, there is also the possibility of drug addicts hanging out in the park and accidentally starting a fire with their lighters (Source).

A Small-Town Theatre

There are/were several theatrical venues in various parts of the world (the Americas, Europe, Asia) that each share the name “Grand Theatre” and in most cases, they are suited for performing arts while others play Hollywood films; or in other instances, they supported both formats throughout their run. That is the case with the one in Kingston, Ontario that we’ll be looking at in this post.

Our story begins in 1876 where a disastrous fire levelled down most of the buildings on Princess Street. Coming into existence during the course of reconstruction was Martin’s Opera House which opened in 1879 with Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, presiding over the event. In the early years, residents flocked to the Opera House to see music, theatre, opera, dance, and vaudeville with occasional big-name stars like French actress Sarah Bernhardt, Australian soprano Nellie Melba, bandmaster John Phillip Sousa, tragic author Oscar Wilde, Scottish music hall master Harry Lauder, Al Jolson of Jazz Singer fame, and even the legendary magician Harry Houdini. Canada’s first “military” opera premiered at the Grand in 1889: Leo, the Royal Cadet, was written by Kingstonians Oscar Telemann and George Cameron; along with taking place in the RMC. In 1899, Martin’s Opera House was gutted by yet another fire and in its place, the Grand Opera House was built and incorporated; which had its gala performance on January 14th 1902. Its object was to add to the cultural development of the community by providing a venue for theatrical attractions touring Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. It continued to operate for twenty years until liquidation in 1919 (Source). From 1905 to 1936, the theatre was owned and operated by impresario Ambrose J. Small, though he disappeared around December 2nd 1919 in a case that became a national news sensation which invoked the interest of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Source).

Like many live performance houses, the Grand became a victim of changing tastes and the Depression economy. In 1938, it was sold to the Famous Players motion picture chain who converted the theatre into a cinema featuring the latest Hollywood movies (Source). From 1926 to 1951, William Rupert Davies, lover of the arts and publisher of the local newspaper, Kingston Whig-Standard; spent many happy hours in this theatre and this specific room of the current venue was furnished by his wife, sons and grandchildren. This management would last until 1961 when FP ceased its operations and a Toronto investor purchased the property, which he later sold off its fixtures with the intent of replacing the building with a car park (ironically, the Chown Memorial Parking garage would be built behind the Brock St. entrance of the theatre). Furious with this decision, community minded arts advocates fought tooth and nail to save the Grand by lobbying petitions to City Council and forming the Kingston Arts Council in 1962. Its goal: to reopen the theatre as a civic auditorium for local and travelling artists, along with becoming the home of the Kingston Symphony. Council agreed to purchase the building for nearly $52,000 and the grassroots campaign was successful in rehabilitating the Grand. In 1966, the refurbished 832-seat theatre reopened with its first live show, Dora Mavor Moore’s satirical review Spring Thaw; the official “grand” opening for next year featured the Rhos Male Voice Choir from Wales (Source). The 70’s to 80’s saw an increase of ambitious and sometimes daring productions to the stage. One particular example was the 1982 premiere of Barnardo Bay, an original opera written by locals Clifford Crawley and David Helwig. The year 1978 saw the beginning of ongoing renovations that established new lounges, higher quality backstage facilities, and ultimately culminated in the creation of the Baby Grand; a black-box theatre that was co-founded by Sarah Garton Stanley & Eric Kaskens in 1985 (was renovated in November 1990) and is tailored for local artists (Source).

Often considered the leading performing arts venue in eastern Ontario, approximately 63,000 Kingstonians attend performances each year (insert Corona quip here) to share and support the arts. In 2008, Norman and Janet Springer; along with their children Benjamin, Michael, Douglas and Heidi, renewed their commitment to the theatre, celebrating its rich heritage and bold future as expressed through the renovation’s imaginative architectural design (Source). Among the frontlines in saving the Grand’s heritage was Bronx born-Queen’s graduate, Regina Rosen, who had her name inscribed to the main auditorium (she also had her own food charity in Kingston named after her) [Source]. There have been many shows that have been held here in the many decades its been running, though I’ve only ever seen a few in my lifetime. In elementary school during a field trip, while I can’t remember what year it was nor if it took place at the Duncan MacArthur Auditorium, I remember going to see an orchestra play live (might have been Kingston Symphony) at the Grand where they played a suite of movie songs written by John Williams (the one I remember the most was the “Raiders March” from Indiana Jones). For the 2008 holiday season, me and my family watched a stage rendition of the 1892 classic Petipa & Ivanov Christmas ballet The Nutcracker in the Rosen stage; which was based off a short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann (pic is unrelated, but here’s a giant nutcracker statue they had in the lobby for the 2017 holiday season; follow the link to see their giant Christmas tree, a Santa statue with a teddy bear, and a Cubist painting). Because my sister is involved with a local company named Bottle Tree Productions (other local productions here include Blue Canoe and Theatre Kingston), I’ve seen a few plays starring her in the Baby Grand like a 2016 story that involves a thrift shop, a 2017 production before holiday break (I forgot the plotline of it), a junior version of The Lion King in 2018 where she played Rafiki, and a Jr. version of Mary Poppins in 2019 where she had the lead role for one night. There have been many, many musicians and comedians that have performed in the Grand that would be too much to name here so I’ll just limit a few based on advertisements I have pictures of like acoustic artist Matt Anderson, Canadian blues singer Colin James, Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman, George Canyon of Nashville Star fame, female rocker Darby Mills, Elvis impersonator Pete Paquette, Dean Burry, who once composed an operatic version of The Hobbit; the Russian opera Giselle, Erth puppet shows, Mongolian performers Anda Union, country vocalist Lisa Brokop, the Gandini jugglers, Lisa Fischer, who did back-up signing for icons like Chaka Khan and Nine Inch Nails; Arcade Fire members Jeremy Gara and Sarah Neufeld, an ABBA tribute act all the way from Australia, Just for Laughs Road Show, Canadian stand-up Ron James, Canadian TV character Red Green, A Celtic Family Christmas, Glass Tiger, and Christmas with the Ennis Sisters. Some of the few acts destined for Grand Theatre that have gotten cancelled include a 2019 concert by Marc Jordan, who wrote for the likes of Josh Groban and Chicago; and the 2020 Terpsischore Dance Celebration Nationals. For the 2010 Kingston Canadian Film Festival, the film Carry On, Sergeant!, which was shot in both Kingston and Trenton, was screened in the Grand Theatre on March 6th to celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary during a gala party. It came with food & drinks, a display about the film, and the screening was accompanied by live music from pianist William O’Meara (Source). During my time in RND, I remember watching a “suspense film” made by a previous student (Noah Lalonde/Crumpled Paper Films) named “Accident“; which was about a group of Queen’s students attempting to cover an accidental death where in one scene, an ad for the Grand Theatre can be heard on the radio before a police report disclaiming the perpetrator’s bounty is played (my Comm Tech teacher voiced both the radio guy and the officer that catches the “protagonists” in the beginning and end). The video is no longer on his YouTube channel and I’ve since considered it “lost media” as the only surviving glimpse of the short film is this “demo reel” he uploaded in 2015.

Splinky's Art Gallery

Music Hall of Fame (Part 1)

Amusement Park Venues

Music Capital of the World

Symphony of the Times

A Hard Rock South

A Small-Town Theatre

STAY TUNED FOR NEXT TIME

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Amusement Park Venues

Music Capital of the World

Symphony of the Times

A Hard Rock South

A Small-Town Theatre

STAY TUNED FOR NEXT TIME

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